Government mandated programs like the Family and Medical Leave Act and its predecessors have made it possible for working mothers to continue their careers. Increasingly, accounting firms and other types of businesses are helping women break the glass ceiling by partnering with them in balancing work and family. Some of us had meaningful programs long before the government launched their programs.

Sharon Katz-Pearlman is a Senior Tax Specialist in our New York office. She's the mother of four children, including twins. When she was hired by KPMG, she was allowed to work a flex-time schedule, coming into the office only three and sometimes four days a week, so she could spend more time at home. This alternative work arrangement has gone so well that Sharon recently became one of the first flex-time employees to make partner at KPMG, a trend that I expect will continue. Flex-time allows Sharon the chance to arrange her work schedule around special events for her family, and still put in enough time to be a very valuable partner at our firm.

More and more women are breaking into management ranks. Statistics from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the number of women with management positions increased 113% from 1983 to 1995. Though the percentage of women in higher management is still relatively low, I predict that we will see a similarly large increase in female corporate boardroom representation.

In fact, many firms are actively looking for women to fill those higher positions. That's not to say that they are hiring unqualified women, but merely looking at the statistics. If only 10% of higher echelon positions are filled by women, and 47% of the managerial ranks are women, it's clear that there are many talented women just waiting to be promoted.

Many companies have special mentoring programs to identify outstanding female employees. These programs match women who have been with the firm for a short time with those who have more experience, with the hope that experienced females can guide the younger ones through the maze of their career as a working woman.

Whether it be through networking or alternative work policies, companies want to make sure that their valuable female employees are given every opportunity to rise to their fullest potential. I predict and look forward to the time when "the glass ceiling" will be an outdated word like "floppy disk" or "8-track".