A Career Over The Long Run

Career ambition is one of the topics that Anne-Marie Slaughter has been criticized for not discussing in her recent book, "Unfinished Business" and related recent opinion pieces.

Some critique her for not pointing out that few women become executives in part because many women are simply less ambitious than men. Others have criticized her for not focusing enough on the way women should "own" their career ambition.

Her essay today takes on those challenges by pointing out that being on the "mommy track" or decelerating career for periods of time in the name of family care-taking for parents, spouses and children, is not the same thing as abandoning ambition. Most of us are understandably busy and live intensely in the present so it's easy to forget that a career has a long arc.

She says — and we agree — that returns to more career-focused periods are something that open-minded employers should support for those women who are ready and able.