Life & Leadership After HBS
Tradeoffs & Time Limits: Work & Life for Dual-Career Families
Tradeoffs & Time Limits: Work & Life for Dual-Career Families
Juggling responsibilities at home and work is challenging for both men and women,
particularly those parenting young children. Drawing on the most recent Life & Leadership data, this report examines how alumni in dual-career families navigate the intersection
of career and family, including differences in the experiences of men and women.
1
Alumni spend about the same amount of time at work, regardless of gender or whether
they are parenting children under 18.
Average Hours/Week
53
Women with no children at home[1]
51
Women with children under 18 at home
54
Men with no children at home
54
Men with children under 18 at home
Top 5 Industries
| Hours/Week | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting / Professional Services | 52 | 55 |
| Educational Services / Academics | 49 | 53 |
| Finance / Banking / Investment | 54 | 56 |
| Health Care / Health Care Tech. / Social Assistance | 49 | 55 |
| Software Publishers / Technology | 52 | 54 |
“My career has been fulfilling and I achieved most of the goals that I had set for myself. I’m still young but feeling a bit burnt out and would like to work fewer hours and potentially take on a board role as an independent director for public companies. The only thing that prevents me from doing that is feeling that I would be judged for not continuing to climb the corporate ladder and achieve even more than I have.”
The highest-earning alumni are men with children under 18.
More than half of dual-career couples with young children are earning over $500,000/year.
2
Generally, mothers of children under 18 are least satisfied with their ability to
combine their work and personal lives.
This finding holds true for both alumnae of color and white alumnae.
Q: How satisfied are you with your ability to combine your career with your personal
and family roles?
Very or Extremely Satisfied:
“My (white, male, upper-middle class) spouse and I desire an egalitarian relationship and if anything, I have more career ambition and have better credentials. But it just hasn’t worked out that way. He has ended up in a more senior position and travels more, so my career has taken second position and I do more of the family work. I find this enormously frustrating despite being personally very happy in my relationship otherwise.”
Women, especially those with children under 18 at home, are more likely than men to
report that their workplace culture makes it hard to balance work and life.
Q: To succeed in my work environment, you can’t let family interfere with work.
Q: To succeed in my work environment, you can’t let family interfere with work.
Very or Extremely Satisfied:
Top 5 Industries
| True of my work environment | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting / Professional Services | 52% | 45% |
| Educational Services / Academics | 43% | 26% |
| Finance / Banking / Investment | 69% | 55% |
| Health Care / Health Care Tech. / Social Assistance | 51% | 51% |
| Software Publishers / Technology | 46% | 44% |
“I have a 7-month-old daughter at home. I’m still trying to figure out how to be a present father without that impacting how I’m perceived at work (leaving early, not online in the evening so that I can do feedings, etc.).”
HBS Couples
When it comes to “HBS couples” (alumni married to other alumni) with minor children at home, mothers and fathers report being equally
satisfied. Just over half of both women and men are satisfied with their ability to combine work and personal life.
3
Alumni are generally happy with their spouses and partners, but women with children
under 18 are less satisfied than others.
Q: How satisfied are you with your relationship with your spouse/partner?
Very or Extremely Satisfied:
“My spouse and I have each left a job for our relationship, at different times. There have been times when we have prioritized my career, and right now is a time we are prioritizing her career. From a professional perspective, I feel like I have not accomplished as much as I might have hoped 10 years out of HBS, but I also recognize that this is very much a function of the choices I have made to prioritize my family, and I have no regrets in that regard.”
HBS Couples
However, among HBS couples with minor children at home, women and men are equally satisfied. Just under 80% say they are very or extremely satisfied with their relationship.
4
About half of alumni in dual-career families have “traditional” child care arrangements
where women do the majority. This finding holds true for both alumni of color and
white alumni.
Q: How is child care shared?
Women
Men
“There’s still an expectation for women to manage their households and children. My husband and I both work at the same company, so it seems like the assumption has been made that I will manage the family while he advances in the company.”
HBS Couples
Among HBS couples, women are more likely than men to report being in traditional relationships where women do most of the child care (61% of women vs. 31% of men).
5
Women in dual-career families with children at home also do the majority of other
household work, although men spend more time on housework than child care.
Q: How is housework shared?
Women
Men
“I have experienced that even when both spouses work full time, the mom is de facto responsible for the household and childcare planning. Maybe women are wired to worry about everything getting accomplished and maybe if we didn’t, our spouses would do more, or maybe those things just wouldn’t get done. I’m hoping to achieve a better balance in the next few years.”
HBS Couples
Among HBS couples with minor children at home, women are more likely than men to report being in traditional relationships where women do most of the housework (53% women vs. 25% men).
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- *Includes alumni without children and alumni whose children are 18 and older.
Who is in this Report
US-based alumni who work full time and whose spouses or partners also work full time.
The observed data from our 2018 survey, Life & Leadership After HBS: Personal and
Professional Paths, have been weighted to represent the alumni profiled in this report.