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Running head: THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT 1
Copyright 2013, Frawn Morgan, all rights reserved
The Motherhood Penalty and Its Impact on the Career Decisions of Working Women
Frawn Morgan
Brandman University
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT 2
Copyright 2013, Frawn Morgan, all rights reserved
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Background of the issue/problem .............................................................................................................................. 6
Problem Statement and Purpose ................................................................................................................................ 7
Research Question ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Theoretical Foundation .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Significance of the Study ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Scope of the Study ................................................................................................................................................... 11
Limitations and Assumptions .................................................................................................................................. 11
Summary.................................................................................................................................................................. 12
Chapter 2. Literature Review ....................................................................................................................................... 13
Gender-pay gap ....................................................................................................................................................... 13
The motherhood penalty .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Summary.................................................................................................................................................................. 20
Chapter 3. Methodology .............................................................................................................................................. 21
Sample/Research Participants .................................................................................................................................. 21
Hypotheses .............................................................................................................................................................. 25
Data Collection ........................................................................................................................................................ 25
Procedures of Study ................................................................................................................................................. 27
Anticipated Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 29
Recommendations for Policy ................................................................................................................................... 30
Final Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 32
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................ 32
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 3
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................................. 38
Initial Questionnaire ................................................................................................................................................ 39
Research Survey Questionnaire ............................................................................................................................... 40
Data Collection Tables (Sample) ............................................................................................................................. 41
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 4
Chapter 1. Introduction
The role of women in society has changed dramatically since World War II. The war
ushered in a new era in women’s career opportunities when men left their jobs for the war effort
and women were tapped to fill men’s previous roles. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and
1960s gathered the century-old women’s movement in its trajectory, propelling women’s issues
to the forefront of the American consciousness. The gender shift that occurred in the forties,
fifties and sixties in careers previously dominated by men, such as accounting and
administration, became permanent. With the advent of reliable and readily available birth
control in the 1960s, women now had previously unknown options in family planning. These
options, coupled with new career opportunities opened many doors for women, including the
door to higher education. Women could now choose to delay motherhood in favor of eduation,
and armed with education they were free to choose careers, further delaying the traditional
motherhood role and setting the stage for a dramatic increase in women’s participation in the
workforce, from 34% in 1950 to 60% in 2000 (Toossi, 2002, p. 1).
Although motherhood can now take a back seat to a woman’s career objectives, it
remains unlikely a working woman will achieve on the same level as a similarly educated and
experienced man. Gender-based pay gaps continue, broader in some industries than others.
2013 saw the first woman named to head a US car manufacturer, but her compensation had not
been determined as of the writing of this proposal. It will be interesting to see if she earns more
than her predecessor, whose salary was restricted to $11 million a year under federal bailout
provisions. In her prior role, the new CEO earned only 2% more than a man ten years her junior
who was also named President under her in the new organizational structure (Burden &
Shepardson, 2013). While studies confirm a gender-based pay gap remains, it is unclear how
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 5
much of this gap is related to the combination of work and motherhood. Several studies
examined in this proposal identify penalties associated with motherhood beginning with
difficulty in obtaining a job, to reduced compensation and lack of advancement opportunities.
These factors combine to create the motherhood penalty, a situation that impedes working
mothers from earning their full capacity or advancing their careers to senior professional or
executive positions.
In 2011, women held 14.4% of the executive officer positions in Fortune 500 companies,
yet represented only 7.6% of the executive officer top earner positions. Also in 2011, nearly
20% of Fortune 500 companies had at least 25% women executive officers, although more than
25% had no women executive officers (Catalyst – Fortune 500, 2011, p. 1). By 2012, women
comprised 46.9% of the total work force and 51.5% of management, professional and related
positions ("Catalyst - Statistical Overview," 2013, p. 2, 6). Even with the percentage of women
in management and the professions surpassing that of women in the overall workforce, the
percentage of women in executive positions has only grown to 14.3% as of 2012 (ibid.). In their
2012 report “Women at the wheel”, Dow Jones concluded, “In comparing successful versus
unsuccessful companies, the overall median proportion of female executives is 7.1% and 3.1%,
respectively” and “We also see that a company’s odds for success (versus unsuccess) increase
with more female executives at the vice president and director levels” (Dow Jones, 2012, p. 32).
Based on this study, involving women in the highest levels of corporate leadership equates with
positive results. Why then are not more women leading companies in the twenty-first century?
Are executive-track women consciously making career decisions that negatively impact their
ascent to the executive office?
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 6
Background of the issue
Career paths are often referred to as “ladders”. Climbing the corporate ladder is a
familiar concept to most in the corporate world and one on which much energy is spent,
meticulously crafting a plan to effectively do just that. A ladder infers a straight, methodical,
step-by-step ascent, a simple trajectory to the ultimate goal, be it a managerial, executive or
leadership position. Many young professionals measure their personal success by achieving
certain rungs on that ladder by a certain age or length of time post-graduation. But the career
trajectories of women are rarely that simple. Women face a myriad of different factors that
influence their career trajectories, and the result is a path that looks far different from a ladder.
In their 2007 book Alice Eagly and Linda Carli liken the career trajectories of most women to a
“labyrinth”, a word that “captures the varied challenges confronting women as they travel, often
on indirect paths, sometimes through alien territory, on their way to leadership” (Eagly & Carli,
2007, p. 1). In addition to the factors explored in Eagly’s and Carly’s book, women leaders may
threaten the established male leadership paradigm deeply rooted in the corporate culture.
Women remain the subject of social stereotypes that seem to warrant their relegation to
subservient roles. Media programming in advertising on the whole continues to define women
as homemakers by showing only women doing housework or providing for their families.
Rarely do you see a dad doing laundry in a detergent commercial or cleaning up a toddler’s
spilled juice in a paper towel commercial. Those examples pale when compared with the
difficult choices a woman must make when faced with pregnancy and childbirth. While the
arrival of offspring can result in career opportunities for men, the opposite often occurs for
women. While being a good father is a role compatible with that of a good worker and he is
often rewarded with additional compensation or opportunities, the role of a good mother is not
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 7
viewed as compatible with that of a good worker and she is often penalized (Correll, Benard, &
Paik, 2007). The interruption on a woman’s career caused by childbirth and the early infant
stages, can set her career back many months, or even years. Add to that setback the ideological
changes in the woman’s career decision-making process resulting from motherhood, and it is
easy to understand why women’s career trajectories are more like a maze than a ladder. Even
when a woman is on a solid career trajectory, say when her children have grown or she attains a
leadership role, her earnings are likely sub-par in comparison to her male contemporaries (Erosa,
Fuster, & Restuccia, 2005). The factors affecting the career trajectories of women are numerous
and varied. In order to properly understand the full range of factors that affect how women
navigate along their career trajectories, these issues must be faced head-on and explored in detail.
Problem Statement and Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine women’s career trajectories by exploring one of
the major factors that may affect the choices women make about their career paths – that of the
motherhood penalty. The study will survey women in various stages of their careers by
inquiring as to their level of education, length of time in their job or industry, level of success as
measured by attainment of career goals, specific factors driving their career decisions, feelings of
prejudice and discrimination, and other pertinent information. The study will collect self-
reported data from a widely dispersed cross-section of working professional women to derive
conclusions about their experiences that can increase understanding of the experience of working
women in transition from non-mother to motherhood.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 8
Research Question
The research question for this study is as follows:
RQ 1: How does the concept of a motherhood penalty affect the career decisions of
working women in mid-level management and professional careers?
Theoretical Foundation
The proposed study seeks to further understand the impact of various recent theories
relating to women’s experiences in the workplace and how those experiences affect the decisions
women make about their careers. The participation and roles of women in the workplace have
changed dramatically since World War II. The topic of women in the workplace has been
actively studied over the last fifty years, with significant studies addressing the changing role of
women in the workplace since the beginning of the twenty-first century. By examining several
of these studies and their resultant theories, and expanding on the questions they raise, the
proposed study seeks to identify contemporary forces shaping the career decisions of women.
Erosa, et al (2005) suggests that a significant portion of the gender wage gap is
attributable to the impact of children on the labor force. Their quantitative theory of the gender
gap in wages explores the widening gender wage gap that occurs in the first two decades of a
woman’s career, considered the formative career years. They found at least 40% of the increase
in the gender wage gap during this formative stage is due to the impact of motherhood on the
overall labor supply of women in the workforce. The increased value of intellectual skills in the
late twentieth century has positively impacted the gender wage gap. However, women, even
executives with financially or emotionally rewarding careers, have much less incentive than men
to invest in their continuing human capital needs. This lack of incentive results in a widening
wage gap between men and women as women move through the formative first twenty years
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 9
most critical to their career-long compensation structure and accomplishments. This twenty
year period is when most human capital investment, or increase in education and skills, occurs.
For women, this period coincides with their childbearing years, resulting in a negative career
skills impact when they begin to have children and interrupt both their career trajectories and
their human capital development with motherhood. Furthermore, Erosa, et al found a wage
penalty of approximately 5% per child, consistent with the findings of Staff and Mortimer (2012)
who found a 6% wage penalty per child penalty.
Social forces also impact women in executive roles. As an expansion on her variation of
social roles theory, which she developed in 1987, Eagly studied the impact of the congruity of
roles with Karau (2002). In their congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders, they
suggest that prejudice occurs when social roles or socially shared expectations are incongruous
with a group’s aspirations or accomplishments, such as when women aspire to or take on
leadership roles. The social role of women to reproduce and nurture the species is inconsistent
with the social expectations of leaders. As a result, women in leadership roles are often viewed
with confusion or worse, distaste, as they are considered to be violating the social standards for
their gender. Initially, their ability to fulfill the requirement of the leadership role is questioned.
But when they do succeed in fulfilling the requirements of the leadership role, they are judged
unfavorably as the role is inconsistent with the socially accepted role for women, resulting in
their accomplishments being viewed more critically than those of their male counterparts. This
can create a bias against women in the workplace. Even if biases are relatively minor or small,
when they are pervasive and repeated, they result in significant consequences. As the identities
of women in the workplace are a reflection of prevailing stereotypes held against women, these
small prejudices can result in unfair or uncivil treatment and discriminatory actions.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 10
It is this uncivil treatment that is at the center of Cortina and associates’ theory of
selective incivility (Cortina, Kabat-Farr, Leskinen, Huerta, & Magley, 2013). Cortina originally
theorized that uncivil behavior in the workplace was selective and experienced to a greater extent
by women in her research on court employees, published in 2001, which built on earlier research
of sexual harassment in university faculty (Richman et al., 1999). She then went on to study the
phenomenon in attorneys in 2002, finding that women were selectively targeted for uncivil
treatment. Her studies found that women reported being the recipients of uncivil treatment more
often than men, forming the basis for the selective incivility concept, which also addresses
selective uncivil treatment as a result of racism and ageism. These studies also found that the
higher the rate of male domination in a particular workplace, the greater the selective incivility
toward women in that workplace. The theory finds that this uncivil treatment could contribute to
a female employee’s thoughts of and potential intent to leave her position, creating a correlation
between uncivil treatment and turnover intentions. It is this turnover, especially when combined
with a shift of industry, which further impedes the human capital development of women by
interrupting their career experience and work history through job changes, consistent with the
findings of Bolitzer and Gotland (2012).
These theories suggest multiple social forces at work which have a negative impact on
the career trajectory of women. As women are subjected to gender-based wage penalties,
prejudice resulting from role incongruity, and selective incivility they make decisions to mitigate
the negative impacts of these forces in search of work and careers where they expect to
experience less gender prejudice and stereotyping. By additional awareness of these forces,
society as a whole can examine which are exerting a negative impact and take steps to alter those
forces and mitigate their negative impacts.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 11
Significance of the Study
An examination and review of the literature, discussed elsewhere in this proposal, shows
there has been significant research into the gender-based wage gap and the concept of a
motherhood penalty and both are well documented. This study is unique and relevant as it will
examine the decisions women make in the critical first two decades of their careers about their
future as they transition from working non-mothers to working mothers. Specifically, this
research will focus on the concept of a motherhood penalty and how the anticipation or
experience of this penalty affects the decisions women make regarding flexible work schedules,
family-friendly work environments, management positions, additional work responsibilities and
compensation expectations. This is not intended to be a general population study but will focus
on executive trajectory women, their career expectations and experiences. The study participants
will be selected from a pool of mid-level professional women with professional organization
affiliation, thus narrowing the participant pool to women who would be likely to strive for or
attain senior level or executive management positions within their professions as their careers
progress.
Scope of the Study
This study will take place over seven months and is scheduled to commence in January
2014, with final results published in July 2014. Refer to Procedures of Study in Chapter 3 for
detailed schedule information.
Limitations and Assumptions
As a woman business executive and mother who spent thirty-plus years navigating the
corporate labyrinth, the proponent of this study has experienced the twists and turns that are all
too common to most women as they attempt to achieve career success. Her experiences, coupled
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 12
with her desire to support and assist other women as they navigate this complex landscape,
formed the initial concept for this study. Although the study subjects will self-report and some
may be randomly selected for additional or future investigation, they will represent the core
population of professional women who are faced with career decisions at the transition to
motherhood. As a result, their responses will be both statistically significant and socially
important. However, the findings resulting from this study can only be applied to the actual
study sample. While they may be indicative of the experiences of other women, the findings
directly apply only to the women who participated in the study. Therefore, global
generalizations cannot be made on the basis of this study alone.
Summary
Research has documented the existence of a motherhood penalty and the discrepancy
between the frequency of women in the workplace and women in the executive office. Research
has also shown that companies led by women are successful, often more successful than their
male-led contemporaries. What is happening in the career trajectories of bright, hard-working
executive track women as they navigate toward career advancement? The possibility exists that
women are making conscious decisions to get off the executive track, possibly due to the gender-
pay gap and the motherhood penalty.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 13
Chapter 2. Literature Review
The existence and dynamics of the gender-pay gap has been actively studied for decades
and aggressively studied since the turn of the current century. The motherhood penalty is a
much more recent concept. The notion of a wage penalty being directly associated with
motherhood was put forth in 2001 with the publication of several journal articles on the subject.
Research into both continues. The concepts are timely and some recent research addressing both
the gender-pay gap and the motherhood penalty are reviewed in the following pages.
Gender-pay gap
In examining the career choices made by women and their accomplishments, one of the
most notable and persistent discrepancies is the gender-based gap in pay. As women’s
participation in the workforce began to increase after World War II, the question of workforce
equality rose to the surface. As of 2000, 60% of all women work (Toossi, 2002). Women now
number 47% of the workforce but hold 51.5% of all management, professional and related
positions (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012, p. 1). Although women have made gains in
management level and other professional positions and actively pursue careers once restricted to
men, they do not generally attain the same level of success in those careers. How is it that
women occupy nearly 15% of the executive offices of Fortune 500 companies, yet only comprise
half that percentage of the top compensation slots (Catalyst, Inc., 2011, table 1,2)? What are the
forces driving this gender-based pay gap?
Bolitzer and Godtland (2012) examine these questions in their study which focused on
the gap between compensation of men and women in the US Federal workforce during the
twenty year period ending 2007. They explored the real pay gap between men and women after
controlling for education, experience and other factors deemed relevant by the researchers. The
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 14
study asked the question – has the real pay gap attributable solely to gender narrowed over the
last twenty years?
The researchers, both economists with the U.S. Government Accountability Office,
utilized data from the Central Personnel Data File of employees in the federal workforce. They
analyzed this data to isolate differences attributable to gender alone using regression analysis.
They controlled for various factors including education (both type and level), experience,
differing job traits in jobs held by men and women, geographic location, and full-time versus
part-time status. Additionally, they controlled for personal characteristics such as marital and
family status. Individual career choices were also acknowledged as impacts and considered in
the analysis.
The study found that a persistent and unexplained pay gap between men and women in
the same work situation persists, however the overall gender pay gap has narrowed over the
twenty years studied primarily due to changing occupation levels for women. This study
identifies and highlights one of the primary factors affecting the career trajectories of women –
their earning capacity. As women suspect their earning capacity to be less than that of men,
they may feel less committed to their careers in general, let alone their specific jobs, and may
change jobs or even careers more frequently than men as they search for that one career or job
that provides them with the best earning capacity. This study confirms that a persistent pay gap
exists between men and women but does not attempt to explain why.
Additional considerations may also impact the gender-pay gap. Women began assuming
jobs previously held by men in World War II and have continued to expand into new territory
ever since, resulting in the feminization of some occupations. How has this feminization altered
those occupations? Mandel (2013) suggests that occupational feminization has resulted in
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 15
declining wages in those occupations. Mandel’s study explores the premise that the feminization
of occupations negatively affects overall pay levels in those occupations due to the undervalued
efforts of the women in those occupations. The study seeks to support the researcher’s
hypothesis that the low esteem society places on primarily feminine traits has a devaluating
effect on occupations held primarily by women, especially if those occupations were
traditionally held by or associated with men, highlighting the dynamic nature of gender-based
job discrimination.
The study analyzed long-term trends in feminization of occupations by reviewing census
data, the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, the American Community Survey sample of
2007, and numerous prior research and published studies spanning more than four decades. One
of the organizational models devised sought to document the change in women’s positions on the
proverbial corporate ladder over the time spectrum of the study, to create a foundation for
additional analysis and testing.
The results of the study illustrate the decline of sex-segregation in the overall workforce
between 1950 and 2000, and specifically changes in the percentage of women at the managerial
level. The study also infers that positive changes in working conditions for women overall are
attributable to the increase of women managers. The study reviews and analyzes the educational
gains made by women beginning in the 1970s and proposes these gains have improved the
standing of white collar occupations held by women. The primary hypothesis of the research,
that occupations dominated by women are devalued, was tested by analyzing the value of
prestigious occupations before and after a higher incidence of employment of women in search
of definable wage erosion. The study confirmed that wage erosion exists and is correlated to the
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 16
feminization of a particular occupation, with the most pronounced effect among high-wage
occupations.
This study confirms that while high-wage occupations are increasingly accessible to
women, the earnings capacity of those occupations appears to be eroding as more women enter
their ranks. These are intriguing, if somewhat disturbing findings and beg further study as to
why not only does feminization result in earnings decline but also what the factors driving the
decline are. The gender-pay gap question asks us to consider why women are expected to do the
same work as men but with decreased compensation. One reason could be that women are the
mothers of the species and culturally expected to place that role ahead of any career they may
choose to pursue, resulting in a penalty due to the culturally defined status of women as mothers.
The motherhood penalty
Recent studies suggest a penalty is levied against mothers in the workplace and this
penalty may be a large component of the persistent gender-pay gap. The motherhood penalty
can take many forms including discriminatory hiring practices, decreased pay, lower promotion
rates, and more stringent performance standards when compared to non-mothers and men. In
fact, some research finds that in stark contrast to the penalty for mothers who work, fathers may
actually benefit from increased compensation when compared to men who are not fathers.
For example, Staff and Mortimer (2012) explore employer discrimination against
mothers in their early career years by examining the premise that not only are employers less
likely to hire candidates who are mothers when non-mother candidates are available, when
mothers are hired, they are penalized with lower wages. Their 2012 study also examines the
possibility that women who are mothers or are contemplating motherhood are willing to sacrifice
compensation for flexibility, accepting lower paying jobs that are more compatible with both the
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 17
physical and emotional demands of motherhood. Their research analyzed data from the Youth
Development Study, a longitudinal research study that obtained self-reported annual results over
13 years, ending in 2004. The study determined that while the wages of single women increased
4% when they married, on average, this increase does not attenuate the motherhood penalty
which averaged 6% per child. Further declines were experienced by women who worked part-
time as opposed to full-time, although when working part-time and simultaneously attending
school, their wages increased. The study also found that the longer women went without work or
school, the greater the decline in their earning capacity. Women who neither worked nor
attended school for a period of time, such as a new mother might, experienced decreases in their
earning capacity of .5% per month idle, leading to an 11% decline over 22 months. The study
also asks if women who anticipate becoming mothers change their behavior by working less or
foregoing education. The study concluded that women who are contemplating motherhood
select jobs that require less education and experience and have flexible scheduling options and
that these jobs are often lower paying due to their flexibility. Additionally, the study concluded
that employers discriminate against mothers as they are perceived to be less competent and less
committed to their work. As a result, employers are less likely to hire mothers. The study
attributes the persistent motherhood wage penalty to the interruptions in work experience and
education resulting from motherhood.
Other studies have taken an active approach to understanding the problem of the
motherhood penalty. Correll, et al (2007) tackled the problem with a laboratory study and audit
of actual employer applicant screening process to determine how prevalent the motherhood
penalty was for those seeking work by comparing job applicants who are mothers against those
who are not and against job applicants who are fathers. They conducted a laboratory experiment
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 18
by creating a fictitious job search for an upper-level marketing position and creating fictitious
applicants. They then asked 188 undergraduate students to assess the applicants as part of a
university-based screening program the employer was using to evaluate and screen applicants.
The resumes were carefully crafted to be equivalent in all areas relevant to the job; only the
cover letters hinted at motherhood status by incorporating references to PTA and other
organizations mothers would be involved in. Additionally, an audit study of actual employer
bias was also conducted by using similarly crafted fictitious resumes and cover letters to respond
to actual job advertisements. The number of requests for additional information and interviews
were used to determine any employer bias toward mothers.
Both studies indicated discrimination against applicants who are mothers. In the
laboratory experiment, the subjects found the applicants who were mothers significantly less
competent, on average approximately 10% less than non-mothers, and less committed to their
careers, on average 15% less than non-mothers. The researchers suggest these findings indicate
a cultural bias against mothers in the workplace because being a good mother is culturally
incompatible with being a good worker. Additionally, the mothers were prescribed a penalty in
the form of lower starting salary than non-mothers, approximately 7.4% on average, and were
recommended for hire in only 47% of cases as opposed to 84% for non-mothers. The audit
study found similar results. Non-mothers received 2.1 times as many requests for additional
information as the mothers and were recommended for hire 1.8 times as often, verifying that real
employers do discriminate against mothers in the hiring process.
Unexpectedly, childless women were found to be recommended for hire more often than
childless men, although at similar salaries to the men. These childless women were seen as more
competent and more committed to their work than childless men, who were disadvantaged in the
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 19
hiring process when compared to men with families (Correll et al., 2007). Does that mean these
women, who were childless at hire, do not experience the motherhood penalty when they do
become mothers? In fact research suggests they will be subject to the same penalty once they do
become mothers, and that the penalty may be permanent, especially if the woman exits the
workforce for any period of time or changes industry in an effort to find a career more
compatible with the demands of motherhood.
Herr and Wolfram (2012) examined the demands of motherhood and career in higher
education fields in an effort to determine whether inflexible work situations are responsible for
women exiting the workforce in these fields. The researchers studied a sample of Harvard
alumnae in their late thirties, most holding graduate degrees, and working in various professions
including law, medicine, finance and academia. The researchers acquired their base data from
10th and 15th anniversary reports collected by Harvard for graduating classes in 1988, 1989, 1990
and 1991. The data focused primarily on the 15th anniversary report which enjoyed a response
rate among women graduates of 55%. They compiled and organized this data into categories
relevant to the study. They then compared this data to the 2003 National Survey of College
Graduates (NSCG) for relevance.
The researchers found that all degrees and professions incurred an earnings penalty for
career interruptions related to motherhood and some careers, as measured by degree attained,
incurred a permanent penalty due to relegation to the “mommy track”. Additionally, the study
measured which careers, determined by degree attained, were more flexible and attempted to
analyze or measure workplace flexibility as a determiner of career choice. The study determined
that, as a group, MDs had the lowest earnings penalty at 16% and MBAs had the highest at 41%.
Additionally, the study found the most unfriendly work environments to be those occupied by
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 20
MBAs and the most flexible work environments were occupied by PhDs. One very interesting
statistic among the study sample was that nearly all groups experienced first childbirth at age 32
(those with graduate degrees, on average), with the group possessing only undergraduate degrees
coming in at age 31.
Herr’s and Wolfram’s research addresses the earnings penalty attributable to motherhood
and how that penalty differs among various careers. Furthermore, the research measures the
industry migration of women, once they become mothers, from less flexible to more flexible
work environments, including the migration to self-employment for some and out of the
workforce entirely for others.
Summary
Overall, the research discussed above concludes that there is a measureable gender-based
pay gap. Although the gap may have narrowed over the last twenty years, it is persistent.
Research also suggests the woman’s role as a mother is a primary component of that gap. Even
when a mother’s work is done and her children are grown, the residual effect on her career and
earnings persist. How do these factors affect the career choices women make? The goals of this
research study are to identify the factors that impact the choices women are making about their
careers in the transition to working motherhood and how those factors drive and influence
women’s choices about their careers and their career expectations.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 21
Chapter 3. Methodology
This section explains who will participate in the survey, the specific criteria that will
determine the participants’ relevance to the survey, how these participants will be located, how
communications with them will occur, how the survey will be administered, how the data will be
collected and analyzed, and the detailed schedule for the research and publication of findings.
Additionally, the expectations of the survey, the anticipated findings, the inferences to public
policy issues, as well as the importance of and opportunities for future relevant research as
discussed.
Sample/Research Participants
The research will survey working, mid-career professional women, who are also mothers
as of the time of the survey, and who are in the initial two decade primary career development
period (Erosa, et al, 2005). These women will have earned a Bachelor’s degree and either a
professional certificate or graduate degree. The survey participants will have been childless
when entering their career (post-graduation), and will have become mothers during this two
decade period. The professions where these women are working will be the legal profession,
such as associate lawyers, paralegals and legal assistants; the medical profession, such as
registered nurses and physician’s assistants; and financial and accounting professions, such as
certified public accounts, bank vice-presidents, or financial analysts; and earning between
$75,000 and $120,000 per year. The survey will be directed to women across the continental
United States. It is anticipated respondents will likely be concentrated in metropolitan areas with
active business districts and populations in excess of 500,000. The participant pool goal is a
minimum of 250 participants per industry for a minimum of 750 total participants.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 22
In order to reach the potential survey respondents, the research team will contact various
professional organizations serving the intended respondent population, such as:
For the legal profession –
o National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA, 2013). This
organization is an issues-driven and policy oriented umbrella group
covering over fifty separate geographically-based organizations.
Membership is by application and certain educational and professional
criteria must be met and upheld by the membership. This organization
does not limit its membership to women however only women will be
recruited for this study.
o American Alliance of Paralegals, Inc. (AAPI, 2013). This is a national
association focusing primarily on professional and career development
that offers direct membership and a certification program, providing the
AACP credential to those that meet their stringent educational and
professional accomplishment criteria. This organization has
representation in nearly every state and is not limited to women. Only
women will be recruited for this study.
o National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL, 2013). This
organization was founded in 1899 and serves woman attorneys through
advocacy, assistance at all career levels, networking opportunities, pro
bono assistance to further the rights of women, pro bono legal work on
issues of importance to women, and publications. In particular, they
publish the National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 23
Law Firms, a report whose title suggests this survey would be of specific
interest to NAWL.
For the medical profession –
o American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA, 2013). This is the
largest of the physician assistant organizations and offers advocacy,
education, and professional development resources. This organization is
not specifically serving women however the research should be of interest
to this organization. The size of this organization may prove unwieldy for
the study. As a result, the survey will also target several smaller, category
specific organizations such as the Association of Family Practice
Physicians Assistants (AFPPA, 2013), who serves its members practicing
in primary care offices and emergency medicine facilities. These
organizations are not limited to women but only women will be recruited
for the study.
o American Nurses Association (ANA, 2013). The ANA represents the
interests of registered nurses through a network of state-organized
downstream associations and affiliates. They foster standards for the
industry, promote the rights of the membership in the workplace, lobby
government agencies on health care issues and perform image marketing
services. This organization is not limited to women but only women will
be recruited for the study.
For the financial profession –
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 24
o American Women’s Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA,
2013). This national organization specifically serves women CPAs and
support for their professional development through education and
networking. As this organization is specific to women in the accounting
profession and career development is a stated goal of the organization, this
research should be of specific interest to AWSCPA.
o Financial Women’s Association (FWA, 2013). This organization
emphasizes the development of young female leaders and enhancing the
role of women in finance providing education, networking through
nationally acclaimed programs. They conduct regular surveys
highlighting the disparity of women in the financial sector. The research
should be of interest to this organization.
Because these surveys will rely on the desire of women to voluntarily participate, many
of whom are extremely busy with career and family obligations, the researchers will work with
each organization to offer some form of inducement or incentive to encourage participation. As
all of these organizations sponsor some form of continuing education, the researchers will work
with each organization to devise an inducement that furthers the goals of the organization and is
economically feasible, such as a drawing for a sponsored continuing education class. The
research and results of the study should be of interest to each organization’s professional
development departments and should provide the organization an opportunity to learn about the
impact of the motherhood penalty on their specific career focus.
Once respondents are identified and their relevance to the study established, they will be
assigned an identification control number and will use that number for all responses. By using
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 25
an identification control number, respondents’ identities will be shielded to encourage frank and
candid responses.
Hypotheses
The null hypothesis is as follows:
H
01: The concept of a motherhood penalty does not affect the decisions working women
make about their careers.
The alternative hypothesis is as follows:
H
11: The concept of a motherhood penalty does affect the decisions working women
make about their careers.
Data Collection
This research is focused on the experiences of women and their career development in the
transition from working professional woman who is not a mother to that of a working mother.
The survey will be self-reporting and designed to obtain information from the survey participants
about their unique career experiences and choices made in the transition from working, non-
mother to working mother. As this information is highly personal and unique to each individual
woman, the direct survey method is an appropriate and efficient way to measure the research
question. The survey will include both qualifying questions and relevant survey questions.
Only data from the participants who qualify, based on responses to the qualifying questions, will
be included in the research analysis.
In order to effectively identity appropriate survey participants, the Initial Questionnaire
will feature qualifying questions which will be multiple-choice. The answers to these questions
will identify participants who meet the specific study criteria, as explained in the
Sample/Research Participants section. The responses to the Initial Questionnaire will not only
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 26
qualify the respondents (specifically questions 1, 2 and 5) but will also be used to create sub-
categories useful in analyzing the responses to the Research Questionnaire.
Some of the relevant survey questions will also be multiple-choice, such as those that
measure time from career initiation to motherhood or time off for childbirth, in order to
effectively categorize the survey respondents with those who offer similar responses. Some
questions will be ordinal, such as ranking the importance of flexible work schedules or
employer-provided childcare, in order to determine the specific priorities of the respondents and
to identify which criteria have higher impact on their decisions. Some questions will be based on
a Likert scale in order to determine the respondent’s feelings about particular social attitudes
toward working mothers. The research team will work with an independent auditor who will
review and test the survey and analysis results and an experienced advisor who will provide
survey design assistance and guidance throughout the design, distribution, data collection and
analysis process.
Following collection, the Initial and Research Questionnaire data will be entered into a
spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel, similar to the Data Collection Table sample shown in the
Appendices. Each response will be entered in a separate row, with the variables shown in the
columns. The responses will be coded subject to the coding shown in each section of the Data
Collection Table. For example, the responses to the Research Questionnaire informative
questions numbered 1 through 5 will be summarized on the spreadsheet by indicating “selected”
or “not selected”; question number 6, which requests ordinal data, will also be included on the
spreadsheet but will be summarized and analyzed separately. Questions 7 through 19 utilize the
Likert scale and will be graded 1 to 5, based on each response. The data will be analyzed for
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 27
frequency distribution of the overall participant group and for categorical sub-groups, determined
as a result of analysis of the Initial Questionnaire (Babbie, 2011; Triola, 2010).
Although the goal of the study is to determine specifically if working mothers make
decisions that could adversely affect their career trajectories due to their perceptions of a
motherhood penalty or to balance the demands of motherhood with those of work, by examining
the responses to the Research Questionnaire based on sub-categories defined in the Initial
Questionnaire, this research can also identify if the perception of a motherhood penalty wanes
with the amount of time spent in one’s career.
This survey of qualified respondents will provide an initial view of the career decisions
working professional women are faced with when they transition to motherhood and how these
women prioritize the criteria that affect their decisions. The data will be analyzed using
qualitative methods to determine reasons and intent of the survey participants in their career
choices, as examined in the survey. Further research to test and elaborate on the initial findings
of this survey would utilize personal interviews for a more in-depth perspective. Women
participating in this research and survey would be considered for future research.
Procedures of Study
The research, including identification of participants, administration of the survey, data
collection, analysis and publication will take approximately seven months, scheduled as follows:
1. January and February 2014 will be devoted to locating and accessing the survey
participants.
a. January 1 through 15 - reach out to the professional organizations identified above
to share the survey proposal and information relevant to each organization
including devising a suitable inducement to participation.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 28
b. January 15 through 31 - work with the professional organizations to develop the
appropriate awareness campaign; prepare campaign materials and post request for
participation.
c. February 1 through 14 – distribute initial survey materials intended to identify
suitable participants to respondents including materials asking for referrals to
other suitable participants.
d. February 15 through 28 – Collate respondents, identify final participant pool,
assign identity control numbers, and prepare for survey distribution.
2. March and April 2014 – administer the survey
a. March 1 through 7 – distribute survey materials to participant pool previously
identified.
b. March 8 through 41 – be available to survey participants for questions; distribute
reminders to participants to respond, distribute requests to participants to share the
survey opportunity with suitable colleagues, vet second-level participant pool. In
addition, work with auditor and advisor to perfect the coding system that will be
used to analyze the data.
c. April – collect survey responses, redistribute materials to non-responding
participants, distribute materials to second-level participant pool, send reminders,
be available for questions, collect and collate responses. Organize survey data and
review for completeness, redistributing surveys that are incomplete.
3. May and June 2014 – analyze results (talk about the analysis of the results, quantitative,
etc.)
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 29
a. May – Analyze survey results using the coding system previously developed,
develop concept map and identify relationships to survey results, refer results to
an appropriate auditor for confirmation, confer with colleagues and advisor on
results, prepare and review draft results.
b. June – prepare draft research report, review with colleagues and advisor.
4. July 2013 – publish and present results and final report.
Anticipated Findings
It is anticipated that this study will identify the factors women consider when making
choices affecting their career in the transition to motherhood and how those factors impact and
influence women’s actual choices about all aspects of their careers, including their expectations
about promotions and compensation.
Correll (2007) found that mothers were less likely to be recommended for promotion to
management positions than non-mothers. It is anticipated that this research will confirm that
finding as well as identify that mothers or women who are contemplating motherhood are less
interested in being promoted to management positions than they would have been if they were
not mothers or were not contemplating motherhood. Other research, reviewed and compiled by
Kmec (2010), found that working married men and women both report lowered work quality as a
result of offspring-driven distractions. It is anticipated that survey respondents will report they
believe this lowered work quality to be attributed by their employers only to women and not to
men.
Consistent with the findings of Cortina, et al (2011), Staff & Mortimer (2011), and Herr
& Wolfram (2012), it is anticipated that the research will confirm penalties working professional
women experience when transitioning to motherhood. The research is intended to identify and
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 30
examine how those penalties affect the choices these women make with respect to their career
development. It is anticipated the research will identify the motherhood penalty as a decision
factor for working women prior to and concurrent with the transition to motherhood; something
not yet definitively documented through research.
Consistent with recent research from the Pew Research Center (2013) it is anticipated
that respondents will report their belief that it is more difficult for working mothers than fathers
to achieve career advancement and that they have revised their aspirations for top management
jobs in favor of fulfilling motherhood and family responsibilities. Additionally, it is anticipated
that working mothers will report they have made career choices that could be viewed as
detrimental to their career development in an effort to harmonize their roles as working
professionals and mothers, including opting for reduced schedules (such as part-time work),
taking less involved or less important work (with associated lower compensation), and changing
jobs in search of family-friendly work environments. It is anticipated that the desire for family
friendly work environments results in these women leaving established careers, changing jobs
and even industries, to the detriment of their career development and lifelong compensation
expectations, furthering the gender-based pay gap and the motherhood wage penalty previously
documented.
Recommendations for Policy
In the final analysis, the gender pay gap and the motherhood penalty are issues of
morality and social prejudice. It is possible to legislate appropriate behavior in the workplace
but challenging to change the social attitudes that drive that behavior. Recent research indicates
the generation beginning their careers at this time, that “among those aged 18 to 32 [in late
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 31
2013], 63% think that having children will make it harder for them to advance in their job or
career” (Pew Research Center [Pew], 2013, p. 3).
From the employer’s perspective, a professional woman employee who leaves her job,
even for a brief period, creates a disruption that can be challenging to mitigate. Especially with
the professional employee whose individual skills and expertise are critical to her specific job,
these disruptions can be costly to the employer, creating a difficult and challenging situation for
employer and employee alike. It is possible that the expectation of equal pay for men and
women in these situations is unreasonable, considering women who become mothers will
inevitably experience disruptions in their employment history associated with motherhood. This
research does not aspire to answer these questions. These realities alone do not account for the
broad and well-documented discrimination experienced by working mothers. These
discriminatory behaviors are driven by social attitudes, prejudices, and stereotyping. It may be
challenging to change these social forces, but not impossible. It is, however, quite possible and
morally responsible to provide a legal framework for the prevention and punishment of
discriminatory behavior on the part of employers in these situations. Once the standard is raised
and the discriminatory behavior aptly identified and chastised, society will follow suit and revise
its attitudes.
The Equal Rights Amendment, intended to guarantee equal rights for women, was
originally drafted in 1923 and finally passed by Congress nearly fifty years later in 1972. It
failed to achieve the minimum number of ratifications by the States prior to the 1982 deadline
and remains un-ratified today, even though it has been re-introduced in every Congressional
session since. Twenty-one states have adopted similar language in their state constitutions, but
the broad guarantees originally envisioned are not federally mandated. The amendment would
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 32
provide that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of sex” and “The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article” (United States Government Printing Office
[GPO], 2013, p. 51). Ratification of this amendment by the minimum number of states would
provide the federal government with power to ensure the rights of working women are not
denied or abridged.
Final Summary
Studies to date focusing on the disparity in workplace compensation between women and
men highlight an unfortunate paradox. On the one hand, women are striving to obtain equality in
compensation and advancement opportunities. But on the other hand, society is penalizing them
for inhabiting roles that conflict with the traditional role of nurturing the species.
Sociologists continue to search for the answer to the question of whether this inequality is
a result of workplace discrimination or a larger social backlash against the dramatically changing
role of women, or perhaps some combination of both. Today college and career is a viable
alternative to motherhood for most young women in developed nations. Even as recently as fifty
years ago, this was not universally the case. But the gender-pay gap and the motherhood penalty
persist, raising new questions of the choices young women make as they contemplate not only
their careers but also their education. Are young women who desire to have children someday
choosing fields of study that will make their transition to working mother easier? Or are they
making the hard choices that working mothers must make only when actually faced with these
choices, at the transition to motherhood. And the larger question of whether the gender-pay gap
and the motherhood penalty can be fixed at all hovers over these questions.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 33
What is undeniable is that research into these subjects must continue if our workplaces
are to evolve on a pace with overall society. Women will not be leaving the workforce; their
increasing numbers seem to indicate their presence will continue to grow. What remains to be
understood is if the motherhood penalty is solely an issue of discrimination or it there is an
element of worker choice at play. In order to develop policies to address to discrimination
against mothers in the workplace and to better educate the employer pool, the choices working
women are making about their careers must be better understood. The research proposed herein
is a small first step to learning about those choices and will help to inform necessary future
research.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 34
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afppa&catid=3:general-public&Itemid=12
ANA - American Nurses Association. (2013).
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http://www.awscpa.org/
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Babbie, E. (2011). The Basics of Social Research (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Bolitzer, B., & Godtland, E. (2012, May 8). Understanding the gender-pay gap in the Federal
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Burden, M., & Shepardson, D. (2013, December 12). GM’s new CEO pay not yet determined.
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Catalyst, Inc. (2011). Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Executive Officers and Top Earners.
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Catalyst, Inc. (2013). Catalyst Knowledge Center - Statistical overview of women in the
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women-workplace
Correll, S. J., Benard, S., & Paik, I. (2007, March). Getting a job: Is there a motherhood penalty?
American Journal of Sociology, 112, 1297-1339. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/511799
Cortina, L. M., Kabat-Farr, D., Leskinen, E. A., Huerta, M., & Magley, V. J. (2013, September).
Selective incivility as modern discrimination in organizations: Evidence and impact.
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Erosa, A., Fuster, L., & Restuccia, D. (2005). A quantitative theory of the gender gap in wages
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THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 38
APPENDICES
Two surveys, in the form of questionnaires, will be administered:
Initial Questionnaire – intended to pre-qualify respondents and identify those whose
particular situations meet the narrow survey criteria outlined in Chapter 2 – Sample/Research
Participants.
Research Survey Questionnaire – survey questions specifically intended to address the
research question identified in Chapter 1 – Introduction, Research Question, and to provide data
appropriate for analysis to confirm or deny the Null Hypothesis.
The Initial Questionnaire and the Research Survey Questionnaire are attached.
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 39
Initial Questionnaire
Pre-survey qualification questions
Name:____________________________________________________ Age: _________
1. Level of education and professional designation (check all that apply):
______ Bachelor’s degree ______ Graduate certificate
______ Graduate degree ______ Professional certification or license
2. Do you earn between $75,000 and $120,000 per year?
______Yes ______ No
3. Industry you work in:
______ Medical ______ Legal
______ Accounting/Financial
4. Are you currently working in the industry most directly related to your education?
______Yes ______ No
5. Did you work full-time prior to having children?
______ Yes ______ No
6. Years you have spent in your career post-graduation:
______ 0-3 ______ 3-8
______ 8-14 ______ 14-20
______ 20 or more
7. Years in your career prior to having children:
______ 0-3 ______ 3-5
______ 5-10 ______ 10-15
______ 15 or more
8. Have you returned to work outside the home since having your last child?
______ Yes ______ No
___________________________________________________________________________
For Researcher use only:
Identification Control Number assigned ___________________
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 40
Research Survey Questionnaire
ID Control number: ____________
1. Number of children in the home: ___ 0; ___ 1; ___ 2-3; ___ 3 or more
2. Household status: ____ Married/Domestic partnership; ____ Single/divorced; ____ Widowed
3. Ages of children living at home (check all that apply): ___ 0-3; ___ 3-6, ___ 6-11, ___ 12-16,
____ 16 and older
4. How many months did you take off with your first child: ___ 0 – 3; ___ 3 – 6, ___ 6 – 12;
___12 to 18; ___ 18 or longer
5. When you returned to work, did you work: ____ part-time, ____ full-time, ____ telecommute,
____ combination full-time and telecommute, ____ combination part-time and telecommute
6. From most important (1) to least important (5), please rank the following:
____ Employer provided childcare; ____ flexible work schedules; ____ telecommute from home;
____ advancement opportunities; ____ education support programs
Please mark the response that you most closely identify with
for each question -
Strongly
Disagree Disagree
Neither Agree
nor Disagree Agree
Strongly
Agree
1
Motherhood prevents me from accepting promotions or
assignments that could lead to promotions. o o o o o
2
I have been denied a position or promotion because I
am a mother. o o o o o
3
I associate increased compensation with additional
work or additional responsibility. o o o o o
4
I have chosen to work fewer hours to care for my
children. o o o o o
5
I have chosen a position or assignment that does not
challenge me in order to have more time or energy for
my children.
o o o o o
6
I believe my compensation has been reduced or
penalized because I am a mother. o o o o o
7
Women are penalized for being mothers but men are
not penalized for being fathers. o o o o o
8
I have made job or career choices that result in reduced
compensation because I am a mother. o o o o o
9
I have changed jobs in search of more flexible work
environments. o o o o o
10
I have changed industries in search of more flexible
work environments. o o o o o
11
I believe I could earn more if I were not a mother. o o o o o
12
I believe I would be/would have been promoted faster
if I were not a mother. o o o o o
13 I have achieved or expect to achieve my career goals. o o o o o
THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY AND ITS IMPACT ON CAREER 41
Data Collection Tables (Sample)
Initial Questionnaire
Coding Select=1,NonSelect=0;Yes=1,No=0;
Question: 3.Industry
IDnumber Age Bach GC GD PC/L Med Leg Acct 0‐33‐88‐14 14‐20 20+ 0‐33‐55‐10 10‐15 15+
Research Survey Questionnaire
Questions1through6:
Coding Select=1,NonSelect=0;Yes=1,No=0;Ranking=1,2,3,4,5
Question: 5. Statusuponreturntowork
IDnumber 0 1 2‐33+MarrSnglWid0‐33‐66‐11 11‐16 16+ 0‐33‐66‐12 12‐18 18+ PT FT TC PT/TC FT/TC CC Fl ex TC Adv Educ
Questions7‐13:
Coding Stronglydisagree=1,Disagree=1,Neitheragreenordisagree=3,Agree=4,Stronglyagree=5
Question:
IDnumber
7.Years priortomotherhood 8.Workin g
post‐mother
1.Leve lofEducat ion 2.
Earn
4.Worki ngin
relate dindustry
5.Worke dpre‐
motherhood
6.Yearsincareer
15.Changed
jobs
16.Changed
industries
17.Could
earnmore
18.Faster
promotion
19.Iwillachi eve my
careergoals
4.Monthsoffw/firstchild 6. Rankbyimportance
7.Prevents
promotions
8.Deni ed
joborpromo
9.Add'lwork
=add'lcomp
10.Workless
forkids
11.Worknot
chall engi ng
12.Comp
penalized
13.Moth e rs
penalized
14.Chosen
redcomp
1.#Childre ninhome 2.Status 3.Agesofchildren
