Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Opinion

Women Don't Have More Family-Work Conflicts Than Men Do

November 09, 2009 01:55 PM ET | Bonnie Erbe | Permanent Link | Print

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Now here's a study the results of which make me jump up and yell, "huzzah!"

According to the Academy of Management:

Bosses mistakenly believe female workers have more family-work conflict than men do, and that misconception stymies women's careers.

Just last week, I was seething over a different study that seemed to show the opposite. The second study showed that women were increasing, not decreasing, their share of household chores and child care, and that kids are being raised believing Mom does (and therefore should do) more work around the house than Dad.

The Academy of Management study isn't the good news for women that it should be. It says that even though women have less family-work conflict than men, they are perceived by bosses to have more and are penalized in the workplace for it:

A study in the current issue of The Academy of Management Journal reveals that bosses generally perceive women workers to have more family-work conflict than men, even though this isn't the case. And this belief, mistaken though it is, leads supervisors to take a negative view of women employees' suitability for promotion.

The study was performed by analyzing 126 worker-boss pairs who work at a large trucking company. Sadly, female managers were just as likely as male managers to perceive female underlings as less worthy of promotion. So what's the answer?

According to the authors, changing gender stereotypes. So here's my contribution: let's all assume, as these data have shown, that men and women come to the workplace similarly freighted with family responsibilities from here on out.

Tags: parenting | working women | corporate culture | family

Tools: Share | | Comments (3) | Print

Reader Comments

inZAdUALcmixDGyve

this is a cool news. Thank you.

Great Research

I would first like to commend the professors Jenny Hoobler, Sandy Wayne, and grad student Grace Lemmon on their hard work and recent publishing.

Secondly I would like to say that the above comment is disrespectful and out of line.

Once again, great work guys!!

KV

Another warped Erbe angle on life................

Something really, really bad must have happened to her as a child, at the hands of a male, because she is the most anti-male person I have ever seen and only something tragic could cause a person to be this warped.

Add your thoughts

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

advertisement

U.S. News Weekly

Free Trial!

Get the new U.S. News Weekly digital magazine free for four weeks!

About Bonnie Erbe

Bonnie Erbe is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report and hosts PBS's weekly news analysis program, To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbe. She also writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column for Scripps Howard News Service.

advertisement

NEWSLETTER

Sign up today for the latest headlines from U.S. News & World Report delivered to you free.

RSS FEEDS

Personalize your U.S. News with our feeds of blogs and breaking news headlines.

U.S. NEWS MOBILE

U.S. News daily briefings are also available on your mobile device.

FAVORITES

advertisement

Thomas Jefferson St.

GOP Sets Terms for Healthcare Summit

Boehner and Cantor are forcing the president to treat the Republicans as equal partners.

Palin’s Fundraising Letter Has Bad Grammar

With all the money she spent, you’d think she could hire a competent proofreader.

Republicans Sought Money They Denounced

GOP For Stimulus After They Were Against It

Mary Kate Cary Right on Sarah Palin

Like Palin, readers should do their homework.

Memo to Sarah Palin: Prepare Next Time

She should know core values like the back of her hand.

GOP Should Beware Obama’s Healthcare Invite

It will be carefully staged to make the president look moderate.

Top Political Nonfiction

A fix to Cilizza’s list.

Why the Tea Party Convention Was a Bad Idea

Right now they have more power as a grassroots movement, that’s bigger than any panel discussion.

Public Opinion

Palin's Hand Notes

Should the GOP's star have been more prepared on major issues?

Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy.
Make USNews.com your home page.