This issue of our quarterly e-newsletter leads off with a look at the renewed spotlight on the issue of work-life "balance," (we and some others prefer the term "integration"), sparked a provocative article in The Atlantic by Princeton professor and former Obama administration official Anne-Marie Slaughter.  Read it and "weigh in"!

The issue of "work-life balance" has been around for decades - indeed, even longer - but gained traction in the 1970's and more recently as women started advancing into leadership positions in the workplace in greater numbers. While much of the discussion has been oriented toward the white-collar workforce (ignoring the challenges long faced by blue-collar, minimum wage workers - see Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich), it has resulted in a "having it all" yardstick of success.

The issue has come to the forefront in the US in recent months, starting off with a much-followed/shared TED Talk by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (see link below and quote above), in which her message to women was essentially to "man up" and not shrink back from going for it.

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders

Partially in answer to that exhortation comes an article in the most recent issue of The Atlantic by Anne-Marie Slaughter. A professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton, Slaughter recently resigned from a high-level position in the Obama administration, citing her inability to successfully juggle the professional and personal demands on her time. Here's a link to a news story on CNN focused on the article and the issue of balancing work and family:

CNN: Can women truly balance work and family?

It's caused quite a conversation in the blogosphere. Here are links to a few of the postings and commentary:

• a global perspective on "having it all" in ForbesWoman 
• The Grindstone 
• Mommy-ish 
• an article and op-ed commentary in The New York Times   

Our take on this controversy? It's certainly pointed out some of the key advantages of creating your own balance by starting a business: flexibility, setting your own schedule and being the mistress of your own fate. Our research has shown that this constellation of drivers is second only to passion for an idea in attracting women (and men) to business ownership. Too bad this recent spike in attention on "balance" isn't pointing out that entrepreneurship is an important avenue that many women are choosing to better integrate work and family needs.

Two new items of interest in the "research round-up" category: a new report from NFIB, Chase Card Services and the Center for Women's Business Research investigates how women business owners are weathering the recession, and a new book from Susan Coleman and Alicia Robb analyze data from the Kauffman Firm Survey to learn more about how newly-launched women-owned firms are leveraging capital to grow.

• In Small Business: Lessons of the Recession, NFIB Foundation Senior Research Fellow Denny Dennis finds that more women business owners survived the recent economic recession by controlling costs than by ramping up sales efforts, but that nearly half (49%) still have sales volumes lower today than in 2007. However, in a signal that the worst may be over, fully 45% are looking to increase staffing, while just 9% are trimming employment. 
• In a new book, A Rising Tide: Financing Strategies for Women-Owned Firms, Susan Coleman and Alicia M. Robb analyze data from the Kauffman Firm Survey - a large-scale panel study which is following firms that launched in 2004 for six years - to learn more about how they are (or are not) leveraging financing to grow their businesses. Among their findings:  
• Women launch their enterprises with lower levels of capital than do men ($71,000 compared to $134,000) and the share of that capital that is externally derived is lower (52% compared to 61%).  
• Financing strategies/levels also vary ethnically, with African American women business owners launching with significantly lower amounts of capital and Asian women the highest.  
• The gender gap in start-up finance is greatest among newly-launched Asian-owned firms and lowest among Hispanic-owned firms.  

One of Womenable's most favorite aphorisms is "if you can see it, you can be it." Of course, the opposite can also be true, hence the value of shining a light on role models and sharing stories of success.

Here are two items we'd like to share in that regard. First, over the past eight years, Forbes has published a list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World. On that list last year were 58 CEOs and other senior business leaders. This year, Forbes is opening up the nominating process, calling for our suggestions on who to include. Let's make sure even more business leaders are on that list, shall we?

Check out this link to learn more. For inspiration, read the profiles of the women on last year's list or on some of their other lists, including Power Women Who are Next in Line for CEO, Asia's Power Business Women, the Most Powerful Women in Tech, and the 20 Most Powerful Women in Politics.

Secondly, there's a great new web site that's sharing stories of women's business success - The Story Exchange. It's a great place to get inspired, and to learn about the wide variety of ways that women are making a difference in business. The web site is home to dozens of professionally-produced (and easily shareable) web video interviews of interesting women business owners from around the world. Here's one of my favorites:

Judi Henderson Townsend -- Mannequin Madness

Speaking of stories, I'd like to close this e-newsletter with a tribute to my mother, who recently passed away and who instilled in me both a great love of literature and stalwart feminism. Below are some of the women authors I've gotten to know and love through the recommendations she passed along to me during her years as a bookseller and business owner of The Cottage Book Shop. I pass their names along to you, my fellow womenablers, just in case you may not have read some of them.