Briefing Document: Pregnancy, The Transition to Motherhood and the Glass Ceiling

Briefing Document: Pregnancy, The Transition to Motherhood and the Glass Ceiling

Project Title: How does the Transition to Motherhood Strengthen the Glass Ceiling? A quantitative study

Paula Broadbent, 2020

1. Introduction & Core Research Question:

• Central Theme: This research investigates how societal stereotypes and perceptions change across the transition to motherhood (from career woman to pregnant, mother, then working mother) and how these perceptions may contribute to the glass ceiling. It examines if motherhood is a single stereotype or if there are differences in perception at various stages.
• Research Gap: Previous research has examined some aspects of this transition but not directly, using the same method to measure each stage: "But, overall there has not been a study which has used one consistent tool to directly measure each of the stages in the transition to motherhood. This is one of the unique contributions of this current research."

1. Unique Contributions: Directly measuring 'mother' and 'pregnant' stereotypes using the Stereotype Content Model (SCM). Previous studies used ‘housewife’ as a proxy.
2. Distinguishing between stages in the transition: pregnant, mother, and working mother.
3. Comparing 'mother' subgroups to career women, career men, and working fathers.
4. Adding 'shows leadership abilities' to the SCM competence scale.

2. Theoretical Framework:

• Stereotype Content Model (SCM): This model is central to the research, measuring how different groups are perceived in terms of warmth and competence, and exploring the socio-structural drivers of these perceptions (status and competition/cooperation).
• Ambivalent Sexism Theory: This theory posits that attitudes towards women are composed of both hostile (seeing women as dangerous and needing to be controlled) and benevolent (seeing women as delicate and needing protection) sexism. These can exist at the same time and affect competence / warmth perceptions.
• System Justification Theory: This theory suggests that people create beliefs to support the status quo.
• Status Characteristic Theory: This theory explains how observable characteristics (e.g., gender, race, motherhood) sort individuals into social categories that then carry with them assumptions of competence. “A status characteristic is observed, and it translates to expectations we hold about that social group’s competence and so the behaviour we expect from them, which affects how we interact with them."
• Behaviours from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes (BIAS) Model: This model posits that perceptions of warmth and competence lead to specific behavioral responses (active/passive help or harm) towards a target group.

3. Key Concepts and Variables:

• Gender Subgroups: Career Women, Pregnant Women, Mothers, Working Mothers, Career Men, and Working Fathers.
• Stereotype Content Scale: Measures perceived competence and warmth of each gender subgroup.
• Socio-Structural Scale: Measures perceived status and competitive independence (and cooperation).
• Leadership Abilities: An additional item added to the competence scale.

4. Methodology:

• Quantitative Approach: Using surveys based on the SCM with the added leadership question, cooperation scale, and using Likert scales.
• Sample Size: 95 participants, larger than the power analysis recommended sample size of 12.
• Data Analysis: Repeated measures ANOVA to explore differences between the gender subgroups.
• Paired sample T-tests to compare ‘mother’ subgroups (pregnant, mother, working mother)
• Shapiro-Wilk tests, QQ plots, and box plots to test for normality of residuals.
• Mauchly’s test to check for sphericity of the data.
• Cronbach's alpha was used to test for internal reliability of scales.
• Ethics: The study received approval from Coventry University. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained.

5. Hypotheses:

• H1: There will be differences in stereotype content across all six gender subgroups measured.
• H2: The underlying mechanisms behind ambivalent sexism will remain true. Specifically, status will positively correlate with competence and leadership, while competition will negatively correlate with warmth.

6. Results:

• Significant differences in stereotype content: The study found that there were significant differences in perceived competence, warmth, and status across the gender subgroups.
• Ambivalent Sexism: There was found to be an ambivalent sexist response across all female subgroups except for working mother.
• Stereotype Content and BIAS Model:Pregnant and Mother subgroups were seen as having low competence and high warmth, leading to pity, passive harm, and sometimes active facilitation, often in the form of dependency-orientated helping.
• Career women and men were viewed as having high competence and low warmth, eliciting feelings of envy and passive facilitation and active harm.
• Working fathers were rated high in competence and medium-high on warmth, leading to feelings of pride and admiration.
• Working mothers had a medium level of perceived competence and warmth.
• Competence and Leadership: Adding the leadership question strengthened the internal reliability of the competence scale.
• Status: The subgroups of pregnant and mothers were perceived as similar in terms of status, with the working mother having a higher status. Status was found to be a driver of competence perceptions.
• Socio-structural Scale: The status scale worked as expected, but the cooperation and competition scales failed to achieve acceptable Cronbach alpha scores (below .7).

7. Discussion:

• Motherhood is Not a Single Stereotype: The study demonstrates that motherhood cannot be considered a single stereotype; there are important differences in how women are perceived at different stages in their transition to motherhood.
• Pregnancy as a Vulnerable Period: Pregnancy is shown to be a time when women's perceived status and competence are at their lowest, which may explain the discrimination faced by pregnant women at work.
• Importance of Identity Theory: The identity transition process was discussed with particular reference to the liminality phase, this being where women are most vulnerable to negative societal perceptions. "Pregnancy is a particularly complex transition as it is both temporary and has an evolving quality in a defined timeframe, whilst at the same time it foreshadows the permanent change to the role of a mother".
• Psychological Contracts: The research suggests the significant drop in perceived status and competence during pregnancy can lead to psychological contract violations that undermine the individual's engagement with work.
• Impact on the Glass Ceiling: The negative stereotypes associated with pregnancy and early motherhood may contribute to women's disengagement with work and to the glass ceiling. "The results of this study indicate that this is where perception of their competence, status and leadership is at its lowest, at a time when it could have a huge and lasting impact on their engagement with work."
• Stereotypes of working fathers are generally positive: It found that while their perceived status had a small dip, their perceived warmth increased, contributing to the "fatherhood bonus".
• Leadership: “The extra question ‘shows leadership abilities’, improved the internal reliability of the competence scale.”

8. Implications:

• For Organizations: Businesses need to be aware of the changing perceptions across the transition to motherhood, especially during pregnancy. "The current study indicates, this is at a time when the woman’s perceived status has fallen sharply in other’s eyes. This combination could go some way to explain the high level of discrimination suffered by pregnant women at work."
• For SCM Scale: The study suggests the inclusion of a leadership question strengthens the SCM and suggests further research is needed on the cooperation scale. "This study indicates that adding in the leadership question may make the scale even more effective, especially in an organisational setting."
• For Future Research: Further exploration is needed into how and why stereotypes change over the transition to motherhood, and whether findings can be replicated with a more diverse demographic.

9. Limitations:

• Demographic Bias: The sample was heavily weighted toward women with children.
• Self-Selection Bias: The nature of the research may have led those that had strong feelings about this subject to participate in the study.
• Cooperation/Competition Scale Issues: The socio-structural cooperation and competition scales failed to achieve internal reliability.

10. Conclusion:

• Key Finding: The research confirms that the transition to motherhood is not a monolithic experience. Different stages (pregnancy, early motherhood, working mother) have different stereotypical responses. "The different staged of the transition to motherhood at work do not elicit the same stereotypical response from others."
• Pregnancy is a period where women risk facing discrimination. Its not just about the return to work
• Impact on the Glass Ceiling: The research suggests the changes in perception throughout the transition to motherhood can contribute to the glass ceiling.
• Importance of the SCM scale: The SCM model is a useful tool to map the differences in perceived stereotypes