SO MANY articles report on the scarcely new phenomena of women dropping out of the workforce after years of investment in their careers and failing to achieve the upper ranks of success that barely a day goes by without an update on the subject. The purported reasons are often downright hilarious. This article in Forbes suggests a factor I have never encountered before. Larissa Faw writes:   

Men are twice as likely as women to advance at each career transition stage. One rationale [for why this occurs] is that men are more likely than women to do things that help their personal wellbeing at work, thus negating burnout, according to the Captivate Network. Men are 25% more likely to take breaks throughout the day for personal activities, 7% more likely to take a walk, 5% more likely to go out to lunch, and 35% more likely to take breaks “just to relax.”

Faw does not attempt to explain the Lazy Career Man. She suggests that women “tapping into their Type-A personalities to combat this fatigue” with yoga, therapy and medicine may be the answer. Of course, she fails to mention the single most obvious reason why men burn out less: They don’t have the option to drop out. Women burn out because men support them. Though it seems implausible, perhaps men do take more breaks. They know they have decades of uninterrupted work ahead.

Please follow and like us: