Abstract
Key themes in this paper include delayed childbearing, uncertain career trajectory, role conflict, and identity blending. These topics highlight the idea that childbearing while possessing a position of power in the workplace is uncommon, which can deter mothers from returning to work after maternity leave. Role conflict is the tension between competing demands of being a mother and a professional. This develops the concept that due to this conflict, women are often expected to adopt a motherly role in the workplace. This extremist ideology surrounding the roles women possess in the workplace, leaves them feeling as though their jobs expect them to behave as a mother would, in and out of the home. Motherhood in the workplace presents a complex intersection of unpaid labor, evolving gender norms, and policy gaps. When it comes to motherhood and professionalism; these ideas combined present an ad-ditional challenge. This research will touch upon the “mom penalty” and “maternal wall bias,” an assumption that women who are mothers are uncommitted to their jobs if they take time off to care for their families or cold and uncaring if they do not. This barrier manifests in subtle ways, ranging from exclusion from high-profile clients and projects to wage penalties that develop over time. Even then, societal expectations for household management placed upon women are wildly disproportionate to those placed on men. Women take on what researchers refer to as a “second shift”; the job they arrived home to after work. Economically, the competitive global market re-quires a diverse, multifaceted approach that encapsulates both individual lived experiences and institutional structures that do not emphasize gender-based bias. Through the lens of economic, sociological, and psychological research, this paper will explore how working mothers navigate structural and interpersonal challenges while pushing for systemic reform. This essay examines the economic impact social constructs have on mothers in the workplace.
Recommended Citation
Batista, Katherine
(2025)
"The Sociology of Motherhood in the Workplace,"
The Crown: Syracuse Honors Research Journal: Vol. 2, Article 13.
Available at:
https://surface.syr.edu/thecrown/vol2/iss1/13