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ernance, stewardship, or management with an effective delegation of authority and responsibility.
Possible Directions. During the past forty
years, North America has come to appreciate the
power of diversity in optimizing quality in any setting. Jewish communal structures, however, have
missed powerful lessons regarding diversity, and
they exhibit behaviors that are sexist and ageist to
their own detriment. If one were to use the term
"young professional7' instead of "woman" in most
of these articles, one would find a similar sense of
frustration. The field desperately needs to confront
its sexism and ageism, for it cannot afford to lose
the power, knowledge, and effectiveness of a large
leadership pool.
One of the concepts being discussed within the
context of the previously noted Advancing Jewish
Women project is the adaptation of "Sullivan-like"
principles. The Sullivan Principles, which helped
transform apartheid South Africa to a more equitable state, were simple declarations to which (investing) institutions could subscribe. We must encourage every Jewish organization to sign on to
principles of equity and equality in the workplace,
including collecting and making public data regarding hiring, retention, and promotion. If the chief pro-
fessional and volunteer officers were to sign on to
equity principles, we could begin to better sensitize
and encourage a healthy norm while isolating the
violators.
Similarly, we must learn from the positives of
affirmative action in the larger society. Imagine
that every search committee required a qualified
female finalist for any job search. Done seriously,
we would locate scores of talented women who
could help facilitate the debates we need to better
serve our constituencies. I concur with my colleagues as to the importance of mentoring and
other components of creating positive change.
Chazan's use of "self" aptly illustrates the value
and impact of these components in leadership
development. However, I also implore that we
become more assertive, more just, more effective
in demanding what our community deserves —
the best that we can deliver in smart, effective organizations, using all of those precious human
resources available to us.
Jeffrey R. Solomon is President of the Andrea and
Charles Bronfman Philanthropies. He previously served
as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of
UJA-Federation of New York.
Balancing Work and Family:
A Leadership Dilemma for Women
Judith Glass
H
ow do we understand the problem of
women moving into leadership positions?
Whose problem is it? And who is responsible for solving it?
The problem can be analyzed on three levels: 1)
deficiencies in individual women; 2) role responsibilities; 3) institutional structures. The first level addresses women's leadership styles and temperament. The problem is hers; the solution is remedial
programs and mentoring.
The second level looks at gender roles and the
totality of responsibilities that women carry in the
society—how women split their allegiance between
work and home. The problem is still hers; the solution lies in managing the family differently.
Sh'ma • April 2002
The third level looks structurally at what underlines the relationship between the organization of
the family and the organization of work. The way
we work is based on an outdated model of the family. The problem is institutional; the solution lies in
changes in the work site if women are to assume
leadership roles.
Compounding this analysis is the increased
working hours of all professionals because of
downsizing and competitive pressures. Women's
working hours have increased more than those of
men due to the combination of labor market work
and responsibilities for housework, child care, and
elder care. If we want more women in positions of
leadership, then we must acknowledge and accom-
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modate women's "second shift" at home. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild's research shows that women
work as much as an extra month of twenty-fourhour days each year.
While the strong norms in Jewish organizations
of "working for the common good" and "the work
is never done" lead many to give priority to the demands of their work lives, it is done with an element of resentment- Some professionals feel that
the worst enemy of the Jewish family is the Jewish
community — because of its time demands.
In a recent study exploring the extent to which
professionals who work in the Jewish community
experience tension between their work and personal
lives, and what organizational changes would help
them, several issues emerged of particular pertinence to leadership positions. The research, conducted by the Progressive Jewish Alliance, found
that, consistent with national trends, Jewish professionals are increasing their working hours — 64 percent of the men and 35 percent of the women work
more than 50 hours a week. For women working
the "second shift," the long hours required for a
leadership position become impossible. Eighty-nine
percent of our sample agreed that family responsibilities inhibit the careers of women more than men,
and two-thirds agreed that career advancement in
the Jewish community is harder for women.
In many ways, traditional role expectations continue to characterize the Jewish community. Implicit
both in interview data and in the questionnaire results is, the extent to which women still do most of
the care-giving and home maintenance, and the extent to which it is assumed that they will continue
to do this. The costs to them are both slower career
advancement and stress from overwork. There is
no similar expectation on the part of women or men
that men ought to bear these costs equally.
Based on this research, both gender roles and
the institutional structures of work need to be addressed if women are to take on greater leadership
roles.
Here are some questions, the answers to which
can facilitate the search for solutions:
What is the profile of the working Jewish family? Are roles changing, and if so, how? Can we measure, specifically for professional women in the Jewish community, the "second shift"?
Control over work time (e.g., comp time,
flextime, job sharing) is high on the list of desired
accommodations, as are subsidized childcare, particularly for early morning and evening meetings,
and on-site conveniences. How can the organization of work be restructured, and how can jobs be
redesigned so that we work smarter and not longer?
What amount of community resources should be
spent on fiscal and organizational support for those
who do the community's work?
We will not significantly increase the numbers
of women in leadership positions if we regard them
as deficient — that is, as more needy of mentoring
or further education in time /management, team
building, or other skills than are men. We need to
address the organizational structure and culture of
our institutions.
Judith Glass, Ph.D. is a former Director of the MBA
Program at the University of Judaism, and chaired the
Jewish Feminist Center in Los Angeles for several years.
Currently, she is Vice President for Programming of the
Progressive Jewish Alliance, supervised this research
•project, and authored the analysis. The entire study, "Balancing Work and Family in Jewish Non-Profit Organizations," can be found at: www.pjalliance.org.
Leading by Example: Philanthropy and Transformation
Lynn Schusterman
C
harles Schusterman was my husband, my
best friend, and my philanthropic partner.
We worked together to form our family
foundation, to develop our philanthropic agenda,
Sh'ma * April 2002
and to pursue our shared vision of helping to promote a renewal of Jewish life throughout the world.
Both of us were intimately involved in every aspect
and detail of our foundation from its inception in
o
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