Workaholic women less secure than men

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 12

Workaholic women less secure than men

Women who are compulsive workers are less satisfied with their lifestyles than their male counterparts. SHARON JOHNSON, NZPA - ‘‘New York Times,” reports on the latest American studies.

He was a 30-year-old compulsive worker who put in more than 50 hours a week at an investment banking firm. He earned a third more than his male colleagues who worked 40 hours a week. He considered himself an overwhelming success. She was also a 30-year-old who worked more than 50 hours a week at a rival firm. She earned only slightly more than her less industrious female colleagues. She has strong doubts about her success. “Women workaholics don’t reap as many rewards and seem to have more selfdoubts than do male workaholics,” says Mary Whiteside, assistant professor of statistics at the Graduate School of Business, of the University of Texas. “Women workaholics also seem to pay a greater price for their career devotion. They are more likely to be

single or divorced or marry several times than men workaholics.” Professor Whiteside and her associate, Susan Mosier, surveyed about 1500 men and women who had received Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas from 1920 to 1980 to determine what impact their education had on their lives. They found that 52 per cent of the workaholic women — who reported that they worked 50 or more hours a week — had remained single, compared with 17 per cent of the men. Fifteen per cent of the women had been divorced compared with five per cent of the men. Such women had also reaped fewer material rewards. The men reported that ' they earned 30 per cent more than did male graduates who worked less than 50 hours a week. On the other hand, female workaholics earned only 13 per cent more than the less industrious women. The average salary and benefits of the male workaholics totalled $86,350, compared with $45,500 for female workaholics. “Women workaholics were less likely to perceive themselves as successful than either male workaholics, or men and women graduates who worked less Sian 50 hours,” Professor Whiteside says. A majority of female workaholics said that they derived more pleasure from their careers than from leisure or family., "Workaholic women were the most in agreement with the statement ‘My career is the focal point of my life’,” said Professor Whitest. “The group that most

strongly disagreed with the statement were female nonworkaholics. The workaholic men tended to agree with the statement, but not as much as did the women.” Dr Marilyn Machlowitz, a New York psychologist who did a pioneering study of compulsive work among both sexes in the early 19705, said the workaholic women might have difficulty finding men to marry because “women tend to marry up.” Workaholic women and their mates also have different perceptions of what marriage should be like, she said. "If one partner thinks that dinner is something popped into the microwave, and the other thinks dinner is an elaborate meal by candlelight, then the relationship is doomed,” says Dr Machlowitz, author of the recently published “Inside Moves: Corporate Smarts for Women on the Way Up” (Careertrack Publications). “Male workaholics often think that they would be happier with the traditional wife, but it doesn’t always work out that way because such wives sometimes resent the workaholic’s absences.” The female workaholics Dr Machlowitz interviewed were especially concerned about their ability to combine a career with parenthood. “Women workaholics tend to be overtuned to the responsibilities of parenthood, and undertuned to its pleasures,” she said. “That is sad because children provide women who achieve with the opportunity to care for someone else, which they cannot get- from their jobs.” A desire to maintain more balance in life causes

some women, especially those in their early 30s, to seek therapy to cure their addiction to work, according to Dr Jay Rohrlich, a Wall Street psychiatrist and author of, “Work and Love: The Crucial Balance” (Summit Books). The first step in curing work addiction is to find out why people have put work first. Soirie women, Rohrlich said, are “binge workaholics.” They use work to resolve a stressful situation. For example, some women work incessantly after a divorce because they feel rejected by their mates and fearful for their futures. For other female workaholics, devotion to work began in childhood. Some were neglected by their parents, and turned to work to give them the sense of fulfilment they lacked at home. Other women had had chaotic childhoods and liked to work because it is highly defined. Helping these women to find pleasure in leisure and relationships often helps them put less emphasis on work. “Many workaholics are able to shift their emotional priorities to love and leisure,” Rohrlich said. “They do not necessarily work with less effectiveness, but they do seem to enjoy life more.”