By KC Cox
Women (and men) should not be penalized for being parents, spouses, and adult children of aging, and/or ill parents whenever they take a break from a career. Instead of creating barriers for women who attempt to return to work, would-be employers should create opportunities and support systems to welcome women back to work. Providing such opportunities will enhance society by capturing women’s experience, permitting children to thrive based on mothers who can work and care them without compromising one for the other, and ultimately help economies to thrive. Therefore, I found myself asking, “how can we make it easier for women to obtain employment after taking a career break?”
I assist nurses in Texas wishing to return to work after a career break as an instructor for a blended 16-week course. Many of the nurses who take the course do so after seeking employment and receiving countless rejections base on the unemployment gap on their resume. The nurses tell me that they had no idea that the gap would affect their ability to work again. Unfortunately, that is the case, and these nurses find themselves in a situation that they were not expecting. Therefore, a proactive approach is needed to minimize the detrimental effect of career breaks for women. A prototype of workshops and other interventions that inform healthcare professionals about how to take a career break to mitigate or remove barriers upon returning to work seems like an appropriate place for this retired United States Air Force officer to start.
Serving in the USAF for 30 years, I excelled at working with people from all areas of the health professions. I realize my rank and positions may have made that easier to accomplish, rather than if I were not in command positions with the ability to impact a person’s career. However, I also know that I am a creative and effective leader. So why shouldn’t an innovative leader try to address critical and social issues, such as those regarding race, gender, and healthcare disparities with an entrepreneurial spirit?
Although I realized that there were many intriguing topics to consider for doctoral study and research, I determined that I should narrow my interest areas. So, after many twists and turns and a cornucopia of questions, I decided to focus on removing barriers for women who wish to return to work after a career break based on literature reflecting this as a global problem.
And with that, my research agenda emerged. I want to consider a variety of topics for my research agenda, with one relating to healthcare disparities using entrepreneurial processes to create partnerships to attack those systems that contribute to disparities. I also have a keen interest in women entrepreneurs and the challenges that confront them. Oh, and did I mention social determinants of health? And there you have it . . . topic fatigue, but the best thing about this fatigue is the fact that I can work on all of these topics as long as I pace myself along the way.
My upcoming next steps regarding the career break aspect of my research agenda involve exploring the qualities and practices of successful entrepreneurs to inform a workshop/seminar curriculum to help women manage their careers for potential career breaks. The exploration includes interviews, a pilot study, literature reviews, and determining the existence of healthcare-related career-break programs.
My upcoming next steps regarding my critical issue research agenda include prioritizing and planning a specific course of action for one of the following subject areas:
o Women entrepreneurs
o Similarities between male and female entrepreneurs
o Race and entrepreneurship
o Healthcare disparities
o Educational access related to social determinants of health
o Initiative resulting from my work with the Action Research Health & Well-Being (AR/HW).
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