Felice Schwartz

Felice Schwartz
Born	Felice Toba Nierenberg January 16, 1925 New York
Died	February 8, 1996(1996-02-08) (aged 71) Manhattan, New York
Alma mater	Smith College
Occupation	Writer, advocate
Known for	Founder of Catalyst, Inc., writings on the mommy track

Felice N. Schwartz (January 16, 1925 – February 8, 1996) was an American writer, advocate, and Harvard Business Review in 1989. The article pitted her against other feminists, such as Betty Friedan, for pointing out the differences between men and woman and their functions in the workplace.^[1]

Background

Schwartz was born Felice Nierenberg on January 16, 1925, in New York, to businessman Albert Nierenberg and his wife Rose Irene née Levin. After attending boarding school in Cooperstown, New York, she enrolled in Smith College, where she graduated in 1945. In 1946, she married Irving Schwartz,^[2] a physician, with whom she raised three children. After her father's death in 1951, she took over the ailing family manufacturing business with her brother, which they successfully saved and sold four years later.^[3]

Career

After graduation from Smith in 1945, Schwartz sought to address the extremely low ratio of African American students at the college. Because she was one of only a few [4] and she left to become a full-time mother after the birth of her second child. She had a third child and ultimately was out of the workforce for nine years. During this time, she became frustrated by the obstacles preventing educated mothers such as herself from entering or re-entering the workforce.

In 1962, Schwartz contacted the presidents of several colleges, and a handful of them became the board of directors of [4] Schwartz went on to lead Catalyst as its president for 30 years until her retirement in 1993.

Over her career, Schwartz was a prolific writer. The piece that she is probably best known for, entitled "Management Women and the New Facts of Life," was published in the Harvard Business Review in 1989. The article was interpreted as suggesting that companies create two career paths to accommodate women who wished to balance career and family and women whose career was their primary concern. It sparked a heated debate after The New York Times ridiculed Schwartz's idea, dubbing it the "Mommy Track."^[5] Schwartz, however, maintained that her article was misinterpreted, saying, "I violated the politically correct thing by saying that women are not just like men. What I said then and still say is that women face many, many obstacles in the workplace that men do not face. I was saying to that group of men at the top, 'Rather than let womens' talents go to waste, do something about it'."^[6]

Schwartz died on February 8, 1996 in Manhattan.^[6]

Notes