Motherhood and/or parenthood and racism at work

Race Reflections AT WORK

In today's episode Simone reflects on the experiences of people who go through pregnancy and birth whilst navigating and trying to balance that with employment.

They begin by with a note about why they are using more inclusive terms to cover this subject and some definitions of cisgender, transgender and intersectionality. And suggest we keep all of this in mind during the episode as most of the research talked about does not apply this kind of inclusivity.

They then discuss, with reference to a 2013 report from the Harvard Business School, the ways that race and work status affect judgement of mothers, acknowledging that mothers get a lot of personal judgment within society despite facing a lot of structural forms of inequality. They suggest that mothers should generally be understood as multiply marginalised people.

They talk about the "Motherhood penalty” relating this to their own lived experience. They cover some of the stereotypes that impact this judgment of mothers and how this relates to their treatment in the workplace. Mothers are judged as less competent and less committed than other applicants and employees and so are less likely to be hired or promoted. This relates to stereotypes from the gender binary such as women being nurturing and domestic.

They consider that the majority of studies of motherhood discrimination focus on how white mothers are treated in the workplace but obviously race plays a huge role in how Black mothers and other mothers of colour are treated. There are studies that suggest that Black mothers who don’t work experience more prejudice than those who do work based on racist stereotypes of irresponsibility, whereas with white mums it is often seen as better and more responsible if they don’t work. For example a study suggested that white families are more likely to receive loans if the mothers stay at home with the children, whereas Black and Latino families are more likely to be granted loans if the mother works outside the home. Then they think more about the race-based double standards between working and stay-at-home mums, and how divisions around who are “better” mothers, and if mothers should work, play into patriarchy and white supremacy.

They then look at a more recent Time magazine piece about how the pay gap for working mums is a race issue and disproportionately impacts women of colour particularly Black women. This isn’t about women’s choices but about structural possibilities and foreclosures, and in particular a lack of institutional policies supporting them.

They conclude with the idea that for things to change there needs to be structural and cultural changes implemented within workplaces with an understanding of how these policies impact communities differently. For example paid family leave, men taking leave too, affordable childcare, flexible time, paid sick leave, and much more!

References:

Gender and Work: Challenging Conventional Wisdom https://www.hbs.edu/race-gender-equity/symposium/Pages/2013-symposium.aspx

Prescriptions and Punishments for Working Moms: How Race and Work Status Affect Judgments of Mothers by Amy Cuddy and Elizabeth Baily Wolf https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50970

Mama, PhD: Women Write about Motherhood and Academic Life https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mama-PhD-Women-Motherhood-Academic/dp/0813543185

Why the Pay Gap for Working Moms Is a Race Issue Too by Jennifer Siebel Newsom https://time.com/5848269/moms-equal-pay-day/

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