The article by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of 20-First, one of the world’s leading gender consulting firms and author of Seven Steps to Leading a Gender-Balanced Business (20-First), says professionally ambitious women only have two options when it comes to their personal partners: “a super-supportive partner or no partner at all”, because “anything in between ends up being a morale- and career-sapping morass”.
A survey of Harvard Business School graduates showed that more than half the men expected their careers to take precedence over those of their wives, while most women expected equal opportunities in their marriages.
It’s no surprise, then, that a shocking 60% of late-life divorces are initiated by women in their 50s who’ve grown tired of unsupportive spouses and opt to focus on their own flourishing careers instead.
DESTINY asked a few local ambitious career women whether they’d consider this option.
Phamela Baloyi (24), a pilot based in Giyani who was recently featured in DESTINY’s Power of 40 list of dynamic young women, says having a supportive partner is of the utmost importance to her and she’d stay single if she couldn’t find one. “A life partner is someone you talk to on a regular basis who encourages, motivates and advises you when you need it. It has to be someone who’ll understand the dynamics of your work. A partner who doesn’t support you won’t be able to offer you the encouragement, motivation and advice you need and definitely won’t understand why you have to work certain hours or be away on certain days. For me, these are important aspects in achieving success in my career. I want to be with someone who’ll be proud of my work and my growth in my career. I believe the partner you end up with will either make or break you,” says Baloyi.
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