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Justifying gender discrimination in the workplace: The mediating role of motherhood myths

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  • Catherine Verniers
  • Jorge Vala

Abstract

The issue of gender equality in employment has given rise to numerous policies in advanced industrial countries, all aimed at tackling gender discrimination regarding recruitment, salary and promotion. Yet gender inequalities in the workplace persist. The purpose of this research is to document the psychosocial process involved in the persistence of gender discrimination against working women. Drawing on the literature on the justification of discrimination, we hypothesized that the myths according to which women’s work threatens children and family life mediates the relationship between sexism and opposition to a mother’s career. We tested this hypothesis using the Family and Changing Gender Roles module of the International Social Survey Programme. The dataset contained data collected in 1994 and 2012 from 51632 respondents from 18 countries. Structural equation modellings confirmed the hypothesised mediation. Overall, the findings shed light on how motherhood myths justify the gender structure in countries promoting gender equality.

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  • Catherine Verniers & Jorge Vala, 2018. "Justifying gender discrimination in the workplace: The mediating role of motherhood myths," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0190657
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190657
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nishtha Langer & Ram D. Gopal & Ravi Bapna, 2020. "Onward and Upward? An Empirical Investigation of Gender and Promotions in Information Technology Services," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 383-398, June.
    2. Larisa Stanila & Maria Denisa Vasilescu & Eva Militaru, 2020. "Investigating Labor Market Discrimination in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Ji-Hye Kim & Sarah Soyeon Oh & Suk Won Bae & Eun-Cheol Park & Sung-In Jang, 2019. "Gender Discrimination in the Workplace: Effects on Pregnancy Planning and Childbirth among South Korean Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-12, July.
    4. Qi Su & Pengyuan Liu & Wei Wei & Shucheng Zhu & Chu-Ren Huang, 2021. "Occupational gender segregation and gendered language in a language without gender: trends, variations, implications for social development in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Lena Niemann & Hanna Naudascher & Umay Kuyumcu & Guido Hertel, 2024. "“How Long Are You Gonna Stay?” Implications of Residents’ Perceptions of Refugees’ Occupational Future Time Perspective in Receiving Countries," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 1423-1443, September.

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