ERIC ED463871: Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Maternal Employment during Early Childhood and the Elementary School Years.

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ED 463 871
Gambone, Kirsten; Gelband, Amy; Farrell, Debi; Black, Aimee;
AUTHOR
Szuchyt, Jamie; Aivazian, Casey; Lang, Allison; Nyce, Susan;
Johnson, Lisa; Thomas, Amy; Arena, Jordan; Weiner, Stacie;
Zohe, Dorothoy; Cane, Susan; Chambliss, Catherine
Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Maternal Employment
TITLE
during Early Childhood and the Elementary School Years.
2002-00-00
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*Childhood Attitudes; College Students; Comparative
DESCRIPTORS
Analysis; *Employed Parents; Higher Education; *Mothers;
Preschool Children; Sex Differences; *Young Adults
Research Replication
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Noting the lack of research into the effects of maternal
employment on the cognitions of a young adult sample, this study examined the
relationship between maternal employment and college students' beliefs about
the consequences of maternal employment and their own plans for future
workplace involvement. Participating in the study were 635 undergraduate
college students. Subjects completed a packet of questionnaires, including
the Beliefs about the Consequences of Maternal Employment for Children
(BACMEC) Scale, and the Childhood Appraisal Scale designed to measure their
perception of the consequences of their mother's work status; subjects also
reported their mother's employment at each stage of their own development.
Subjects were divided into two groups (early unemployed versus early
employed) on the basis of maternal work status during their early childhood.
Findings indicated that when males and females were assessed jointly, early
maternal employment was significantly associated with perceptions of both the
benefits and costs associated with maternal employment during their early
childhood. Those whose mothers worked perceived greater benefits and fewer
costs than those whose mothers had not worked during their early childhood.
Males perceived fewer benefits and greater costs than females of maternal
employment. (Contains 17 references.)
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Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Maternal Employment during Early Childhood
and the Elementary School Years
Kirsten Gambone, Amy Gelband, Debi Farrell, Aimee Black, Jamie Szuchyt,
Casey Aivazian, Alison Lang, Susan Nyce, Lisa Johnson, Amy Thomas, Jordan Arena,
Stacie Weiner, Dorothoy Zohe, Susan Cane, and Catherine Chambliss
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AVAIIALE
T OOPY
..
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES TOWARD MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT
DURING EARLY CHILDHOOD AND THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL YEARS
Kirsten Gambone, Amy Gelband, Debi Farrell, Aimee Black,
Jamie Szuchyt, Casey Aivazian, Alison Lang, Susan Nyce, Lisa Johnson, Amy Thomas,
Jordan Arena, Stacie Weiner, Dorothoy Zohe, Susan Cane, Catherine Chambliss, Ph.D.
Ursinus College
2002
Abstract
This study assessed the attitudes of both male and female undergraduate college
students' regarding maternal employment, in an effort to replicate earlier research
showing a disparity between young men's and women's perceptions of the consequences
of maternal employment. Perceptions of both the benefits and costs associated with
maternal employment were assessed via administration of the BACMEC (Greenberger et
al., 1988). Scores on the two BACMEC subscales were calculated for each subject.
Between groups t-tests showed a significant effect on both the cost and benefit subscales;
males perceived fewer benefits and greater costs than females. When males and females
were assessed jointly, early maternal employment was significantly associated with
perceptions of both the benefits and costs associated with maternal employment during
their early childhood.
3
2.
Introduction
The needs of children at particular developmental stages are perceived differently
training begins fairly early in the U.S.,
across cultures. For example, while independence
Japanese youngsters are permitted to be extremely reliant upon their mothers even well
into the elementary school years. Similarly, such attitudes have shifted considerably over
time, within particular cultures. These perceptions of children's developmental capacities
help to shape beliefs about optimal care arrangements, and attitudes toward such things as
maternal employment.
Parents' beliefs about their children's needs, and whether they can adequately met
in a nontraditional family with an employed mother, can have a dramatic influence on
whether this type of family will function well for them. Mothers who feel that maternal
employment exacts a huge toll on children will be burdened by guilt if they work outside
the home when their children are young. Fathers with such attitudes may be critical of
wives who are employed, and may undermine their confidence as mothers. Mothers who
of thriving with an employed mother may resent
see children as very resilient and capable
husbands who expect them to surrender their workplace connections after the birth of
children. Couples characterized by congruent attitudes toward maternal employment can
facilitate the functioning of both traditional, sole-breadwinner and nontraditional, two-
paycheck families. Young children are presumably more likely to prosper within families
in which parents agree about the children's needs, and about how the family's economic
responsibilities should be shared. For this reason, it is important to explore the extent to
which men and women share similar attitudes about the needs of young children, and the
degree to which their feelings about the impact of maternalemployment are congruent.
Traditional gender roles typically divide career and household responsibilities
unevenly between partners (Xaio, 2000). Until recently, men were expected to be the
primary source of income for the family and women were expected to manage all things
domestic. This concept of separate distinct roles is no longer the norm for most families
today. Furthermore, gender and family roles are still evolving from the traditional gender
roles of yesterday. Only in the last ten years have we begun to see the children of non-
choices as they reach young adulthood. Interestingly, the
traditional families make their
choices made by this generation are varied within gender, age, background and social
class.
In an effort to understand how they fit into today's changing world, partners often
stop to evaluate the fairness of their choices. Egalitarian women more often compared
their contributions to their partner rather than the women that came before them (Buunk
of hours
et al, 2000). Women were most satisfied in their relationships when the amount
agreed.
spent performing domestic duties by their partner turned out to be what was
Interestingly, men were most satisfied when their wives did less housework and set aside
increased time for activities pertaining to the relationship (Stevens, Kiger & Riley, 2001).
Ironically, marriage itself tends to promote dependence and hinder the success egalitarian
practices. Moreover, this pattern (of promoting marital dependence) is most negative to
the outcome of success for women as well as and marital satisfaction (Baxter & Kane,
1995).
4
3
hidden
Further complicating attitudes towards working women are the often
be
problems associated with childcare. The debate over quality childcare continues to
childcare are
defended vigorously from both sides. The majority of studies surrounding
that are able to
often misleading as well as being inconclusive. Many of the studies
shared with the public because
publish 'statistically significant' positive results are never
'statistically significant'
often the results are insignificant in real-world terms. However,
unbelievable. Such
negative results are quickly portrayed by the media as unexpected and
longer know
sensational news surely shapes the attitudes of listeners causing many to no
childcare must continue to be a focus
what to believe, and what not to believe. In the end,
Understanding
of all family studies due to the major importance of non-parental care.
will continue to challenge
why partners make the career or family sacrifices they do
researchers in our constantly changing society.
Although there continues to be divisions within household labor and gaps in
that for the most part the traditional roles
wages between men and women, it is obvious
that attitudes tend to be shifting away from traditional
no longer apply. Zuo (2000) found
employment,
gender ideologies. Most men in this sample were supportive of their wives
In the
however, their gender ideologies remained more conventional than egalitarian.
equal
future we may find "policies that promote women's independence, encourage
between
opportunity, pay equity, gender-neutral parental leave, and a more equal balance
women"
home and work, will help foster more egalitarian attitudes for both men and
have been
(Baxter & Kane, 1995). Models of success that support pay equity for females
reduced or unequal pay and gender discrimination
seen in Scandinavian countries where
recognize
have been decreased or eliminated through comprehensive family policies that
options,
and value the differences between genders. Such policies govern parental leave
benefits the
childcare subsidies, flexible working hours, and compensation for work that
community (which may not normally fall under the definition of paid work) such as
change
community childcare (Baxter & Kane, 1995). Large-scale attitude and behavior
both had
will require changes in how children are socialized. Perhaps if men and women
parental leave policies, the traditional gender
access to flexible work hours and greater
roles would be less necessary and less supported (Baxter, 2000).
the
Recent Census Bureau statistics indicate that the double income family is now
children (including those under one year of
average, even among families with young
with school age
age). In fact, the rate of maternal employment for two-parent families
1989). In
children is at least 71%, and this figure continues to rise each year (Hoffman,
maternal
light of this, much research has been done to investigate the effects of
employment on infants, children, and adolescents.
future
In making career decisions, many mothers continue to worry about the
workplace when their children are still
consequences of their choice to return to the
empirical studies of adult children's perceptions of
young. To date, there have been few
known about the short-
the impact of their mother's employment status. Although much is
studies of young children), there
term consequences of maternal employment (based on
adolescent samples and even fewer using adult
are relatively few investigations using
5
review the available literature, and present
subjects. In this current study we hope to
of the effects of maternal work status on
research findings on college students' views
their lives and their career and family plans.
maternal employment is
There has been considerable debate over whether
the years many researchers have postulated
beneficial or detrimental for children. Over
and self-esteem repercussions of
global negative, cognitive, academic, emotional
decades of work has failed to affirm the
maternal employment. To date, nearly four
children of employed women. Most studies
majority of pessimistic predictions about the
children grouped on the basis of maternal work
have found very few differences between
status (Hoffman, 1989).
struggle found in the typical double
Many have suggested that much of the
the next generation become parents
income home will disappear when members of
in this "nontraditional" family. According to
because so many themselves were reared
been a child in a "traditional" family (where
this argument, it is the incongruity of having
while living out one's adult life in a "nontraditional"
the father is the sole employed adult)
fuels the pandemic conflict, guilt, and
family (where both parents are employed) that
'90s.
anxiety that beset double income families of the
mother could certainly affect
Having childhood experiences with an employed
of maternal employment and affect one's own
one's perceptions about the appropriateness
employed mother will prepare future
lifestyle choices and adjustment. Perhaps having an
effectively with the
husbands with an outlook that will enable them to cope more
household.
demands of being a father in a two-paycheck
mother may have an even greater
The experience of being reared by an employed
mothers have been shown to be more
impact on daughters. Daughters of employed
and Chambliss, 1989; Brogan and Kutner,
egalitarian in their sex role attitudes (Knoblach
1986). Daughters of employed women tend
1976; Meier, 1972; Gardner and LeBreque,
ambitious (Almquist and Angrist, 1971) and more
to be more careers oriented, more
In a summary of the literature Hoffman
often tend to go to college (Hoffman, 1974).
ideologies held by women of employed mothers, were
notes that the most egalitarian
(Hoffman, 1974).
those whose mothers held high status jobs
of their parents, (Knaub, 1986),
In a study regarding children's perceptions
families were surveyed as to their
adolescent and young adult children of dual-career
strength, and views on various issues
satisfaction with this lifestyle, perceptions of family
children rated their families relatively high
related to the dual-career lifestyle. In general,
subjects
strengths such as concern, respect, and support. The
on perceptions of family
security and the opportunity to develop
mentioned having positive role models, financial
dual-career family. The subjects
independence as possible benefits from growing up in a
primary problems they had with both of their
also indicated that time constraints were the
children were highly supportive of their parents' double
parents working. However, these
employment
that they thought the benefits of maternal
career lifestyle and they indicated
outweighed the disadvantages.
5-
and Carr (1991)
A study of college student attitudes by Chambliss, Owens,
When compared with
provided no support for "working mother" guilt and anxiety.
from two-paycheck families
students from families with unemployed mothers, students
tendency to blame
did not report greater family discord. They also showed no greater
intellectual, or
their mothers for childhood or current problems (social, esteem,
worked fulltime most, mothers who
academic). Students reported admiring mothers who
worked part-time next, and unemployed mothers least.
The only consistently perceived "casualties" of maternal employment were
marriage. Many students whose
perceptions of the mother's happiness and quality of her
infancy or preschool years reported
mothers were employed fulltime during the subjects'
and their marriages "would have
the belief that their mothers "would have been happier"
However, it is important to
been better" had their mothers' work status been different.
with fulltime employed mothers did not
note that even here, the majority of students
mothers' happiness or
perceive maternal work status as having compromised either
marriage quality.
understanding of the
The present study was performed in order to gain a better
beliefs about the
relationship between maternal employment and college students'
and their own plans for future workplace
consequences of maternal employment
effects of maternal
involvement. While many previous studies have investigated the
cognitions of a young
employment, this is one of the first to assess the impact on the
adult sample.
Method
Sub'ects:
sample consisted
The subjects used in this study were 635 college students. The
psychology course at
of 230 men and 405 women who were enrolled in an introductory
from 18 to 28 years old.
Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. The subjects ranged in age
Procedure:
introductory
The packet used in this study was handed out to subjects in the
asked to fill out the packet
psychology class in which they were enrolled. Subjects were
questionnaire in full.
in its entirety with ample time given to fill out the
information and to
In part one, subjects were asked to provide demographic
and family expectations. These questions
answer questions concerning their career
about family
required subjects to disclose information concerning their expectations
based on the age of their
plans, job type, job characteristics, and work preference
questions concerning their attitudes toward
youngest child. Subjects were also asked 10
7
subjects to indicate their degree of
their mother and father. These questions required
Likert scale.
agreement with each statement on a 4 point
(Greenberger
Part two of the packet was made up of the BACMEC questionnaire
scale developed to measure Beliefs About the
et al., 1988). The BACMEC is a 24-item
included beliefs
Consequences of Maternal Employment for Children. The BACMEC
of five samples (n=375) have
about both benefits (13 items) and costs (11 items). Studies
highly reliable and
demonstrated that the total BACMEC scale along with subscales are
(Greenberger et al. 1988).
have good convergent, divergent, and concurrent validity
information about their
In part three of the packet, subjects were asked to disclose
development were
mother's work status at each stage of development. The stages of
old), childhood (6 to 12 years
infancy (birth to 1 1/2 years old), preschool (2 to 5 years
asked to report whether
old), and adolescence (13 to 18 years old). The subjects were
outside the home
their mothers were employed part-time, fulltime, or not employed
information about their
during each stage of development. Subjects also disclosed
collar, or blue- collar
mother's position indicating whether it was professional, white
they had been raised in a single
work. Subjects were also asked to indicate whether or not
parent household.
Part four of the packet consisted of the CAS, the Childhood Appraisal Scale
designed to
(Chambliss, Owens, & Carr 1991). The CAS is an 18-item questionnaire
of their mother's work status. The
measure the subject's perception of the consequences
how strongly
subjects were asked to rate each item on a scale from 1 to 4 depending on
subjects to
they agreed or disagreed with each statement. The statements permitted
work status had
indicate if they felt their lives would have been different if their mother's
of the perceived
been different when they were growing up. This allowed an assessment
impact of fulltime and part-time maternal employment, as well as unemployment.
Results
employed)
Subjects were divided into two groups (early unemployed versus early
during their early childhood (birth to 5 years old).
on the basis of maternal work status
(late
Subjects were similarly grouped on the basis of maternal employment
through 18 years
unemployment versus late employment) during their later childhood (6
employment. Subjects
old). Maternal employment included both fulltime and part-time
below.
from single parent households were excluded from the analyses described
Scores on the two BACMEC subscales ("benefits" and "costs" of maternal
adjusted item
employment) were calculated for each subject by adding the directionally
benefits
values. Between groups t-tests revealed a significant sex effect on both the
05)(see table 2)
(t=3.50, df=635, p<. 05) (see table 1) and costs (t=3.23, df=635, p<.
When males
subscales; males perceived fewer benefits and greater costs than females.
significantly
and females were assessed jointly, early maternal employment was
with maternal
associated with perceptions of both the benefits and costs associated
fewer costs
employment; those whose mothers worked perceived greater benefits and
8
7
worked during their early childhood. The results
than those whose own mothers had not
previously by Gambone, Rowles, Szuchyt, Dietrick,
of his study affirmed those obtained
Chambliss, 2002.
Gelband, Lu, Zohe, Stickney, Fields, &
Table 1
Benefit subset score of the BACMEC:
Mean s.d.
n
226
10.84
50.58
Males:
400
11.13
50.58
Females:
Table 2
Cost subset score of BACMEC:
N
S.D.
Mean
226
10.80
34.93
Males:
400
10.76
32.04
Females:
Discussion
While it is only starting to
Historically, females were expected to have children.
couple, many women are choosing to wait
become socially acceptable to be a childless
deciding not to have children
until later to have children in order to pursue a career, or are
at all.
maternal employment.
Males and females have very different views on
and fewer benefits associated with
Specifically, college men feel that there are more costs
These inconsistent views between men
maternal employment than do college women.
further exemplified by the men's
and women about maternal employment are
compared to the women's plans about their
expectations of their spouse's employment as
in the Cost and Benefit category, which was
future employment. The gender differences
attributed to the growing number of
calculated using the BACMEC method, may be
both a career and children simultaneously. These women may
women who desire to have
employment, then a man who still feels
have approved more of their mothers' maternal
children.
that a woman should not work, and raise the
9
their
Initially, men and women tend to agree that mothers should stay home with
that they
infants. Most of the men expect their wives to do this and many women report
for the rest of the
do not plan to work at that stage of their children's lives. However,
their wives
child's life, there are differences between the percentage of men who expect
be working. Many more men expect
to work and the percentage of women who expect to
believe that they
that their wives will be staying at home to raise children, while women
find it
will employed outside the home. It is important to note that both men and women
-
be working at least part-time as their children get older.
more acceptable for mothers to
who prefer
The older the children, the smaller the percentages of both men and women
of their mothers
the mother to stay at home. Males and females tend to view the roles
home may feel
quite differently. Women who had mothers who did not work outside the
should have held a job
that their mothers were "held back" while raising the children and
who worked exclusively in the home may have viewed
as well. Men who had mothers
than what having a stay-at-
them negatively. The males may have wanted more freedom
home mother afforded them.
For both male and female college students, there are differences in attitudes
mothers were employed
towards maternal employment based on whether or not their own
there
during their early childhood. When assessed together, men and women felt that
if their mothers had been employed during early
were fewer costs and more benefits
worked
childhood. There were additional differences between subjects whose mothers
separately.
and subjects whose mothers did not when males and females were looked at
Men whose mothers worked outside the home during their early childhood were
during their children's infancy. These men
more likely to prefer that their wives work
than men whose mothers did not work
were more receptive to maternal employment
with
outside the home. This may be due to the fact that they had a positive experience
maternal employment and positive personal outcomes. There is no difference between
did not in their preference for spousal
men whose mothers worked and those who
employment during the preschool and elementary school years. However, there is a
surprising shift in attitude during adolescence. Men with mothers who did not work
during early childhood were more likely to prefer that their spouse work during
adolescence than men whose mothers did work. Perhaps men whose mothers worked
be
during early childhood continued to work for their entire childhood and could not
adolescence
there for support during adolescence. These men may have had a difficult
mothers'
for this or other reasons and perhaps are blaming this difficulty on their
prefer that
employment. Despite thiis contradictory finding, more men from both groups
their wives become employed, as the children get older.
There are also differences between women whose mothers worked during early
childhood and those subjects whose mothers did not. Women whose mothers were
employed during their early childhood were more likely to prefer to work during their
children's preschool, elementary, and adolescent years. As was true for the men, the gaps
between the two groups of women got smaller as children got older and more women
from both groups preferred to work outside the home by the time their children were
adolescents. An interesting finding was that there was not a difference between the two
1 0