employment

The way we speak-our accent and the type of language we use-doesn't always leap to the front of some people's minds when thinking of first impressions, but it does shape people's perceptions, for the benefit or to the detriment of the speaker. "One of the prejudices we have especially as Americans, is if we don't hear English-the King's English-we naturally tend to write people off as not being intelligent and that's the biggest mistake we can make," says Charles Ramos.

Is the American workplace flexible enough to support a work-life balance for women? Are women "opting out" of their careers or are they being forced out? As the "mommy wars" rage on, we take a deeper look at women in the workplace: how some face environments hostile to mothers, children and the demands of family caregiving - and what small changes could benefit everyone involved. With Bernie Jones, editor of "Women Who Opt Out: The Debate over Working Mothers and Work-Family Balance."
Original airdate: 05/19/12

Getting a job in this economy is hard, but even harder with a disability. We'll hear from a disabled listener about her job hunt, and from Kate Fialkowski, executive director of The ARC Maryland, about how the workplace is changing for some impaired employees. And as the National Federation of the Blind calls for a boycott of Goodwill because some of its locations pay some disabled workers less than the minimum wage, we’ll hear from both sides.

A voicemail message from listener Mary O'Toole, about her struggle to find employment as a disabled person, prompted the question: what is the labor market like for disabled Americans?