Workplace Buzz: Today's Headlines

Depressing Hurdle
A Dayton resident, French worked as a sales representative for a sheet music company, stocking music at stores throughout the region. That was years ago, before she was diagnosed with depression. "I just couldn't function anymore," French said. Making matters worse, French said she did not have a supportive supervisor at the time and ended up being laid off from her job in 2002 because of her illness. French, 46, who also was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, has been on disability ever since. Dayton Daily News

Missing Middle Ground
In an eye-catching national survey from the Pew Research Center released last month, fully 60 percent of working mothers now say part-time work is their ideal rather than full-time, compared with 48 percent a decade ago. One problem: Though it might be nice to think women's increased desire for part-time work is fueled by increased flexibility among employers and hence more opportunity, project director Paul Taylor says the survey found otherwise: The percentage of working mothers who actually work part time has stayed stable since 1997, at 24 percent. Seattle Times

Flexibility in the Law Office
You are a bright, talented and ambitious woman, busy climbing the ladder at your law firm, trying to grab that brass ring. But then life happens — you get married, a child is born, a parent gets sick — and the pressure starts to build. So, are you in or are you out?
In 2003, a New York Times Magazine article heralded “The Opt-Out Revolution,” the presumed trend of highly educated women entering the work force only to leave. Similarly themed stories followed in other national publications. Was this indeed a trend that was taking hold? San Diego Business Journal