Katy Roewer: Part-time leader fights for equality at work

Katy Roewer: Part-time leader fights for equality at work

How do you manage to balance work and family without losing sight of your own career? Katy Roewer knows this challenge all too well. She has been working as a part-time board member for ten years and has developed a clear strategy to do justice to both her job and her son. For the first five years after the birth of her child, Roewer had a four-day week, which she organized with a Monday off. She now organizes her work week so that she can spend time with her son on Monday and Friday afternoons. This model allows her to maintain a balance between professional and private life and still work more than 80 percent.

Katy Roewer emphasizes that a well-thought-out part-time model is essential. For them it is clear: “Part-time management” requires trust in the employees. Her departure from the full-time model is not only an invitation to other women to do the same, but also a call not to let family obligations hold back one's own career. “Responsibility for the family and household shouldn’t just lie with women,” she explains and clearly advocates for equal rights in partnerships. Thanks to the support of those around her, both at work and privately, she was able to create the necessary framework conditions at an early stage and thus gain planning security.

The sometimes invisible hurdles of part-time employment

But the image that Katy Roewer conveys could be deceptive: many employees, especially women, who work part-time to raise children or care responsibilities, face serious disadvantages. For example, the income situation for many of these employees has deteriorated, and the possibility of increasing the proportion of working hours represents a real obstacle. The city of Hamburg, among others, reveals these facts in its current reports. Around 80 percent of part-time employees are women, and they often perceive this situation as an obstacle to their careers. Leave of absence and part-time employment are perceived as major hurdles when it comes to development in professional life.

In order to counteract these challenges, politicians are relying on a new law that obliges departments to actively offer family-friendly working hours, including teleworking, and thus ensure a better work-life balance. All jobs, including management positions, should generally be viewed as suitable for part-time work. The time is ripe to focus not only on women but also on men and support them with family-friendly services.

The look forward

Katy Roewer has recognized the signs of the times and lets us share in her success at a remarkable point. She could also switch to a full-time contract, but sees many advantages for herself and those around her in the combination of part-time work and family life. The challenges she faces are not just individual, but represent a larger societal picture. In doing so, she shows that part-time work is not an outdated model, but rather an opportunity for many to be successful in their careers and at the same time not neglect their family.

As the current trend towards part-time work shows, we should all be challenged to find new ways to achieve equality between men and women. Because in the end, responsibility for the family must rest on many shoulders.

Further information on the topic of part-time employment and its challenges can be found in articles by, for example Haufe and the reports on family-friendly work structures Hamburg.de. Katy Roewer shows us that there is a place for family in the business world and that every decision should be carefully considered.

The future of the part-time model is just waiting to be taken up by many more leaders.