Advocates of gender preferences charge that, despite signs of success, an impenetrable glass ceiling still renders women powerless in reaching the highest positions in corporate America. While that charge is little more than illusion, it may come as a surprise that men are struggling to achieve parity with women in the workplace.

Men function in a psychological glass cage that ties them to high-pressure, demanding jobs. But until recently, there has been little attention paid to the plight of men in the workplace. "Daddy Stress" the title of the current Forbes cover story highlights the slowly changing corporate culture that is now beginning to recognize the importance of balancing work and family life for men.

Men are learning what working women have known for years—that it is difficult to juggle heavy work schedules, family demands, domestic responsibilities, etc. Some men are now choosing less-demanding careers with more flexible work schedules and others are implementing more family-friendly policies within their own organizations so that they may spend more time at home.

Women now account for 60 million of the nation’s 138 million workers and have more than doubled their salaries, in real terms, over the past 50 years. Today, about one in five married women is earning more than her husband. These trends are expected to continue as more women pursue higher education, seek professional career tracks, have fewer children and bear them later in life, and as men assume more domestic responsibilities. But as fast as women are achieving professional success, they are also fleeing corporate America.

Many women are instead establishing their own firms and fulfilling their desire for more flexibility and independence. Today, women-owned businesses account for one third of all firms in the United States. Women are also engaging in job-sharing arrangements and telecommuting in greater numbers, reflecting both the individual’s desire for a more flexible lifestyle and the employer’s acknowledged interest in allowing greater freedom. Many men are now exploring these options.

Mary Beth Grover, author of the Forbes article, concludes: "Should we condemn the modern economy for putting fathers in a state of conflict between their homes and their jobs? We should not. If the fathers of a century ago were not conflicted it’s because many had no choices; they spent 60 hours a week working just to put food on the table. It comes down to this: Enlightened corporate policies will make more choices available to employee-fathers, but they will not alter the fact that choices have to be made."

The gender breakdowns in the workplace increasingly reflect those choices. Despite many men’s desire to have it all, they still log more work hours, spend more continuous time in the work force, and spend less time with their families. Before lawmakers and gender victimization feminists cry for equal representation of women in the upper-echelons of corporate America, they should heed the time-tested proverb and be careful what they wish for.

— Naomi Lopez

Director of PRI’s Center for Enterprise and Opportunity