Workplace Buzz: Today's Headlines

Everyone Benefits
It appears that Sarah Granger, who writes for the Silicon Valley mothers' blog svmoms.com, was on to something when she said mothers like her who earn a part-time salary are a "silent but growing majority." A few weeks after Granger e-mailed me about this in June, the Pew Research Center published a survey showing that many more working mothers would prefer part-time work if they could get it. According to the Pew survey, only one in five working mothers who have kids younger than 18 say that full-time work outside the home is the ideal situation for them. That's down from one in three who said this 10 years ago. San Jose Mercury News

Negotiating Skill
About 10 years ago, a group of graduate students lodged a complaint with Linda C. Babcock, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University: All their male counterparts in the university's PhD program were teaching courses on their own, whereas the women were working only as teaching assistants. That mattered, because doctoral students who teach their own classes get more experience and look better prepared when it comes time to go on the job market. Townhall.com

A Limited Scope
There has been a "flood" of workplace discrimination lawsuits filed since the mid-1990s because of "family care-giving obligations," including pregnancy and maternal care, the New York Times Magazine reports. According to the Times Magazine, family care discrimination lawsuits claiming workplace discrimination "were rare" until recently, in part because employers "could often get away with it." The 1993 Family Medical Leave Act guarantees workers some time off after childbirth, as well as for serious health problems and care for a sick family member. Kaiser Network