Work-Life Balance Research #1: Women Who Are Balanced Feel More Successful

Welcome to the first in a series releasing preliminary findings from the Hot Mommas Project National Mentor Survey.

What: The Hot Mommas Project produces curricula for dynamic women leaders. Our case studies serve as role models on paper for girls and women around the globe.

Where: We are housed at the George Washington University School of Business.

Why: Entrepreneurship research ties role models to feelings of self-efficacy. These same studies indicate women have lower self-efficacy than men. What is self efficacy? Basically, the thought: “I can do that.” Women who are seeking work life balance are often forced into entrepreneurial roles both in and outside of work as they define and negotiate multiple priorities without clear solutions.

When: We are launching a Case Study Competition October 13, 2008 with the goal of building the worlds largest women’s case study database. Do you know a dynamic woman who “does it all”? Tell her to submit a case study (Cool Daddies beta section included too). Winners will be published in a leading Prentice Hall textbook. Email us to be notified of competition launch.

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HOT MOMMAS PROJECT RESEARCH KEY FINDING:
Women who are more balanced feel more successful.

We asked survey respondents to answer the question “How successful do you feel relative to other colleagues?”

70% of the top balancers (aka Master Balancers) in The Hot Mommas Project survey feel more successful than their colleagues compared to 41% of the general survey population. Said another way, women who are more balanced rate 30% higher on their feelings of success.

What this means: We refer to the top balancers as “Master Balancers.” These are survey respondents who rated “high” or “very high” on:
1. Professional drive
2. Expectations for personal/family life
Master Balancers (10% of our survey population) then rated themselves at the highest level “very high” (5 on a 5-point scale) on their ability to BALANCE both those areas of their lives.

There is a great deal of discussion among women, educators, and thought leaders about success and how we define it. These women – who have a command of their professional life, personal life, and rate top on balance with both of those areas – are creating a new definition of success. HOW are they doing it? Keep tuning into this blog for more.

About: The Hot Mommas Project conducted 269 in-depth surveys over the course of 2 years. The target survey respondent demographic included women driven to succeed both professionally and personally (e.g., family/interests/personal life). The majority of respondents reside in the US.
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A few links:
1. UTAH passed a law re: 4 day work weeks. This is big. Click here for more.
2. UC Santa Barbara “Family Camp” – How cool is this? Heard about from Guy Kawasaki of Alltop. Click here for more.
3. Everyone is talking about a NYT article from last week _ here is a related blog.