April 26, 2002

by NOW Staff

The announcement that senior Bush adviser Karen P. Hughes is leaving the White House to return home to Texas made front-page news across in the U.S. this week.

Hughes said Tuesday that she will leave Washington this summer to return home with her husband and teenage son, who are reportedly "homesick" for Texas. According to a number of sources, Hughes will continue to work for the Bush administration, but without the long hours and extensive travel she experienced supervising the day-to-day operations of the White House's communications, speechwriting and media offices.

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said the news of Hughes' change in work structure spotlights the need for more attention to family-friendly work environments. She hopes that someday, such career shifts won't necessarily be viewed as unusual news events. "Women will have arrived when these kinds of decisions make the front pages as often for men as for women."