Perhaps our nation needs a new slogan since the old adage no longer seems to apply. Researchers have now confirmed something that mothers have known all along – it’s a rough road up the corporate ladder. According to a new survey conducted by Cornell University, mothers face significant challenges in gaining upward mobility.
According to Cornell Sociology professor, Shelley J. Correll, mothers have a harder time finding and progressing at work. The perception is that their commitment to success tends to wane. As a result, they are offered lower salaries than their childless counterparts. "What got me interested in this topic to begin with was research done mostly by economists that showed women with children earned lower wages than women without children, even though they had similar jobs and similar backgrounds," said Correll. "This research shows that you earn less if you have one child, even less if you have two, and so on."
In testing their hypothesis that mothers have more hurdles to overcome than their non-child bearing counterparts, researchers surveyed 192 Cornell undergraduates and asked them to evaluate candidates for a marketing director position. "We created two applicant profiles that were functionally equivalent," Correll said. "Their resumes were very strong; they were very successful in their last jobs. In pretesting, no one preferred one applicant over the other; they were seen as equally qualified."
Researchers then varied the candidates profiles by adding certain family background information. When those profiles containing information on maternity were re-evaluated, only 47% were viewed in a positive light. On the other hand, 84% of childless women were given the ‘green light,’ receiving on average $11,000 more.
"According to our theory, women who have children are held to a harsher performance standard than women who do not. We asked how many days the applicant could be late before they would not be seen as 'management material,' and the mothers were allowed significantly fewer days than non-mothers," added Correll.
For more survey results, click here.
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