Motherhood in the Workplace: A Sociological Exploration into the Negative Performance Standards and Evaluations of Full-Time Working Mothers

This research, entitled “Motherhood in the Workplace: A Sociological Exploration into the Negative Performance Standards and Evaluations of Full-Time Working Mothers,” examines the conscious and unconscious presumptions that are made regarding pregnancy, and, by extension, women and motherhood in the workplace. These presumptions, colloquially coined as “motherhood penalties” lead to biases about a woman’s commitment to her occupation and the workplace as a whole. The penalties—whether they be immediate financial repercussions or distant career stagnation—are placed onto a woman’s presumed responsibilities beyond her present occupation. They perpetuate negative judgments as well as different, and often unfair, standards that a woman must achieve for professional success. For women, it is historically perceived that being “inside the home” is prioritized primarily and being “outside the home” is prioritized secondarily, producing the uncredited and unpaid “double burden” of responsibilities for today’s full-time working mothers. Utilizing a theoretical framework of the status characteristics theory, the cultural tension between an “ideal worker” versus a “good mother,” as well as the second shift theory, this research seeks to sociologically examine the implicit and explicit devaluation of motherhood in the workplace. The extensive, lifelong, and generational repercussions contribute to the larger interlocking structures of sexism, burdening working women, and by extension, penalizing contemporary womanhood. These conclusions can meaningfully add to a broader understanding of the gendered social barriers imposed on working women, and thus inform the meaningful cultural changes needed for a more equal and equitable labor workforce.