Time-intensive occupations and the motherhood gap in authority

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mothers experience diminished opportunities for advancement in the workplace, but it is unclear how particular occupational conditions help or hinder their attainment of occupational authority. In the current study, I analyze data from a panel survey of contemporary U.S. workers to examine the link between motherhood, women’s power and authority, and their underrepresentation in time-intensive occupations. Analyzing data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network and 15 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, I find that even when mothers remain employed full-time, they are less likely than childless women to work in occupations that require a lot of time. Occupational time intensity explains about forty percent of the motherhood gap in occupational authority. If childless women and mothers were equally likely to work in time-intensive occupations, almost half of the motherhood gap in occupational authority would disappear. In contrast, there are fewer differences between mothers and childless women in the likelihood of working in highly stressful, competitive occupations or those requiring a lot of work effort or persistence.