Remote Work Empowers Female Professionals

With the advancement of online collaboration technology, corporations worldwide have been experimenting on remote work for many years. The pandemic and “stay at home” orders further sped up a full transition to working remotely, especially for technology companies (i.e., Twitter, Dropbox, Square, Salesforce, etc.). As more organizations are pondering whether they should move to full or partial remote work, research on the female career trajectory may provide some useful insights for leaders.

Since remote work can be completed anywhere, it has expanded the scope of career choices for all. How can this empower female professionals?

Let me explain:

One of the primary obstacles for women’s career development, especially for married women, is that they often prioritize their significant others’ career.[1] Therefore, they may be more flexible in their career choices — meaning they are more likely to accept less desirable offers or turn down transfer offers (coupled with promotion) to be in the same geographic location with their significant others.^[2] Therefore, with remote work freeing couples from having to compromise one person’s career for the other’s, it can especially benefit female professionals’ career advancement.

Secondly, female career development research has long pointed out the negative impact of childbirth and maternity leave on females’ career progression and occupational mobility (switching employers after childbirth is found to negatively affect a female’s career).[3] On the other hand, having children has been found to enhance or not affect a man’s career.[4]^,[5] Reviews on female career trajectory found that female professionals who are allowed to have more flexible working hours after childbirth are less affected by childbirth.3 For instance, allowing them to work part-time or have reduced working hours after childbirth to slowly transition back to full-time work. Unfortunately, these options are only found in a few female-dominated occupations.

Remote work allows such flexibility for females before and after childbirth. By working from home, they have more autonomy in determining work hours and spending time with their newborns. It can also help them catch up with work more easily without having to worry about a career pause or even quitting the labor force.

Not to mention that companies who offer full remote work options tend to offer generous maternity and paternity, even pawternity/furternity leave (time off for taking care of pets) policies. They are also rated by employees to have more inclusive and supportive cultures.

Moreover, the less female professionals have to sacrifice their careers or experience career interruptions, the less likely they will lose career advancement opportunities. The positive impact of remote work on females is beginning to show. Even long before the COVID pandemic, it is estimated that in 2016 women make up 42% of the leadership at remote companies, compared with 14.2% in S&P 500 companies.[6]

However, to achieve gender equality in the workplace, remote work alone is not the solution. Studies show the sudden shift to remote work during the early stages of the pandemic, along with closing of schools and childcare centers, further revealed and reinforced a gender inequality in domestic division of labor.[7]^,[8] To make sure remote work can fully benefit female professionals, we cannot ignore the important role of a mature childcare system and continuing to promote awareness of gender equality.

There is still a long way to go.