Social Science Grant Explores Pro-Work Behaviors and Parenthood
Proposal Title: Pro-Work Behaviors and Parenthood: An Analysis of STEM and Non-STEM Faculty
PI: Julie Kmec, Associate Professor of Sociology, WSU
Funded: 2010
Project Overview and Link to ADVANCE Initiatives
Cultural expectations of the “ideal” worker and the “ideal” mother are at odds. The “ideal” worker works long hours, is dedicated, and has few (if any) interruptions from home or childrearing (Acker 1990; Hochschild 1997; Williams 2001; Crittenden 2001; Blair-Loy 2003). The “ideal” mother spends most of her time and emotional energy caring for children even if she has a professional career (Hays 1996; Ridgeway & Correll 2004). By contrast, “ideal” workers and “ideal” fathers are a much better fit and a “good” father works to support his family (Jacobs & Gerson 2001; Williams 2002). These different views of parenthood and job compatibility for women and men have implications for the employment outcomes and job rewards of mothers and fathers in academia. Indeed, a growing body of evidence suggests that employers reward men for being fathers and penalize women for being mothers (Williams 2001; Crosby, Williams, & Biernat 2004; Correll, Benard, & Paik 2007; Benard & Correll 2010; Budig & Hodges 2010). Despite a growth in interest in the differential treatment of working mothers and fathers, few have investigated differences in mother’s and father’s pro-work behaviors (PWB)—behaviors consistent with “ideal” workers—or, for that matter, whether parents display lower PWB than non-parents (see Kmec 2010). What is more, we have yet to study how academic workplace cultures pattern the parenthood-PWB relationship.
This project addresses these gaps and provides leverage on unanswered questions about the gendered parenthood-job compatibility link in academia by comparing mother, father, and non-parent differences in PWB among STEM and non-STEM faculty at WSU. The proposed investigation extends what we know about work behaviors by taking into account the role of workplace culture. Academic STEM fields oftentimes have “lab coat cultures” where running experiments for up to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week is the norm. We do not know how such a culture affects mothers’ and fathers’ PWB, however. By comparing academics in STEM versus non-STEM disciplines with potentially different cultures, I hope to gauge how context shapes PWB and if it does, whether it does so differently for mothers, fathers, and non-parents. [1] This study proposes two questions: (1) Do academic mothers report lower—and academic fathers greater—PWB than parents of the opposite sex and non-parents in academia? (2) To what extent are reports of PWB different for mother, father, and non-parent in STEM versus non-STEM academic disciplines?
Link to ADVANCE Initiatives
The proposed research directly informs the initiative aimed at facilitating integration of tenure-track faculty careers with workers’ family and personal lives. Universities are largely silent about the effects of parenthood on careers, especially among STEM mothers (see Kittelstrom 2010), and this silence often leaves parents feeling devalued. By drawing attention to the issue of PWB and parenthood, my research will encourage a conversation about academic parenthood. It will do so by educating departments/units about how the culture they establish matters for parental productivity, encourage chairs and deans to reexamine hiring and promotion practices to ensure they are free from biased standards that hurt parents.
Works Cited
Acker, J. 1990. Hierarchies, jobs, and Bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society 4, 139–158.
Augustson, A. 2010. Workplace Culture and Productivity. Unpublished manuscript, University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy Studies.
Benard, S., and Correll, S.J. 2010. Normative Discrimination and the Motherhood Penalty. Gender & Society 24: 616-646.
Blair-Loy, M. 2003.Competing devotions: Career and family among women Executives. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Budig, Michelle and Melissa J. Hodges. 2010. Difference in disadvantage: Variation in the motherhood penalty across white women’s earnings distribution. American Sociological Review 75: 705-728.
Correll, S., Benard, S., and Paik, I. 2007. Getting a job? Is there a motherhood penalty? American Journal of Sociology 112, 1297-1338.
Crosby, F. J., Williams, J.L., and Biernat, M. 2004. The maternal wall. The Journal of Social Issues 60, 675-682.
Hays, S. 1996. Cultural contradictions of motherhood. Yale University Press. New Haven, CT.
Jacobs, J. A., and Gerson, K. 2001. Overworked individuals or overworked families? Work and Occupations 28,40-63.
Kittlestrom, A. 2010. The Academic-Mother Handicap. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Retrieved October 25, 2010, http://chronicle.com/article/The-Academic-Motherhood/64073/.
Kmec, J. A. 2010. Are Motherhood Penalties and Fatherhood Bonuses Warranted? Comparing Pro-Work Behaviors and Dimensions of Mothers, Fathers, and Non-Parents. Revised and Resubmitted to Social Science Research.
Mason, M.A. & Goulden 2004. Marriage and Baby Blues: Redefining Gender Equity in the Academy. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 596: 86-103.
McQuillan, J., Greil, A.L., Shreffler, K.M., Tichenor, V. 2008. The importance of motherhood among women in the contemporary United States. Gender & Society 22: 477-496.
Monosson, E. 2010. Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out. ILR Press: Ithaca, NY.
Ridgeway, C. L., and Correll, S.J. 2004. Motherhood as a status characteristic. Journal of Social Issues 60: 683-700.
Williams, J. 2001. Unbending gender: Why work and family conflict and what to do about it. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Williams, J. 2002. ‘It’s snowing down south’: How to help mothers and avoid recycling the sameness/difference debate. Columbia Law Review 102, 812-833.
Xie, Y. and Shauman, K.A. 2003. Women in Science: Career Processes and Outcomes. Harvard University Press.
[1] Dr. Pam Bettis, a WSU ADVANCE small grant recipient, is analyzing WSU STEM and non-STEM department/unit mission statements in an effort to understand their workplace cultures. Should I receive funding, I anticipate asking Bettis to join me on parts of this project. Her mission statement analysis coupled with my survey results should give a detailed portrayal of WSU’s academic workplace culture.
Wilson-Short Hall 249
