STOP THE PRESSES! Silicon Valley woman announces she's having twins.
- Summary:
- Corporate structures and expectations need to change when it comes to women having babies at work - yes. But it's not our place to judge a woman when she decides to take 2 weeks maternity leave.
Sounds absurd, right? Well, that's exactly what happened this week when Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced on Tumblr that she was expecting two little bundles of joy. She wrote:
With great happiness, Zack and I have some exciting news to share – I’m pregnant! In fact, I’m expecting identical twin girls, likely arriving in December. The twins part was quite a surprise, because I have no family history of twins or any other predisposing factors. However, as I’ve now learned, identical twins occur by random chance in roughly 1 out of approximately every 300 pregnancies. Zack and I have embraced the surprise and are very excited about these new additions to our family.
Since my pregnancy has been healthy and uncomplicated and since this is a unique time in Yahoo’s transformation, I plan to approach the pregnancy and delivery as I did with my son three years ago, taking limited time away and working throughout. I’ve shared the news and my plans with Yahoo’s Board of Directors and my executive team, and they are incredibly supportive and happy for me. I want to thank them for all of their encouragement as well as their offers of help and continued support.”
What should have simply sparked a few congratulations from the world's press has instead spiralled into a global debate about the role of a female CEO and what is or isn't the appropriate amount of maternity leave to take. Some of the headlines include:
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's minimal maternity leave plan prompts dismay – The Guardian
Back off on Marissa Mayer's maternity leave – CNN
Marissa Mayer’s Maternity Leave: CEO Moms, They’re Not Just Like Us – Time
Marissa Mayer, please take your full maternity leave – CNBC
Marissa Mayer’s Two-Week Maternity Leave Is Bullsh*t – The Daily Beast
Everybody has an opinion. Everyone has a judgement about whether Marissa Mayer should or should not be taking Yahoo!'s full 16 weeks paid maternity leave – a policy that is significantly above and beyond what US federal law requires and was implemented by Mayer herself upon taking the top job.
And whilst debate can be healthy, I can't help but feel that this is absolutely none of our business. Marissa Mayer has a certain amount of responsibility as a role model for women in work, but equally she should not be subject to worldwide public scrutiny over what is a deeply personal decision.
Whilst I would love a female CEO to announce they are pregnant and are taking four months paid maternity leave to set an example for other companies and women in work – I am not about to criticise Mayer for not doing that if that's not something she wants to do.
Critics will say to me that Mayer is only rushing back to work because she feels pressure from the Board and investors to do so. And that corporate structures don't allow for women in power to be mothers too. All of which I would condemn if I knew that was true at Yahoo!. But at the end of the day, Mayer is the CEO, she has the power to make a choice and it is not our place to judge her for her personal decisions.
I'd also like to add here that I've written at length about how I'd like to see Silicon Valley change its corporate
environment and structures to better suit people across a number of spectrums. However, if those structures are in place, I ultimately believe in the freedom of choice and it is not our place, or anyone else's, to tell a woman CEO what is the right thing to do. Only she knows her personal circumstances and only she can make that choice.I do think we need more women in powerful jobs to announce they're taking maternity leave, but I equally don't think we can jump down their throats if that's something they don't want to do.
It's sexism. Plain and simple.
Less than 6 weeks ago Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that him and his wife Priscilla Chan are expecting a baby girl. Again, fantastic news. But having done a quick Google search I can't find a single article questioning Zuckerberg's parenting strategy in the weeks and months after the baby is due. I can only assume it's taken for granted that Zuckerberg's work won't be disturbed by the birth – which isn't right either – but ultimately, no-one is questioning any decision he makes. In fact, no-one is really publicly asking him why he is or is not taking paternity leave.
Whereas, Mayer is facing a public inquisition.
My take
There is much debate in the technology industry about what is or isn't appropriate for companies to do to encourage female talent into the workplace – check out our article this week 'Breast milk shipping and frozen eggs – tackling female tech talent shortages or vendor selfishness?'. And it's worth highlighting that the technology industry is actually blazing the trail for maternity and paternity leave in the US – check out Netflix's unlimited maternity and paternity leave announcement.
However, the reaction to Mayer's announcement this week just shows how far we have to go. I'd like to reiterate that it whilst I personally think it would be great for a female CEO to take their full maternity leave, it's just not our place to make that decision for people like Mayer.
My only criticism of Mayer's announcement is that I would have liked her to highlight that whilst the decision is personal to her, it may not reflect every woman at Yahoo!'s position and she as CEO would encourage female employees to take as much maternity leave as they need. That sort of public support is incredibly important and that was what was missing from Mayer's announcement.In fact, the outcry since the announcement highlights just how bad things are. There is an assumption that Mayer is being pressured and there is a plea from women for her to set an example. Which is incredibly sad.
But that's the whole point. We can't make those decisions for women. All we can do is put good support systems in place, make women feel like they can make the right decision for them and then let them make it. In fact, it's my view that the amount of rhetoric around Mayer's decision only continues to pigeon hole women into certain boxes.
I may well be lamented for not condemning Mayer's decision, but I just can't bring myself to tell a woman what to do. Especially when it comes to her being a mother. No matter what her position of responsibility is.