Most parents carry needed skills into workplace | Aug 13th 2006
By Jacqueline Dooley
Lately I’ve become obsessed with the modern paradigm of work and how it influences family life. I’m fascinated with women’s role in the work force (myself included) and how mothers, in particular, are perceived by their colleagues, managers and peers.
Last year, a study titled, “Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?” conducted by researchers at Cornell University, revealed a unique form of discrimination directed at working mothers.
The Cornell researchers created resumes for fictional applicants all of whom demonstrated equivalent skills. The only differentiating factor for the applicants, besides their gender, was some of them were clearly marked as parents.
A group of 192 university students were then asked to evaluate the hypothetical job seekers for a marketing director position. Apparently, past research reveals that undergraduates and real-life managers value prospective job applicants similarly.
The findings were disturbing.
- After evaluating the resumes, participants said they would hire 84 percent of the women without children, compared with only 47 percent of the mothers.
- When asked how many days the applicant could be late before they would not be seen as “management material,” the mothers were allowed significantly fewer days than non-mothers.
- When the resumes were altered so fictional mothers became fictional fathers, the study actually found fathers are in no way disadvantaged. In fact, fathers were often seen as more committed to their jobs than non-fathers.
I’m not a sociologist or an expert in the field of female anthropology, but I am a working mother. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say mothers are perceived as less desirable employees than fathers because the perception is a mother’s top priority is her children, thus the company cannot come first.
I’m not refuting the vast majority of mothers put their children first — before the company, before their husbands and often before themselves, but I do take issue with the fact it implies mothers are not valuable assets to a company because of this.
Dedication expected
The corporate ego is strong. Employees who cannot or will not work long hours, travel, routinely work weekends and do so without complaint may be judged as less dedicated than employees who do all of the above, and more. Anything less than 100 percent dedication is obviously frowned upon. But is this perception correct?
I would love to see less head shaking and resentment from the corporate collective because an employee needed to take some time off to be a good parent. As business owners and managers, we need to pick our battles.
If you are in a position to hire someone, ask yourself:
- Would you prefer to work with someone who is unqualified, uninterested and resentful (but sitting at their desk 12 hours a day) or someone who is enthusiastic, fully engaged and loves their job (but is also a mom) for eight hours a day?
- If your employee routinely meets or exceeds her deadlines and your expectations, works well with others and is adored by your clients, then does it really matter if she leaves at 4:30 p.m. each day so she can pick up her child from day care?
- If you provided support and flexibility, job security and opportunities for career growth to a working mother, do you think she would EVER want to leave?
- Do you think that providing a flexible, supportive working environment for all parents, regardless of gender, enriches and gives back to the community?
- If the working parents of America (and there are a lot of us) don’t take time to raise our children, then who will?
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This article was published in the August 12, 2006 edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal.