Is technology truly helping career-oriented mothers?

Technology can be an invaluable resource for keeping working mothers connected to work without having to spend endless hours out of their homes

Working moms have an advantage. They are independent and reap financial rewards, which offers them a chance to raise the standard of living of their families. However, juggling full-time jobs in today’s knowledge economy is no mean feat. For a working mother it means racing between work and her kids’ activities. This often leads to stress and the need to constantly plan ahead.

In recent years technology has played a part in alleviating some of the inadequacy felt by a large number of working mothers. Still the question being asked is whether modern technology is truly helping working moms achieve the goal of work-family equilibrium?

Perhaps technology might not be able to completely bridge the gap between work and watching one’s child grow or the enormous emotional gratification it gives parents. However, with the advent of modern day tech gadgets, moms who work do feel a lot better about their own psychological wellbeing.

To start with, technology and social media tools have proven to be an invaluable resource for keeping working mothers connected to professional contacts without having to spend endless hours out of their homes. Electronic gadgets, for instance, help in initiating new conversations with businesses and customers who can easily facilitate non-traditional careers that several working mothers choose to opt for. Smart cell phones are a case in point.

Technology undeniably opens up more opportunities for working mothers. Gone are the days when moms used to wait at the doctor’s office and thereby fritter away their productive time. Now mothers can multi-task while taking their kid for a routine medical check up with e-mail, phone calls and scheduling appointments possible at the click of a button.

Not surprisingly 30 per cent of moms in the UK work full-time. The employment of women in the UAE private sector is governed by chapter three (articles 27-32) of the federal law. Although the emirates still has fewer working mothers, companies like Microsoft, Fed Ex, Pepsi, Marriott, Merck Serono, THE One, SHUAA Capital, Bayt.com, Zayed University and Dulsco have done tremendous work to make it easier for such women to work in these places.

The trend is widespread. Recently technology major Yahoo hired Marissa Mayer as chief executive officer (CEO). The fact that the 37-year old Mayer, a much-respected former Google executive, is pregnant did not stop the Fortune 500 company from hiring her. The new Yahoo boss announced, “My maternity leave will be a few weeks long, and I’ll work throughout it.”

The ramifications of technology can be felt in a large radius. Earlier it used to be quite a challenge for working moms to take that extra educational degree to enhance their career prospects. Taking online degree programmes due to easy availability of Internet and laptops is now ‘doable’. Technology has also made it possible to take tutorials from the comforts of home.

Similarly video conferencing via your smart phone is a very ‘in’ thing. A mother can stay home with her sick child and still not miss out on that key business presentation. High speed Internet, sleek tablet computers and new age smart phones have made it expedient to avail of these facilities from anywhere.

While technology certainly affords us flexibility, skeptics say that there are downsides to ‘more connectivity’. Since working moms can be contacted anytime and anywhere because it is convenient, there are apprehensions that this uber-connectivity may end up taking up whatever time professionals could otherwise spare for their kids.

Clearly the foremost priority for a working mother is the need to balance between work and home. Despite the technology, mothers who work require to get — and stay — organised. Staying ahead of the game and getting support from the partner can prove to be rewarding in this regard. Technology can never be the magic formula. It can only facilitate such an arrangement.