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American Morning

The Big Question: Are Some Women Quitters?

Aired March 26, 2002 - 07:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The big question this hour: Are some women quitters? Some of America's most accomplished women are moving on.

Earlier this month, Oprah Winfrey announced she will be resigning her daily talk show duties after the 2005-2006 season. It's a bit off, but Rosie O'Donnell too, as you know, is leaving sooner than that. She is actually leaving her daytime talk show this coming May. And then there is Cokie Roberts, who is giving up her network hosting duties, Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift, who has decided not to run, to name two more.

Why are these women quitting at the top of their game? Joining us now from Washington, former Democratic Congresswoman Pat Schroeder. She herself left the House in 1996 in the prime of her political career, but I think if I remember correctly, Pat, you left because you had been there a long, long time and wanted to try something new -- good morning.

PAT SCHROEDER: You've got it. You have got it. Good morning -- how nice to see you.

ZAHN: It's nice to see you as well. So what do you make? Is there any of this -- is there any pattern at all that we are looking at here?

SCHROEDER: Oh, I think we are seeing men do this too. Look, we are living longer, which is very important, and we are healthier longer. And I think the whole idea that you start something at 20 and you are still there at 80 is a little bit much for most of us, so people do see this as change. I do think for women, they are still the primary caregiver in most families, and so that can be a real change factor.

You have seen the studies that keep coming out saying that while women may have a full-time job, they are still doing 90 percent of the care giving in most families. So what they really have is almost two full-time jobs, and it's conceivable some of them say that's enough. My guess is someone like Oprah, my goodness, who could be more successful than that? And she probably sees 15 other challenges she'll take on. And you know what? She will probably do really well at them too.

So there is any... ZAHN: Well, isn't that the bottom line? Yes, isn't that the bottom line with the examples we are showing here this morning, these are women who can afford to have a choice? They have made millions and millions of dollars.

SCHROEDER: And isn't that exciting? I mean, think of women 100 years ago. There was no way in the world they had those opportunities through that choice, and they must be looking down from Heaven thinking, oh, if we had only had the chance. But, yes.

Now, on the other hand, that's a great privilege, and there are many women who are the sole earners in their family, single women at the minimum wage, and we should never forget them, because this is just not an option for them. And we need to do a much better job of getting more opportunities and more help for them too.

ZAHN: And while you have acknowledged that women, of course, have made great strides in many different industries, there also has to be a cold, hard reality confronted here. And we're going to put up on the screen a survey from Catalyst, which is a nonprofit organization that provides research on women in the labor force. And they found that only six women were CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Now, that comes out to 1.2 percent of all CEOs.

SCHROEDER: Absolutely.

ZAHN: Will this change

SCHROEDER: Well, I hope so, but you know, it has sure been slow. I got elected in 1972. There were only 15 women in the House then, but if someone had told me by the year 2002 there would be 60, I would have said, no, no, no. We are moving much faster than that. And of course, we didn't. And we see the same in the private sector. It has been a lot slower than we think.

One of the things, to be very serious about this, is I think while we say no man is an island, I think a lot of women still feel like they are an island out in the workplace. There really isn't quite the support for them. There isn't the backup, the work and family issue, all of those seem to impact on them. So it's still a hard row. At least the doors are open, and we can do it, but it isn't the easiest go in the world either.

ZAHN: All right. Well, we appreciate your joining us and sharing some of your thoughts with us this morning. Pat Schroeder, probably no one has worked harder out there than you to help make life easier for moms who choose to stay at home and moms who have to work outside the home -- thank you...

SCHROEDER: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: ... for your time this morning.

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