UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Sister Talk book club discusses work-life balance for women and men

Women have made great progress toward equality in the workplace, but much work remains to be done, particularly in achieving work-life balance for both women and men.

That was the topic of East Carolina University’s Sister Talk book club, which met Thursday afternoon to discuss Anne-Marie Slaughter’s “Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work and Family.”

This best-selling book is an expansion of Slaughter’s landmark 2012 article in The Atlantic, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.” Slaughter, a former dean at Princeton, writes that combining career and family is not just a women’s issue but a cultural issue also affecting men, and that employers’ policies should reflect a higher value on caring for family.

Sister Talk book club discussed

“It’s about creating a new normal,” said sophomore Michelle Kellett, a communication and political science double-major. “It was awesome to hear different perspectives, especially from women of the generation who helped start women’s leadership at work.”
Sister Talk book club is a program of the Women’s Roundtable at ECU. Students from several campus programs – Access Scholars, Student Treasure Chest, and Pirate Navigators – were able to hear life lessons from campus leaders like Gail Herring, chair of the Women’s Roundtable.

The event was hosted by Nancy Ballard, wife of Chancellor Steve Ballard and an ex officio member of the roundtable, at the chancellor’s residence. The book club launched in the fall of 2013 to enhance leadership skills and promote intimate conversation between ECU students and women in leadership.

“I think it went well, and the conversation flowed easily,” said alumna Sarah Moran ’15, a member who led the discussion for the first time. “It’s great to hear from women at various stages in life. It gives us the ability to learn from others.”

The book club is a great way to get young minds reading, thinking and talking about relevant issues as they consider their paths in life, according to Nancy Ballard. She says she’ll miss interacting with students when Steve Ballard steps down this summer. Participants presented her with gifts in appreciation of her support as hostess over the years.

“Don’t worry too much if you don’t know what you want to do with your life,” she told the students. “Just enter the world with wide open expectations.”

Sister Talk book club is a program of the Women’s Roundtable at ECU. Membership is kept small to facilitate intimate discussions of women’s leadership between students and campus leaders.