德国女高管希望女性不要因孩子放弃事业
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2013-10-25 06:25 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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As one of the few German women who has been on the board of a major company, Regine Stachelhaus wants the country's women to stop leaving work when they have kids.

雷吉娜·施塔赫尔豪斯是德国一家重要公司董事会中少数女性之一,她希望德国女性同胞不要因为有孩子而放弃自己的事业。
 
It's a gray Sunday afternoon and Regine Stachelhaus is at the Stuttgart airport, a place that she knows well after years of work travel, including commuting1 to Düsseldorf for her most recent job from her home in a nearby Southwestern German village. Instead of a business suit, Stachelhaus is dressed casually2 in jeans and a sky-blue sweater set that matches her eye shadow. She rushes into the noisy Panorama3 restaurant above the main departures desk and apologizes profusely4 for being an hour late  -- her husband had an emergency and she had to drop him off at the hospital.
 
Stachelhaus, 58, settles into a table, orders a coffee and explains that she didn't leave her career when her first son was born 27 years ago. She didn't slow down her 12-hour days after she and her husband adopted their second son—then a 16-year-old refugee from Eritrea—five years ago. She doesn't regret missing her first son's first steps or being on an international work trip during his first day of kindergarten. While she climbed the corporate5 ranks, her rock musician husband stayed at home with the kids.
 
The intense focus on her career paid off. Stachelhaus became a rare paragon6 of female achievement in Germany, a country whose record of women in the workplace makes America's hand-wringing over the issue seem unwarranted. By 2010 she became only the third woman to break into the top management circle of a DAX 30 company (the top 30 German biggest companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange) when she took a job as Chief Human Resources Officer at E.ON, the world's largest investor-owned electric utility. In the U.S., women make up 15.7 percent of Fortune 500 company boards, according to a Deloitte study, compared with 8.2 percent of a sample of 600 listed companies in Germany.
 
Now Stachelhaus is leaving the boardroom behind. She announced in May that she wouldn't renew her contract at E.ON so that she could care for her husband, who was diagnosed with a severe lung disease.
 
Churn is often high in top executive positions. Average CEO tenure7 in the U.S. fell to eight years in 2012 from 10 years in 2010 according to a May report from the U.S. Conference Board. Given the thin ranks of women in upper management on both sides of the Atlantic, however, the personal decisions of female top executives tend to raise eyebrows8. Whether it is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer cutting her maternity9 leave short or Princeton professor Anne-Marie Slaughter10 leaving her U.S. State department job, women in high places often endure heavy scrutiny11 for their personal choices.
 
In Germany, where not a single women heads a major company, Stachelhaus' decision to leave has put her in the center of the working-women debate. Advocates of women in the workplace here saw her decision as a setback12 for German female executives, but it also gave ammunition13(弹药,军火) to those who say that women are not rising to the challenge of taking leadership in the business world.
 
One leading German business magazine contended that Stachelhaus actually left her high profile position because it was too overwhelming(势不可挡的) for her and not because of her husband's illness.
 
"Of course I thought about the signal it would send," Stachelhaus told another German magazine. "But I can't think about that now. I know what's important in my life, and my priorities are clear."
 
Stachelhaus's life and career have always been out of the ordinary in traditional German society. She met her husband, Willie, at the age of 17 at a youth camp. He studied music and she studied law. When they had their first son, her husband agreed to take care of him so he could have the freedom to pursue an artistic14 career without the pressure of earning a salary. Everyone from his barber to his doctor told Willie that he was making a mistake—he shouldn't be so reliant on his wife.
 
Though she admits she felt doubtful at times throughout her three-decade career, Stachelhaus ignored the critics because she knew she wanted to have a high-profile job. She first rose through the ranks at technology company Hewlett Packard's German operations, then did an 18-month stint15 at UNICEF, followed by three years at E.ON. Her husband would often bring her son by the office during her long days.
 
Even with the challenges of juggling16 both a demanding career and two sons, she said that she would have been unhappier staying at home, and would have regretted not having children even more. Much like the viewpoint espoused17 by Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, Stachelhaus wants to see more mothers in Germany continue to work after they have kids and not giving up when things get hard.
 
"I counsel many women who decide against kids that they are making a mistake," she said. "They should have the courage to do both." The issue, she continues, "is that many women cut back their work hours or quit if their kids start to have problems. Every kid has problems and somehow women always think it's them."
 
Stachelhaus insists that stepping away from a top management job now does not contradict her Lean-In-esque philosophy. Though she spends most of her day caring for her husband, she still serves as a consultant18 to E.ON and recently joined the supervisory board of U.K. technology firm Computacenter.
 
Instead, she believes her decision highlights a very different dilemma—the tension that comes with caring for aging parents and spouses19. It's an issue that both men and women at the prime of their careers will face as the workforce20 ages and demand for caregivers grows.
 
In that debate, Stachelhaus hopes she is sending a positive message to anyone facing the hard choice that comes with balancing family and work. 
 
"I am trying to be a good example for men," Stachelhaus says. "If their wives get sick they should do the same."


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 commuting d2c3874ec246fb1858841223ffe4992e     
交换(的)
参考例句:
  • I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
  • Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说,不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。
2 casually UwBzvw     
adv.漠不关心地,无动于衷地,不负责任地
参考例句:
  • She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
  • I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。
3 panorama D4wzE     
n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置]
参考例句:
  • A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
  • A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。
4 profusely 12a581fe24557b55ae5601d069cb463c     
ad.abundantly
参考例句:
  • We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力,累得大汗淋漓。
  • He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活,身上大汗淋漓的。
5 corporate 7olzl     
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的
参考例句:
  • This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
  • His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。
6 paragon 1KexV     
n.模范,典型
参考例句:
  • He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
  • Man is the paragon of animals.人是万物之灵。
7 tenure Uqjy2     
n.终身职位;任期;(土地)保有权,保有期
参考例句:
  • He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
  • Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。
8 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
9 maternity kjbyx     
n.母性,母道,妇产科病房;adj.孕妇的,母性的
参考例句:
  • Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
  • Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。
10 slaughter 8Tpz1     
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀
参考例句:
  • I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
  • Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。
11 scrutiny ZDgz6     
n.详细检查,仔细观察
参考例句:
  • His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好,但是经不起仔细检查。
  • Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。
12 setback XzuwD     
n.退步,挫折,挫败
参考例句:
  • Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
  • She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
13 ammunition GwVzz     
n.军火,弹药
参考例句:
  • A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
  • They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。
14 artistic IeWyG     
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
参考例句:
  • The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
  • These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。
15 stint 9GAzB     
v.节省,限制,停止;n.舍不得化,节约,限制;连续不断的一段时间从事某件事
参考例句:
  • He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
  • We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。
16 juggling juggling     
n. 欺骗, 杂耍(=jugglery) adj. 欺骗的, 欺诈的 动词juggle的现在分词
参考例句:
  • He was charged with some dishonest juggling with the accounts. 他被指控用欺骗手段窜改账目。
  • The accountant went to prison for juggling his firm's accounts. 会计因涂改公司的帐目而入狱。
17 espoused e4bb92cfc0056652a51fe54370e2951b     
v.(决定)支持,拥护(目标、主张等)( espouse的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • They espoused the notion of equal opportunity for all in education. 他们赞同在教育方面人人机会均等的观念。
  • The ideas she espoused were incomprehensible to me. 她所支持的意见令我难以理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 consultant 2v0zp3     
n.顾问;会诊医师,专科医生
参考例句:
  • He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
  • Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来,加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。
19 spouses 3fbe4097e124d44af1bc18e63e898b65     
n.配偶,夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
  • An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句
20 workforce workforce     
n.劳动大军,劳动力
参考例句:
  • A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
  • A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
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