What is the impact of the mental load on women's careers?

Invisible labor for women at work

How did we get here?

The mental load has been a generational issue but it didn't become obvious to everyone until Covid where women suddenly found themselves working from home, parenting 24/7 and teaching their children. While men picked up more duties around the house, it was not enough to radically shift the load around; the invisible labor still stayed with women.

What’s going on? Women are expected to:

• Anticipate - not just the need but also everyone’s feelings around it
• Identify - what solutions are available (men usually help)
• Decide - which solution is best (men usually help)
• Monitor - again with the feelings. Is it working? Is everyone happy?

Women disproportionately are responsible for the “anticipate” and “monitor” phases. 

Once on the agenda, couples decide together, but the shit work is happening before and after.

At home, we've got the sticky floor and professionally, we have the glass ceiling.

Women are generally viewed as distracted once they have families and are promoted less, therefore earning less over their lifetime.

Early promotions in a career are most critical to success,3 and yet for the past eight years, McKinsey research has consistently shown that women lose ground in the step up to manager. According to data from our research conducted for the Women in the Workplace 2021 report, women hold only 34 percent of entry-level engineering and product roles and just 26 percent of first-level manager positions, compared with 48 percent of entry-level roles and 41 percent of first-level manager positions in the pipeline overall.

Common reason women step off leadership track: the mental load

Does the mental load affect your ability to focus and “climb the ladder”?

Revelations we’ve had about “climbing the ladder” - is it overrated?

Perception of the workload at home:

Men say its equal but usually take on less time sensitive and more easily outsourced even when they work part time or not at all compared to their spouses

The ambition gap - are women really less ambitious than men?

findings show clearly that women start their careers with just as much  ambition as men.1  Women’s ambition levels do vary, but they vary by company, not by family status.

In other words, the problem is neither inherent nor related to motherhood; instead, it hinges on the day-to-day experiences of women at work. Ambition is not a fixed attribute but is nurtured—or damaged—by the daily interactions, conversations, and opportunities that women face over time.

Having children does not make women less ambitious. Ambition is influenced by company culture.

The wage gap - Women have stalled economically

Is a woman’s well-being outside of work non of a company’s concern?

Work from home vs working in an office - does one support women better?

What are some solutions for companies to lighten the load?

1. Provide equitable access to training, projects, and other resources to accelerate skill building for women in technical roles

2. Implement a structured approach to early promotions 

3. Connect early-tenure women with capable managers, mentors, and sponsors

Change the informal context. A person’s experience at work consists of countless small interactions, and the leadership environment at many companies can feel like a familiar set of masculine tropes.

Make and relentlessly promote structural changes such as flexible work. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Our House Children's Learning Center

Thriving Lives Fitness

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