Why Male Execs Should Start Taking Paternity Leave

Female CEOs face quite a bit of scrutiny over how they handle maternity leave—for example, a sample headline about Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's recent decision to take only a brief, working leave: "Marissa Mayer’s Two-Week Maternity Leave Is Bullsh*t"—but no one gets on male CEOs for failing to take paternity leave. It's time for that to change, writes Julia Greenberg in Wired. Mayer has been criticized for setting a poor example for her female employees, but what about male employees? "Parental leave benefits only make a difference to the extent that employees feel confident they can take advantage of them," Greenberg writes. "It’s understandable workers might worry that, whatever the official policy, taking time off could put their standing on the job and future opportunities at risk."

That's why, even though more tech companies are offering generous maternity and paternity leave benefits, male executives need to actually take advantage of those benefits in order to assure those below them they won't be penalized for doing so. "Research has shown that parental leave significantly benefits not just women—and companies—but men as well," Greenberg writes. "Dads who take extended time off are more likely to play an active role in child care and have higher satisfaction with parenting." Click for her full piece. (More paternity leave stories.)