Facebook COO: Working Moms Need Help from Working Dads

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/01/30/The_Gender_Agenda_Putting_Parity_into_Practice

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg reflects on her own experiences as a mother and a woman in the corporate world to call for social change in the work / home balance between men and women. "We all lose because of this (imbalance)," she says. "We limit women's ability to contribute in the workforce and, even more importantly, we limit men's ability to contribute at home."

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Companies perform better if their female talent is equally integrated, but a decade of data reflects only marginal change in this area. How can we move beyond awareness towards action?

In partnership with the World Economic Forum, CNBC hosts this debate focusing on gender parity. - World Economic Forum

Sheryl Sandberg joined Facebook in March 2008 as chief operating officer. In this role, she is responsible for Facebooks business operations, including sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy, privacy, and communications.

Ms. Sandberg joined Facebook after six years at Google, where she served as vice president of Global Online Sales and Operations. In that role, she built and managed Googles online sales channels and managed global operations for Googles consumer products.

Ms. Sandberg was also a leader for the companys philanthropic efforts. She created the Google Grants program, which donated over $240 million dollars of advertising to nonprofits worldwide. The Economist called her the unseen driving force behind the creation of Google.org, Googles philanthropic arm, where she served as a founding member of the board and led the search for its executive director, Larry Brilliant.

Prior to joining Google, Ms. Sandberg was the chief of staff for the United States Treasury Department, where she helped lead its work on forgiving debt in the developing world.

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[kausidya]

I raised my daughter 6 months before I joined military. While my wife worked. Honestly men, I think we are getting the short end of the stick. I'd rather miss out on 10 careers than miss out on my child's childhood.

[fathead8489]

Women don't want men to contribute at home. They want them out in the work force bringing home cash. Just ask if any women would be willing to work full time while the man does all the house work assuming she earned enough. They would be immediately turned off by him and call him "lazy" or a "loser".

Yet at the same time they think being a mother is a full time job when they do it. Feminist want women to have to choice of staying home of working. Yet think men should only be machines for labor.

[victorsvoice]

@fathead8489 Visit manwomanmyth and avoiceformen com

[Poetamo]

@Mrmoc7 but when women do the same thing is not slavery? how the hell is that? don't housewives live their lives in fear of their husbands then?

[namrataaro]

A fact we are all ready to accept so willingly!

[WhiteKnight20111]

Is she fighting to get dads equal custody in divorce cases?

UNDOUBTEDLY SHE IS NOT.

[HoustonManilatdbl]

@fathead8489 Actually, I am a woman and I work full time while my husband stays at home and runs the household. He moved across the world with me so that I could pursue a great career opportunity. When we have children in the near future, he will likely be the one to stay at home while I continue to work. I do not think he is lazy at all. In fact, I greatly admire (and so do my women friends) that he is confident enough in his life and in our relationship to stay at home while I work.

[KiwiFirefly]

@truthadvocate I totally agree that each couple is unique. Still, she probably has a fair point that society has certain gender expectations and it is very hard to step outside of those. If a guy wanted to be the primary child rearer while his wife pursued a high-paid career, he wouldn't be able to help feeling a bit awkward in certain social situations. Sheryl Sandberg's aim is to have more women in leadership positions, a role which would certainly require a lot of support from their partners.

[KiwiFirefly]

@fathead8489 You have a good point in that it is pretty hard, socially, for a guy to be the one supporting his wife - even if he wants to. There are a lot of assumptions created about a guy who chooses to 'stay at home' and not many of them are nice. It's not true that women don't want men to contribute at home though. Lol, they want them to do both! (Unreasonable ask I know...) In the end, it's about finding some sort of balance - and changing the way society views men taking on domestic tasks.

[AlrightBub]

Facebook has ended proper human communication!

[doedicurus]

@Lazzzyeye she's talking about choices of lifetstyle for both women and men. She did not say there is a cospiracy set up by men. She's simply making the case for changing our expectations of men and women based on their gender roles so they can make wiser career decisions. You find that sentiment objectionable?