Alternatives to Downshifting Your Career | Dr. Robyn McKay
Channel: Robyn McKay
Date: 2022-03-30

I know so many of you are burnt out, but before you downshift your career, or leave the workforce all together, join me for this episode where we'll discuss alternatives.

This is a very popular, and important, topic right now. 

There's research that gifted women, in particular, are most likely to downshift their career aspirations because of all of the other "stuff" they're expected to take on. It normally starts happening pretty early on in our careers—often times even in undergrad. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to take on the world, which normally leads to over-functioning and eventually, burn out.

Here's what the research shows...

Research: Women Leaders Took on Even More Invisible Work During the Pandemic—not too shocking, right?!

BUT... the stats are pretty alarming.

"The events of the last year and a half have put intense pressure on companies to do more to support employees and act on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Women leaders are meeting this moment and taking on the extra work that comes with it — but they’re not getting recognized or rewarded for it.

Alarmingly, more than half of women leaders who manage teams say that over the last few months, they have felt burned out at work “often” or “almost always,” and almost 40% of them have considered downshifting their careers (for example, by moving to part-time work) or leaving the workforce altogether."

https://hbr.org/2021/10/research-women-took-on-even-more-invisible-work-during-the-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR1jyBN8wIvhrG0x_u8cNSyC9FJMGumPykHTZ8OX_sluQcLxrj-NUR98MAk

Research Summary: The new 2021 Women in the Workplace report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company found that the mission-critical work of supporting employees’ well-being and promoting DEI is being done disproportionally by women, who aren’t being rewarded or recognized for it. Companies are reaping great rewards from these efforts, but compared to men in similar roles, women leaders are more likely to be exhausted and chronically stressed at work. Alarmingly, more than half of women leaders who manage teams say that over the last few months, they have felt burned out at work “often” or “almost always,” and almost 40% of them have considered downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce altogether. And only about a quarter of employees say that the extra work they’re doing is formally recognized (either “a great deal” or “a substantial amount.” With women leaders experiencing sky-high burnout and many of them eyeing the door, more needs to be done so that their efforts are treated like the indispensable work it is instead of like an after-hours, do-gooder volunteer drive.