Can Women Truly Have it All?

The message for working women everywhere seems clear: the ability to make it to the pinnacle of your profession lies in an either-or game: choose between your career and your family. While society encourages women to take on multiple roles, it also compels them to make a decision about their priorities and the meaning of success in their lives.

The new book published by Wiley-Blackwell, Women at the Top – Powerful Leaders Tell Us How to Combine Work and Family seeks to destroy this stereotype of the professional woman. Authors Diane Halpern and Fanny Cheung present a new look at how women can create dually-successful lives and be a mother, wife, employee, boss, and friend all at the same time.

Using the best psychological research and personal interviews with some 60 top professional career women with families – most of whom currently hold prominent leadership roles in the US, China and Hong Kong - Women at the Top is a compilation of compelling and candid anecdotes of discrimination, disapproval, humor, and above all, personal satisfaction.
Some topics explored in the book include:

Ø Learning from Mothers, Mentors, and Others – The importance of the mothers’ role in shaping the confidence and perception of children’s gender roles, and the importance of mentorship and support among groups of professional women.

Ø Leading as Women: Styles, Obstacles, and Perceptions – Explores how women function uniquely and effectively in high-pressure situations, and how they develop styles that often complement their at home roles.

Ø Happy Homemaker, Happy Marriage — The Female Executive Edition – Clues on how to negotiate at home responsibilities and knowing when to “let go.”

Ø How to Lead a Dually Successful Life – Advice on how to avoid “negative work-life spill-over”, with solutions including outsourcing, multitasking, honoring flexible hours, social support, and seeing the situation in the context of cultural climate.

Moving testimonies of high-level executives are contrasted to form a comprehensive view of the working woman in modern society, providing a roadmap of sorts to help women navigate through their own challenges. Interviews with the President of Old Navy/Gap, the Chairman of IBM’s management group, China’s Supreme Court Judge, as well as with members of the International Women’s Forum, the All-China Women’s Federation, the National Congress of Women, and the China Association of Women Entrepreneurs, are weaved throughout the book.

The topics explored in Women at the Top will benefit all working mothers in the general public as well as caregivers responsible for elder care. Students and researchers of business, gender studies, psychology, leadership, organizational development, feminist issues, and family studies will also find it valuable to their continuing education.
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Additional information on the book is available at http://as.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405171057.html
Media wishing to receive a copy of the book for review in their publication, or schedule interviews with the author should contact Alina Boey, Senior Manager Corporate Communications at aboey@wiley.com or phone +65-96565580.

About the book
Women at the Top: Powerful Leaders Tell Us How to Combine Work and Family
By Diane F. Halpern and Fanny M. Cheung
Publication Date: October 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4051-7105-2; 320 pages; US$29.95

About the Authors
Diane F. Halpern is a past-president of the American Psychological Association, as well as Professor of Psychology and Director of the Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children at Claremont McKenna College. Diane has published over 350 articles and many books including, Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking (4th Ed.); Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities (3rd ed.), a special two-volume edited issue of the American Behavioral Scientist entitled Changes at the Intersection of Work and Family (edited with Heidi R. Riggio, 2006) and From Work-Family Balance to Work-Family Interaction: Changing the Metaphor (edited with Susan Murphy, 2005).
Fanny M. Cheung pioneered the field of gender and women’s studies in Hong Kong by founding the Gender Research Centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1985, and is its current Director. >From 1996-1999, she took leave from the University to serve as the founding Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission, a statutory body that implements the discrimination legislation in Hong Kong. She has served as a Delegate to the National Congress of Women in the People’s Republic of China for the past 11 years, and a member of the Women’s Commission of the Hong Kong SAR Government from 2001 to 2006. Cheung is currently Professor of Psychology and Chairperson of the Department of Psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

About Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley’s Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more information on Wiley-Blackwell, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com or http://interscience.wiley.com.

About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Peace.

Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.

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