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Motherhood and its impact on
career progression
Bryan McIntosh
Business and Economics, Richmond University, London, UK
Ronald McQuaid and Anne Munro
Employment Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University,
Edinburgh, UK, and
Parviz Dabir-Alai
Business and Economics, Richmond University, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose – After many years of equal opportunities legislation, motherhood still limits womens’
career progress even in a feminized occupation such as nursing. While the effect of motherhood,
working hours, career breaks and school aged children upon career progression has been discussed
widely, its actual scale and magnitude has received less research attention. The purpose of this paper
is to examine the impact of these factors individually and cumulatively.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper considers the impact of the above through a
longitudinal analysis of a demographically unique national database, comprising the 46,565 registered
nursing workforces in NHS Scotland from 2000-2008. The variables examined include gender,
employment grades, number and length of career breaks, lengths of service, age, working patterns, the
number and age of dependent children.
Findings – The results indicate: motherhood has a regressively detrimental effect on women’s career
progression. However, this is a simplistic term which covers a more complex process related to the age
of dependent children, working hours and career breaks. The degree of women’s restricted career
progression is directly related to the school age of the dependent children: the younger the child the
greater the detrimental impact. Women who take a career break of greater than two years see their
careers depressed and restricted. The results confirm that whilst gender has a relatively positive effect
on male career progression; a women’s career progression is reduced incrementally as she has more
children, and part-time workers have reduced career progression regardless of maternal or paternal
circumstances.
Originality/value – This paper is the only example internationally, of a national workforce being
examined on this scale and therefore its findings are significant. For the first time the impact of
motherhood upon a women’s career progression and the related factors – dependent children, career
breaks and part-time working are quantified. These findings are relevant across many areas of
employment and they are significant in relation to broadening the debate around equal opportunities
for women.
Keywords Career breaks, Career progression, Dependent children, Employment, Motherhood, Nursing,
Working hours, Gender, United Kingdom
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1754-2413.htm
The authors thank the Editor and the reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments
on the original draft. The authors also take this opportunity to acknowledge the significant part
the Information Service Division (ISD) of the NHS in Scotland and the Scottish Government has
contributed to this research, in particular, Andrew Davidson of ISD.
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Gender in Management: An
International Journal
Vol. 27 No. 5, 2012
pp. 346-364
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1754-2413
DOI 10.1108/17542411211252651
Introduction
Nursing is a profession strongly associated with women: women historically and
currently form the majority of the workforce (Information Services Division (ISD),
2009). However, male nurses have relatively greater career progression in comparison
to their female colleagues. In Scotland, national statistics reveal that while women
comprise 89.90 per cent of the whole-time workforce and 97.49 per cent of part-time
employees. This representation is not translated into senior positions as at the
30 September 2008, showed that 27.59 per cent of senior nurse manager positions were
held by men who represented only 10.10 per cent of the nursing workforce (ISD, 2009).
While the effect of gender, working hours, career breaks and schoolaged children upon
career progression has been discussed widely, its actual scale and magnitude effect has
received less research attention. The association between motherhood and reduced or
restricted career outcomes is extensive (Ashcraft, 1999; Warren and Brewis, 2004; Ma
¨kela
¨,
2009). McQuaid and Lindsey (2005) observed that the organisation of work and the
practicalities of combining career and motherhood are significant contributory factors to
women’s relative poor performance. They were unable to establish the degree of impact,
however, they did note that motherhood directly affected the type of roles women can take,
prefer or are offered. Waldfogel (2007) described this as detrimental and termed it the
“penalties of motherhood” in terms of their career progression. She noted the difference in
men’s careers which suffer no disadvantage because marriage and family producelimited
or no career interruptions for them. She argued this penalty may last after the woman has
ceased to have childcare responsibility, indeed for their entire career, due to the negative
career effects of career breaks forming a “negative shadow” on their future careers.
McQuaid et al. (2009) observed that flexible employment, in terms of hours or part-time
work were appealing due to the relatively straightforward entry/exit/re-entry procedures
as they enabled women to combine work and family responsibilities more easily, but at a
cost to their long-term career. They argued that these constraints frequently force women
to take less “attractive” employments which accommodate personal circumstances on
reduced salaries and hours of work or both.
This paper is concerned with examining the impact of motherhood and its
cumulative affect on women’s short and long-term career progression. The Scottish
national nursing database affords the opportunity to examine the effect of motherhood
on career progressions longitudinally. This paper found that motherhood had a
statistically significant impact on women’s career progression. The term motherhood
masks a complex relationship between working hours, career breaks and dependant
family. Dependent children have a regressively detrimental impact on women’s career
progression, the younger the age of the child the greater the reductive effect. The
degree of impact is directly proportional to the age of the child. The cumulative length
of career breaks has a detrimental impact on women’s career progression but has no
discernable impact on their male colleagues. The mechanism by which relative career
disadvantages for women are transmitted is linked to the complex relationship
between dependent children, working hours, career breaks and motherhood.
Motherhood
The gender versus career progression debate is extensive in relation to employment
(Budig and England, 2001; Dex and Sheibl, 2002; Walby, 2005, 2007). Within the
narrative of motherhood the family has great importance.
Career
progression
347
Hakim (2006), argues that the majority of mothers do not have a strong personal
commitment to paid work or to a career and that after having dependent children. She claims
that the majority of women who enter occupations are adaptive – they choose these
occupationssotheycan“fitpaidworkaroundtheirdomesticrole,ratherthanviceversa”
(Hakim, 2000, p. 167). She argues that women reject the greater responsibilities and
additional hours of certain employment to concentrate on the family through personal
choice.
Houle et al. (2009) rejected Hakim’s position but recognised the impact of the family
in ensuring that the roles and expectation related to motherhood was “normalised”.
The family was the ideological site in which gender roles were constructed and
legitimised. They argued that concepts related to “the family” promoted the model of
the male as provider, head of the household and the wife as mother and nurturer as this
then socialised them into gender roles. They argued the pervasiveness and acceptance
of this model combined with a general belief in its importance and worth facilitated the
continued reinforcement of gender stereotypical beliefs, values and structures.
Longhurst (2008) observed these socio-structural constraints informed women’s
relationship to employment. Women’s choices and preferences in relation to paid work
are an outcome of the interplay between these factors. Women’s wider goals and desire
to succeed within the remit of the family framework facilitate a situation that result in
women limiting their career opportunities to accommodate these perceptions. For
women, perceptions directly linked to motherhood frequently led to their devaluation
in employment both as women and as employees. She argued the greatest career
inhibitor for women was the preference of employers for certain types of employees in
certain economic circumstances as opposed to women preference for any other working
arrangements. Fundamentally for many women there was no choice they were subject
personally and professionally to individual perceptions and economic circumstances.
She did note that in feminised professions, the degree of self regulated by women over
women reduced levels of support and acted as a barrier to career progression.
Legault and Chasserio (2003) built upon this in “Family obligations or cultural
constraints” they sought to examine the extent to which “commitment” is seen as
important to career advancement. They argued that women’s reasons for working
part-timewas defined by the narrative of motherhood, the familyand commitment to these
“roles” and “responsibilities”. Socio-cultural perceptions concerning work and
life commitments are the critical criterion which tie motherhood to employment
opportunities, career progression and career outcomes. Gatrell (2011) in “Managing the
maternal body: a comprehensive review and transdisciplinary analysis” of women’s
employment argues that motherhood stigmatizes the woman and is used as grounds for
control and exclusion ultimately resulting in lowered employer commitment towards
expectant and new mothers. She notes that women with young children are often
perceived by others to be less competent than women without children. Assumptions
about colleagues’ capabilities can lead to the exclusion of women with children from career
development opportunities because motherhood is believed, by other workers, to reduce
productivity and lower performance. Employers’ assumptions that women with young
children may be less competent than women without young children are often
accompanied by presumptions that women’s work orientation is lowered when they
become pregnant. Motherhood is associated, by employers, with a supposed reduction
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in women’s employment orientation. Employers’ anxieties about motherhood’s
commitment to employment are extensive.
The debates taking place within the literature generally centred on explanations in
relation to gender roles and generalisations. Legault and Chasserio’s (2003), Longhurst
(2008) and Gatrell (2011) research in that gendered perceptions and values, in particular
those directly associated with motherhood and work-life balance negatively impact on
women’s careers. Motherhood is often treated by employers as both a sign of women’s
lowered work commitment, and as disruptive to workplace routines.
Dependent children
Within gender literature there is a strong association between motherhood, dependent
children and women’s careers outcomes. Waldfogel (1999) observed that “it is a
well-established fact that women with dependent children earn less than other women in
the United States” (1999, p. 141) noting that no such family penalty exists for US men and
observed a gender dividend for men ranging from 10 to 15 per cent in terms of additional
income. Waldfogel (2007) stated there was a detrimental “family penalty” in relation to
women’s career progression. She argued that this penalty lasts for their entire careers
even after women have ceased to have immediate childcare concerns. Booth and
Van Ours (2008) linked woman’s labour market position not just to the presence of
children but their ages. Using British Household Panel data, they observed a link
between these factors but were unable to establish the degree of impact. Fourage et al.
(2011) also found a negative relationship between children and women’s labour supply.
This study used retrospective life history data for Germany, The Netherlands and Great
Britain to investigate the long-term effects of childbirth on mothers’ labour supply for
successive birth cohorts. Probit estimates with correction for selection into motherhood
and the number of births showed strong drops in labour market participation before first
childbirths and strong recovery after the birth of the last child, especially in Great
Britain. Younger cohorts display a less sharp decline in participation around childbirth
and a faster increase in participation in the 20 years after childbirth, especially in
The Netherlands. However, mothers’ participation rates did not return to pre-birth levels
in any of the countries studied. Ekin (2007) argued that this was intrinsically linked to
the cost and availability of childcare, especially before the child goes to Primary School
at around five years old (after which the childcare costs should reduce significantly as
they will be at school much of the day and alternative childcare provision is often
available). After the child reaches Secondary school age, at around 12 years, mothers are
more likely to go back to longer working hours or full-time work as the children are more
independent, need less childcare and spend more time in school.
There is a consensus within the literature which acknowledges that dependent
children are a critical factor in relation to women’s position in relation to career
progression. If differences in careers are a consequence of issues and perceptions
related to dependent children this “motherhood penalty” is significant as is its degree
of impact in terms of career progression and working patterns will be investigated,
particularly in relation to the age of the child.
Part-time working and motherhood
Coyle (2003) and Wise (2003) notes that as a consequence of part-time employment,
women cannot invest as much in developing their formal skills and there are pressures
Career
progression
349
from employer and employee given the need for work-time flexibility for those with
children. Even if the parent returns to full-time work at this stage, they are still likely to
suffer a long-term career disadvantage, as they may have missed out on the early career
development stages compared to contemporary men and women who did not have
dependent children. Men with children do not suffer a pay fall while their children are
young; hence there is a gender dimension. Gatrell (2005) noted that part-time working
afforded women a greater work-life balance. She observes that notions of “flexibility” are
applied differently to mothers and fathers. Social expectations about professionally
employed mothers and fathers, and work-life balance, are gendered. The pressure to
organise work-life balance, according to embodied and gendered social norms, is a direct
arbiter of gendered working patterns. McQuaid and Lindsay (2005) and McQuaid et al.
(2009) considered flexible employment, in terms of hours or part-time work to be
appealing enabling women to combine work and motherhood more easily, there was a
detrimental long-term impact on career outcomes. They argued these constraints
frequently force women to take less “attractive” positions to accommodate personal
flexibility on reduced salaries and hours of work, or both. Gash (2008) argued that the
desire for this flexibility after the birth of their first child resulted in move to part-time
work which continued for the next ten years and to a lesser degree for the rest of their
lives. Gash found that two-thirds of women, who worked on a part-time basis, had
restricted their careers. Paull (2006, 2008) argued that children were perceived to be
incompatible with work-time regimes and the daily practices and responsibilities
prevalent in employment and as a result careers are signific antly impacted by maternity,
childcare and family considerations.
The ability to work flexibly was socially and economically desirable for many
women. The pressures of motherhood resulted in women’s careers becoming secondary
to the family unit, and that in order to allow time for child-care women required
occupations with flexible hours.
Career breaks
The research into gender and careers has been long-standing and covered many
determining factors, notably differences in human capital (Grimshaw and Rubery, 2001).
There has also been a research emphasis towards organisational structures and policies
(Grimshaw et al., 2001). Within nursing, a predominantly female occupation, women
commonly have disruptions to their career due to family reasons – anecdotal evidence
highlighted the detrimental consequences of career breaks in terms of careers for women
(Whittock et al., 2002; Muldoon and Reilly, 2003). Davey et al. (2005) found an association
between career breaks and women’s acquisition of human capital. They noted the
negative impact of career breaks for caring for children with the ability of women to
progress from one grade to another and their long-term careers while having no
discernable upon men’s careers. They argued that the inability to accrue this form of
human capital was related to an individual’s career breaks. In addition, negative
perceptions about career breaks may be exacerbated by beliefs concerning turnover
costs, principally high staff turnover associated with women leaving employment
in order to take care of their families and children (Gregory and Connolly, 2008).
Again continuous experience was associated with the accumulation of human capital
and employers’ perception of human capital accumulation (Dex and Sheibl, 2002;
Manning and Robinson, 2004). Manning and Petrongolo (2008) noted that
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organisations tended to give preference and privilege to continuous employment, so
disproportionately handicapping of women who had taken a long-term career break.
Women with children (or childcare responsibilities) who spend less time in the labour
force than men, accordingly have less opportunity to invest in the accumulation of
marketable human capital.
This paper examines four separate but inter-linked issues – gender, working hours,
dependent children and career breaks and their impact on career progression of female
and male nurses. It quantifies the impact of motherhood and these associated factors
upon women’s and men careers separately and cumulatively. The next section outlines
the research methods applied with the subsequent sections examining career
progression by gender, working hours and in relation to dependent children, the paper
closes with conclusions.
Research methods
The database used for this study is the Scottish workforce database of 46,565 registered
nurses in the NHS from the start of October 2000 to the end of September 2008, supplied
by the ISD of the Health Department of the Scottish Government. The data
analysed included all registered nursing grades from entry level (Whitley council grade
“D”) to the most senior (grade “I”) in both full-time and part-time employment. Part-time
working is defined by the NHS as anything less than 30 hours worked per week (ISD,
2009). The analysis excludes temporary “bank” nursing staff or external agency staff
working on an ad hoc basis. The data was supplied in various formats and required
pre-processing to ensure consistency. The Whitley council pay and grading structure
was applied to all nurses across the UK who are employed directly by NHS organisations,
except certain levels of senior management. The Whitley Council grades were applied
throughout the period under examination and therefore serve as the point for analysis in
this paper. As this paper is concerned with motherhood and career progression, a
consistent grading system was a pre-requisite for this examination. The analysis ceased
in 2008 when the “Agenda for change” single pay system was fully applied.
Nurses with children (we refer to dependent children, requiring childcare
responsibilities, as “children” in the remainder of the text) are categorised by the age of
their youngest child: 12-15 years old (16 being the earliest age a child can legally leave
full-time education); five to 11 years old (primary school period); and under the age of
five 0-4 (pre-primary school). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis was undertaken in
order to provide a fuller understanding of the impact of gender, working hour
differentials, age of youngest dependent child upon employment grade (used as a proxy
for career progression), length of service and retention. As registered nursing grades are
an ordered category, it was appropriate to model all of the grades simultaneously
using grade as the dependent variable with six ordinal categories, grade “D” (entry level
registered nursing grade) to grade “I” (the highest register nursing geade prior to senior
nurse management posts). Career progression in nursing is generally an incremental
process usually from the immediately lower to the immediately higher grade. Career
progression for the purposes of this paper is framed within this description.
Analysis was based on those staff in post during all or part of the period 2000-2008.
Hence a censored approach was applied to prevent bias (Kleinbaum, 1995). In order to
develop an understanding of differences in career progression, a multi-factorial
approach to analysis was utilised so that more than one explanatory factor could
Career
progression
351
be considered. The Cox Proportional Hazard Model (Cox, 1972) was used to ascertain the
simultaneous impact of selected independent variables (continuous and categorical) on
length of service and to estimate the effect of a particular variable whilst controlling the
other variables. The Log-Rank test was used to test statistically whether subgroups had
the same survival curves (Kleinbaum, 1995), i.e. the time from the start to the last day of
service in the nursing post (or the end of the study period). A proportional odds model
was used to estimate the probability of having a post in the higher of adjacent higher
grade. The data was analysed using SPSS version 17.
Composition of workforce
Table I shows that the percentage representation of women without children
compared to those with children consistently increased incrementally from grade “F” to
the highest grade (grade “I”). Women with children, particularly those with children
aged under-12 were represented strongly in the lowest grades (“D” and “E”). There were
no major percentage differences between “G”, “H” and “I” grade male registered nurses
with children of school age and those men without children. There were significant
differences between grades “H” and “I” female registered nurses who were much less
likely to have children 16 or under years of age than female colleagues on grades
“D”-“G” grades the effects of the age of the child is considered below (Table II).
The percentage representation of women without children consistently increased
incrementally from the lowest to the highest grade. Representation of women with
children was the opposite, incrementally decreasing in the higher grades, with the
younger the child the lower their representation. A consistent pattern emerged whereby
full-time male workers had relatively more senior career positions in comparison to their
full-time female colleagues, particularly in relation to the senior registered nursing posts
(grades “G”-“I”). When the age of the child was considered, men with dependent children
under 12 years of age were generally represented at greater levels than their equivalent
female colleagues with the exception of grade “G” women with children aged between
five and 11. It appears the higher the grade the less likely women are to have (dependent)
children. However, this analysis fails to convey the full extent of the impact of the
dependent children on career progression as it excludes nurses with dependent children
who have left the profession or work as a casual “bank” nurses (i.e. women and men who
have left nursing to look after children are not included in the data). If they were
included then it is likely that the position of women with children would be even more
adverse.
The ages of the dependent children are important. When the demographic
characteristics of the staff are analysed in relation to dependent children a stark
relationship between grading and gender emerges. Women with children under five
years of age are more likely to hold lower graded posts. Once the child reaches
secondary school agea women’s career progresses positively as evidenced by the
prevalence of higher graded posts – “G”-“I”, most probably linked to women’s
increased flexibility in relation to work. Hence the age of dependent children is as
important to women’s career progression as is full-time working.
When part-time working is included within the analysis the disparity between male
and female nurses is amplified. The scale and preponderance of women with children
of a school age working in lower graded part-time registered nursing supports
the position that women, parenthood or motherhood and low grades are connected.
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Grade “D” Grade “E” Grade “F” Grade “G” Grade “H” Grade “I” All
Status F/T Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men
No children of school age (%) (18,027) 62.78 73.94 60.93 59.95 59.67 62.75 65.59 63.80 77.11 63.77 79.39 65.22 64.65 64.88
(4,517) (630) (4,753) (684) (321) (32) (3,344) (726) (1,920) (484) (466) (150) (15,321) (2,706)
Youngest child – 12-15 years of age (%)
(2,894) 6.92 5.05 8.32 8.24 12.25 13.73 16.40 17.22 10.32 18.97 11.07 17.39 10.00 12.56
(498) (43) (649) (94) (66) (7) (835) (196) (257) (144) (65) (40) (2,370) (524)
Youngest child 5-11 years of age (%)
(3,547) 12.10 6.69 13.75 12.88 16.03 13.73 14.81 14.06 9.00 13.57 6.47 12.61 12.84 12.06
(870) (57) (1,072) (147) (86) (7) (754) (160) (224) (103) (38) (29) (3,044) (503)
Youngest child under five years of under
(%) (3,401) 18.20 14.42 17.00 18.93 12.05 9.79 3.20 4.92 3.57 3.69 3.07 4.78 12.50 10.50
(1,310) (122) (1,322) (216) (65) (5) (159) (56) (89) (28) (18) (11) (2,963) (438)
Total F/T (%) 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
(7,195) (852) (7,796) (1,141) (538) (51) (5,092) (1,138) (2,490) (759) (587) (230) (23,698) (4,171)
Row (%) 30.36 20.43 32.90 27.36 2.27 1.22 21.49 27.28 10.51 18.20 2.48 5.51 100 100
Table I.
Full-time registered nurse
by age of youngest child,
grade and gender
Career
progression
353
Part-time
No children of school age (%) (7,314) 37.37 46.08 39.49 66.14 40.84 66.67 40.83 76.47 48.08 100 91.11 n/a 38.85 54.13
(3,203) (100) (2,987) (43) (214) (6) (617) (26) (75) (2) (41) (0) (7,137) (177)
Part-time
Youngest child – 12-15 years of age (%) (3,911) 20.57 20.74 21.23 18.48 19.08 33.33 21.11 23.53 32.69 0.00 8.89 n/a 20.92 20.80
(1,763) (45) (1,606) (12) (100) (3) (319) (8) (51) (0) (4) (0) (3,843) (68)
Part-time
Youngest child – 5-11 years of age (%) (4,217) 20.98 22.91 23.99 15.38 27.67 0.00 24.75 0.00 17.22 0.00 0.00 n/a 22.63 18.35
(1,798) (50) (1,814) (10) (145) (0) (374) (0) (26) (0) (0) (0) (4,157) (60)
Part-time
Youngest child – five years or under (%) (3,254) 21.08 10.27 15.29 0.00 12.41 0.00 13.31 0.00 2.01 0.00 0.00 n/a 17.59 6.73
(1,806) (22) (1,156) (0) (65) (0) (201) (0) (4) (0) (0) (0) (3,232) (22)
Total part-time (%) 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 n/a 100 100
(8,570) (217) (7,563) (65) (524) (9) (1,511) (34) (156) (2) (45) (0) (18,369) (327)
Row (%) 46.65 66.36 41.17 19.88 2.85 2.75 8.23 10.40 0.85 0.61 0.24 0.00 100 100
Table II.
Part-time registered
nurse by age of youngest
child, grade and gender
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While the data provided did not differentiate between those nurses whose youngest
children were adults it does show that senior registered nurses, grades “H” and “I”,
were much less likely than lower grades to have dependent children, especially
children under 12 years of age. In grade “I” no women with children under 12 years of
age were present. This pattern reinforces the connection between career position and
childcare responsibilities but it adds a further dimension, the higher the grade, the
older the youngest child.
Within the data there is a strong relationship between full-time working and the
occupation of senior registered nursing grades. When full-time and part-time equivalents
are considered, women without children in full-time working are over represented
compared to their male equivalents at the senior grades, however in part-time working;
men without children are over represented in all grades. Full-time working is the critical
arbiter for both men’s and women’s career positions, however, for women the age of
dependent children is a crucial factor. As the part-time workforce is 98.25 per cent female it
is in essence the domain of women. Part-time working is clearly linked to lower graded
posts and women with children. Their presence in such numbers, and as a percentage of
the workforce, strongly supports Gregory and Connolly’s (2008) position that the price of
reconciling part-time working and families is paid by women in terms of their career
position. As it is, women with children of all ages who work on a part-time basis work in
the lower graded posts whether this is due to job characteristics and availability, personal
choice or a mixture of both remains unclear; however, it is clear that they are concentrated
within this area. Within the data there is a large relationship between full-time working
and the occupation of senior registered nursing grades.
Gender and working hours
This section considers the impact of gender and working hours on the length of service
(as defined above), employment across the grades and retention. Over the eight year
period analysed there appears a strong correlation between gender and hours worked.
Table III shows that men who worked full-time stayed in post for the longest
uninterrupted period. The median length of time in post for male full-time nurses is
90 months and for female nurses 53 months. Conversely women remained longer in
part-time posts than men (77 versus 36 months) of full-time female nurses. Working
hours affect men and women differently – men regardless or working hours had
unrestricted clear trajectories, however, for women the hours worked clearly impacted
on length of time in post. The likelihood of a woman gaining employment in the higher
grades once gender and hours were combined was less than for a man.
Factor Group
Median
length of
time in
months
Relative hazard
(95% CI) p
Relative hazard
controlling for other
variables (95%CI)
p(controlling
for other
variables)
Male Full-time 90 1.339 (1.073-1.671) ,0.001
a
1.170 (0.936-1.463) 0.1679
b
Female Full-time 53 0.538 (0.485-0.597) ,0.001
a
1.271 (1.048-1.542) 0.0148
b
Male Part-time 36 1.334 (1.158-1.536) ,0.001
a
1.370 (1.184-1.586) ,0.001
b
Female Part-time 77 1.160 (0.948-1.420) 0.171
a
1.097 (0.896-1.342) 0.3693
b
Notes:
a
Log-rank test for equality of distribution;
b
Wald test
Table III.
Summary of survival
analysis by gender and
hours worked
Career
progression
355
Differences between men and women in part and full-time in nursing are reviewed in
Table III. Being a full-time male nurse is associated with a higher probability of being
employed at a higher grades than the female equivalents. This was particularly
prevalent to grade “G” compared to grade “F”, where males are over twice as likely to be
employed in a “G” as opposed to an “F” grade post as females (odds ratio of 2.184)) and “I”
to “H” (1.840). Part-timers are less likely to be employed in “E” grade as opposed to “D”
grade posts (0.782). They are even less likely to be employed in “G” grade posts
compared to “F” and so on. Overall, being a man and employed full-time increases your
chances of being employed in a higher grade post. Working part-time, regardless of
gender, reduces the likelihood of being employed in a higher grade post. The odds ratios
associated for length of service were positive and significant (except for “G” vs “F” which
was not significant), so greater length of serve is associated with being in a higher grade.
This supports Legault and Chasserio’s (2003) view that the full-time model of
continuous working is the preferred working model in employment. Given the
gendered nature of nursing and its workforce composition this is surprising. Women’s
careers in nursing are constrained by part-time working and there appears to be a
symbiosis with motherhood. Gender perceptions and values for better or ill still
materialise in the workplace. The relationship between perceptual values both
individually and professionally appears to directly affect and define women’s career
progressions. In a profession overwhelmingly female the continuing agency and
influence of gender stereotypes appear to still to be a reality. This could possibly be the
long term result for women in working a feminised environment such as nursing.
Longhurst’s (2008) position that women devalue the work of other women possibly has
great agency within this environment and is possibly a significant contributory factor
to creating career progression barrier. It does not produce a “glass ceiling” but a
“concrete” one. The degree to which participation and grade progression are related to
age of youngest dependent child is examined in the following section (Table IV).
Dependent children
The survival curves for the length of service, in the presence of censoring, are shown in
Figure 1. The three survival curves for men with children (under five, five to 11, 12-15
years old) have been amalgamated because they were very similar. So men are only
separated between those with and those without children. This grouping, for
consistency, was subsequently retained for the proportional odds model below.
Men, regardless of their circumstances, were less effected by children in terms of
remaining in employment. The likelihood of a woman remaining in service reduces
with the age of their youngest child. Those with children under the age of five were
Status D vs E E vs F F vs G G vs H H vs I
Gender (male vs female) 1.096
(1.004, 1.196)
0.779
(0.593, 1.023)
2.184
(1.662, 2.869)
1.066
(0.952, 1.193)
1.840
(1.536, 2.204)
Hours worked (part vs
full-time)
0.782
(0.748, 0.817)
0.960
(0.848, 1.087)
0.306
(0.268, 0.349)
0.197
(0.166, 0.234)
1.133
(0.805, 1.596)
Length of service (per year
increase)
1.025
(1.022, 1.027)
1.035
(1.028, 1.043)
0.994
(0.986, 1.003)
1.032
(1.026, 1.038)
1.022
(1.012, 1.033)
Note: 95 per cent confidence interval
Table IV.
Grade of employment by
gender, hours worked
and length of service:
odds ratio
GM
27,5
356
most likely to leave. Having school aged children is a major arbiter in relation to
women maintaining their employment. This supports Paull’s (2008) position that
children have little impact on the career progression of men regardless of the hours
worked; however the hours worked by women has a material impact on their careers.
Results from the proportional odds model convey the impact of dependent children
upon career progression in Table V. The rows below are partially equivalent
to multiplicative (interaction) effects of gender with age of youngest child. Most are
significant suggesting that interpretation should be focused at the higher level (i.e. at the
multiplicative effect).
Figure 1.
Proportion still employed
by length of service,
gender and age of
youngest child
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1471013161922523133744445255586166770737679885891997
Length of service (months)
Proportion still in Post
Women with children under
12 years of age
Women with children under
16 years of age
Men without children of
a school age
Men with children of
a school age
Women without children
of a school age
Women with children under
5 years of age
Status D vs E E vs F F vs G G vs H H vs I
Hours worked (part-time
vs full-time)
0.786
(0.751, 0.822)
1.027
(0.905, 1.166)
1.130
(0.793, 1.273)
1.242
(0.881 1.753)
1.255
(0.888, 1.773)
Presence of children
(yes vs no)
1.027
(0.982, 1.073)
0.986
(0.872, 1.116)
0.877
(0.768, 1.001)
0.845
(0.710, 1.006)
0.659
(0.602, 0.722)
Female nurses without
children (vs male nurses)
1.029
(0.907, 1.168)
1.377
(1.044, 1.816)
1.199
(0.875, 1.389)
1.389
(1.252, 1.540)
1.308
(1.099, 1.557)
Female nurses with
children 12-15 years of
age (vs male nurses)
0.950
(0.869, 1.038)
1.370
(1.033, 1.817)
1.054
(0.966, 1.15)
0.861
(0.774, 0.958)
0.819
(0.686, 0.979)
Female nurses with
children 6-11 years of age
(vs male nurses)
0.949
(0.867, 1.040)
0.781
(0.746, 0.817)
0.658
(0.517, 0.837)
0.504
(0.443, 0.573)
0.417
(0.314, 0.555)
Female nurses with
children under five years
of age (vs male nurses)
0.728
(0.554, 0.955)
0.510
(0.270, 0.655)
0.479
(0.363, 0.632)
0.310
(0.271, 0.355)
0.236
(0.198, 0.280)
Table V.
Odds ratio (95 per cent
confidence interval) of
progression – gender,
employment type and
presence of children
Career
progression
357
At the higher grades (“G” to “H”), the likelihood of progression (in terms of moving up a
grade) for women with dependent children is lower than that for men (ranging from 0.310
for women with children under five years old to 0.461 for those with children aged 12-15
years). Not all levels of career movement for women are equally detrimental and the
relative disadvantage is most pronounced for women with dependent children under five
years of age particularly at the higher grades. Conversely women without children are
more likely to gain employment at the highest grades (“H” to “I”, “G” to “H” and “E” to “F”)
than men (the other grades differences not being significant at the 5 per cent level). Women
with children aged 12-15 years old were more likely to be employed in the higher grades
compared to men than those with children under 12 years of age. The explanatory factor of
the age of youngestdependent child was important in terms of career outcomes. The age of
the children significantly affects women’s career progression in the study period and
strongly suggests that those with young children(under five years old) have a particularly
inhibiting impact on women’s career progression. This implies that the standard
comparison between women in nursing with and women without school age children is
inadequate as it underestimates the impact of young children on women’s career
progression. This does not consider the responsibilities connected to family and
parenthood represented by older relatives and grandchildren it should be acknowledged
that these may have also a gendered impact on career positions.
Regardless of this, it was clear that gender, the age of the child and the hours worked
influence a person’s opportunities in relation to career progression. It is evident that
women with dependent children cannot be seen as a homogeneous group as within this
group differences in their career progression are observed. A picture of changing
disadvantage emerges for women, the younger the child the greater the relative
disadvantage in terms of career position. At the higher grades, the likelihood of
progression for women is lower compared to men, with women having dependent children
more severely affected (i.e. the odds ratios for women with pre-school aged children ,
women without children of a school age ,men). The group with the most reduced career
progression were women with children under five years of age. Fatherhood had no
discernibly negative impact on men; in fact the opposite appears to be the case as their
career progression is enhanced as suggested in the literature (Paull, 2008).
This research supports Waldfogel’s (2007) position that there is a “motherhood
penalty” for women in terms of their career progression but the evidence suggests that
incremental disadvantage is experienced by women with younger children, particularly
those with children under five years of age. Women’s career positions are thus defined
by two factors: the age of the children and the hours they work. Men’s careers do not
suffer a career disadvantage as they work predominately on a full-time basis
(although those few part-time male nurses do also suffer a grade disadvantage) and
their career positions are not as affected by extraneous factors, such as children. There is
a tangible “motherhood penalty” for women, which does not exist for men. This penalty
is most pronounced the younger the child, particularly those with children under five
years of age. When this is combined with part-time working, women in general and those
with dependent children in particular have difficulties in sustaining or fully developing
their careers in comparison to their male colleagues. This is a major contributory factor
both directly and indirectly to women’s short-term career progression and long-term
career outcomes. Dependent children cannot be examined in isolation as women
frequently have more than one child. It is not unreasonable to conclude that the impact
GM
27,5
358
of having a number of children would be even more detrimental and have a more
sustained impact on the career outcomes of women. It would exacerbate the complex
relationship and interactions between all of the factors examined. As dependent children
are still primarily cared for and nurtured by women the exchange between this
and careers ultimately makes this issue a matter of gender. These penalties for women
are virtually universal while their impact in the short and medium term is pronounced,
however it casts an even longer term shadow on women’s careers; one which the degree
of career relative disadvantage in terms of position and progression becomes more
pronounced when compared to men. It is conjecture but is not unreasonable to
propose that the impact of motherhood is the key detriment on women’s career
progressions.
Herein lies the crux of the issue, the inter-relationship between motherhood, full-time
working and having dependent children is central to defining career outcomes. As
dependent children are still primarily cared for and nurtured by women the exchange
between this and careers ultimately makes this issue a matter of gender. These penalties
for women have a pronounced impact in the short and medium term and, cast an even
longer term shadow on women’s careers; one which the degree of relative career
disadvantage in terms of position and progression becomes more pronounced when
compared to men. It is also likely that the impact of parenthood on women’s career
progression would have been demonstrably greater if it had been possible to factor into
these calculations those female nurses who work solely as a casual “bank” nurse or care
for “other” dependents. There was a gender difference not just between men and women
but critically between women without children of a school age and women with children
of a school age and within this latter group a further disadvantage emerged in terms of
career progression relative to the age of the child. In terms of career trajectories, career
breaks are a frequent occurrence within the professio n and it this area that will be now be
discussed.
Career breaks
The previous section illustrated the significance of dependent children in relation to the
career progression of men and women. In this section we consider breaks in service
because they are likely to have an impact on career progression. Data relating to
the employment status of those taking career breaks was not readily available,
however, in Table VI we were able to analyse length of career break by gender.
Career break D vs E E vs F F vs G G vs H H vs I
Female nurses ,1 year
(vs male nurses)
2.019
(1.682, 2.423)
1.678
(1.396, 2.019)
1.019
(0.742, 1.149)
0.978
(0.893, 1.273)
0.995
(0.888, 1.170)
Female .1,2 years
(vs male nurses)
1.161
(1.091, 1.257)
1.048
(0.960, 1.142)
0.932
(0.819, 0.980)
0.864
(0.721, 1.037)
0.804
(0.730, 0.886)
Female .2,3 years
(vs male nurses)
0.786
(0.751, 0.822)
0.663
(0.625, 0.734)
0.504
(0.443, 0.573)
0.461
(0.374, 0.508)
0.419
(0.386, 0.479)
Female .3,4 years
(vs male nurses)
0.558
(0.517, 0.637)
0.450
(0.409, 0.538)
0.417
(0.374, 0.455)
0.310
(0.271, 0.355)
0.236
(0.198, 0.280)
Female nurses .5 year
(vs male nurses)
0.427
(0.305, 0.466)
0.343
(0.296, 0.411)
0.243
(0.143, 0.259)
0.095
(0.029, 0.170)
0.023
(0.019, 0.094)
Table VI.
Odds ratio (95 per cent
confidence interval) of
progressing – after
career breaks
Career
progression
359
The cumulative effect of career breaks is detrimental to career progression across most
grades for women, particularly in the more senior grades. This detriment becomes
pronounced after a break of more than two years. These nurses are less likely to be
employed beyond the lowest grade (“D”). This exploration of the influence of gender
and career breaks on career progression is significant. Male registered nurses
consistently occupied higher graded posts at a greater frequency than their female
colleagues. The career progressions of female registered nurses are reduced
in comparison to male registered nurses. It is important to note that the greater the
cumulative break the less likelihood of career progression, except when the break is less
than two years. However, these breaks are more favourable to men – men have greater
likelihood of progression in all cases when compared to women. It is uncertain whether
the restrictions faced by women as observed in previous sections are either
compounded or originate in the career breaks taken. Career breaks would point to a
reduction of skills but the gender difference suggests this is not the case. It is possible
that the men who take career breaks either work in private practice, carrying out
similar nursing employment, or attained further training at a university or an
equivalent while women are either completely or partially disengaged from their
profession (for instance linked to childbirth and childcare).
With greater data on individual circumstances the analysis could have expanded.
Regardless of this, the relationship between gender, career breaks and the length of
career breaks demonstrates that men generally do not take as many career breaks, or for
as long, as their female colleagues and that it is this that influences career progression.
The impact of career breaks would support the position of Davey et al. (2005), that
women’s career position is impacted by career breaks whilst male career outcomes are
enhanced. It may be that a female nurse’s accumulation of recognised, formal skills, etc.
as perceived by an employer is more likely to be negatively affected by career breaks.
Employment discontinuity is crucial for women’s relatively reduced career
outcomes. Waldfogel (2007) position that women with dependent children who avoided
a career break are not disadvantaged in terms of income compared to women without
a dependent child is correct. First, women who take career breaks interrupt their
accumulation of human capital and pay a penalty in terms of lower earnings (unless
the career breaks is for work-related reasons, such as gaining an advanced degree).
Second, women in nursing who take child-related career breaks are often unable to
return to their former job or grade. As women combine motherhood and employment,
they face both penalties and costs, particularly if they have taken a career break and
reduce their hours to take care of their children. The relative disadvantages
experienced by women due to children during the phases of their career cannot be
compensated for during the later stages of their working life. Children have a lasting
negative impact across women’s entire career.
Conclusions
There is a tension between the motherhood and employment. The impact of
motherhood in relation to women’s careers is still underestimated. Motherhood directly
affects career progression. Motherhood results in the devaluation of women’s abilities,
a denial of opportunity and a penalisation in respect to careers. Women’s career
progression in registered nursing are defined by motherhood, dependent children,
GM
27,5
360
working hours, and career breaks. This may also be exacerbated by gender values
propagated and maintained in a feminised environment.
However, these factors do not work in isolation. It is the cumulative effect and the
relationship between these factors to a greater or lesser degree that defines women’s
career progressions. Women are not a generic group and their career progressions in
general are incrementally and detrimentally reduced relative to the age of the child – the
younger the age of the child the greater the relative disadvantage for the woman. It is the
explanatory factor of the age of the dependent children which is critically important in
terms of career progression for women. While this supports Waldfogel’s (2007) and
McQuaid’s (2009) position that there are “penalties of motherhood” for working women
with children it defines and gives some scale to this disadvantage; there is an age penalty
which is directly linked to the age of the child. Indeed, the standard comparator in
relation to women’s relative disadvantage in career progression does not fully convey
the variations in the degree of disadvantage faced by women with children because this
group is aggregated into a homogenous group, whereas in reality they are diverse group
with complex constituencies. For women with dependent children, the degree of
disadvantage is directly related to the age of the child, the younger the child the greater
the detrimental impact – there is less likelihood of career progression. The degree of
detrimental impact is directly proportional to the age of the child.
Again this does not exist in isolation. Career break define career progression
Davey et al. (2005) view that women who take a career break are disadvantaged in
terms in terms of career progression is supported by the data in this paper. However,
the axis of this disadvantage is the cumulative length of the break. Women who
take a career break of greater than two years see their careers detrimentally restricted.
With a career break of greater of this length or greater the human capital of the woman
acquired prior to the break appears to become diminished by the interruption directly
infringing upon their ability to accumulate further skills and recognised human capital
(while other skills, etc. gained in child rearing may not be as recognised by employers).
The impact is not gender neutral as men’s careers are not negatively affected by a
career break. The research clearly links women’s relative career disadvantages to
career breaks while there is a career “catch-up” during the later phases of their career
the substantial effects of long-term career breaks are unable to be compensated for
during the later stages of their working life.
The sheer numbers of full-time higher graded posts in comparison to the dearth of
senior posts at a part-time level suggests a preference by the NHS for full-time workers
as opposed to part-time workers at a senior level. This full-time model of continuous
working with progressive upward mobility is the preferred model in nursing. Part-time
working is indicative of a division between different nursing groups, notably women
with and without school aged children and amongst subgroups. This confirms the
negative degree of impact that working on a part-time basis has upon a nurse’s career.
This is related to gender and children, part-time working are 97.49 per cent female and
those who work in this area have a disproportionate number of children in comparison
to their full-time colleagues. The cumulative consequence of this demonstrates the
strong relationship between part-time working and restricted career progressions.
There is a tangible “career penalty” for women, which does not exist for men. This
penalty is most pronounced within women with dependent children, the younger the
child, particularly those with children under five years of age. When this is combined
Career
progression
361
with part-time working, women in general and those with dependent children in
particular have difficulties in sustaining or fully developing their careers in comparison
to their male colleagues. This is a major contributory factor both directly and indirectly
to women’s short-term career progression and long-term career outcomes. As women
combine motherhood and employment, they face both penalties and costs. This is
critically exacerbated, if they take a career break. These issues cannot be examined in
isolation, as they are both the product and the synthesis between the complex
relationship and interactions between all of the factors examined. As dependent children
are still primarily cared for and nurtured by women the exchange between this and
careers ultimately makes this issue a matter of motherhood. The penalties for women are
virtually universal while their impact in the short and medium term is pronounced,
however it casts an even longer term shadow on women’s careers; one which the degree
of career relative disadvantage in terms of position and progression becomes more
pronounced when compared to men. It is not unreasonable to propose that the impact of
motherhood and the factors associated with it are the key detriment on women’s career
progressions. There are complex relationships and interactions which are symbiotic in
nature but which cumulatively and adversely affects the career progression of all
women, regardless of personal and professional circumstances. These are the central
mechanisms which transfer women’s career disadvantage.
There were limitations in relation to the research data; the most accurate data in relation
to length of service was not available to the researchers. This data – the superannuation
records, was legally inaccessible and the complexities of the material, particularly
whole-time equivalencies and length of service data in comparisonto re-entry dates after a
career break made analysing the data extremely difficult. However, this data utilised was
still perfectly acceptable and accurate. In the future, further qualitative research should be
undertaken in relation to this research. It should concentrate on exploring female
registered nurses’ self-reflections on their career in relation to motherhood. It needs to
explore women’s own accounts and understandings of their experiences and their
identification of factors that facilitate or hinder their career progression. It could possibly
establish what role, professional values, motherhood and perceptions related to
motherhood have had on career progressions in the short and long-term.
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Corresponding author
Bryan McIntosh can be contacted at: bryan.mcintosh@richmond.ac.uk
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