Snakes and Ladders

Everyone probably remembers playing the board game Snakes and Ladders, where you climb up levels along ladders, until you win, unless you slide down snakes, and have to start (at least part of) your climb again. A bit of a simple, and probably often used metaphor for women's careers (I haven't googled this, as whenever I do come up with a thought and google it, I realize it has been covered dozens of times, already decades ago, which is rather disencouraging). Both women and men usually start at some base level, and attempt to progress along their career ladders. There may be glass ceilings that limit the number of levels women can reach, or the length of ladders they can climb. Having kids is like hitting a snake in a career. The longer you stay at home (irrespective whether mom or dad), the longer the slide down - perhaps even off the career board. And maybe having more kids also means that the length of the snake increases, no matter how short of an absence you take. I think that many moms (and maybe also dads) at some point question whether they should re-enter the game, or climb ladders. Many women decide to stay at home (quasi-)permanently, which is a choice I have a lot of respect for, but personally would not choose. The second point is something I grapple with. How much time and effort (and limited energy) am I willing to invest into trying to climb to the next level? And would I be able to balance family and work once there? The slide is worth it each and every time. Is the (re-)climb? I guess these are questions that one can only pose if there is no real financial incentive to start climbing (e.g. a tax code that discourages married women from working, high daycare fees, etc). But I nevertheless hope that the question is whether we choose to climb those ladders, and not whether those ladders exist for us... Ps. There's an interesting "Free Exchange" column in this week's Economist on behavioural economics. I'm sure such an analysis would be key here (and if I'd google, would find out it has been done, for decades). Pps. Also from the Economist, I realized just how out of touch I am with the art world: "Zeng Fanzhi, a Chinese painter who is probably the richest artist in the world." Time to google.