mechanisms

							Foundations of Sociological Inquiry

                          Getting A Job
Today’s Objectives
   Discuss Getting A Job
   What is the Research Question
   What Methods Were Used
   How Does it Relate to What We Think We Know
    about Gender Inequality in the Labor Market
   Questions?
Who Wrote “Getting A Job: Is There a
Motherhood Penalty”?

1.   Julie Brines & Kara
     Joyner
2.   Shelley Correll,
     Stephen Benard & In
     Paik
3.   Michelle Budig &
     Paula England
4.   Deborah Anderson,
     Melissa Binder, &
     Kate Krause           0%   0%   0%   0%
                           1    2     3    4
What was the Research Question in “Getting
A Job”?
1.   What is the wage gap
     between women and
     men?
2.   Why would being a
     parent lead to
     disadvantages in the
     workplace for women?
3.   Why are women more
     likely to take care of
     children?
4.   How do workplaces help
     families manage work-    0%   0%   0%   0%
     family conflict?
                              1    2     3    4
What was the primary hypothesis in “Getting
A Job”?
1.   the motherhood penalty exists
     because women don’t get as
     much education as men
2.   the motherhood penalty exists
     because women are more
     likely to have children than
     men
3.   the motherhood penalty exists
     because women are
     uncommitted workers
4.   the motherhood penalty exists
     because cultural
     understandings of the
     motherhood role are in
     tension with the cultural       0%   0%   0%   0%
     understandings of the ideal
                                     1    2     3    4
     worker role
What methods did Correll, Benard, & Paik
use to study why parenthood is associated
with workplace disadvantages for women?
1.   ethnography
2.   sample survey
3.   a laboratory
     experiment
4.   an audit study
5.   a laboratory
     experiment and an
     audit study
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                         1    2    3     4    5
What factors do Correll et al. offer as
explanations for the motherhood wage gap
in “Getting A Job”?
1.   Reduced investment in
     human capital by
     mothers
2.   Lower work effort by
     mothers compared with
     nonmothers
3.   Unobserved
     heterogeneity between
     mothers and nonmothers
4.   Discrimination against
     mothers by employers     0%   0%   0%   0%   0%
5.   All of the above         1    2    3     4    5
The laboratory experiment
   192 paid undergraduates (84 men, 108 women)
   rated a pair of fictious job applicants:
       equally qualified
       same gender (either male or female)
       same-race (either African-American or white)
       fictitious job applicants, presented as real, who differed on
        parental status
   student raters complete evaluation sheet
       competence and commitment
       ability standards
       evaluation (salary, promotion, mgmt training, hire)
The laboratory results
   Competency and commitment:
       mothers perceived as less competent and less
        committed than non-mothers
   Ability standards:
       mothers held to harsher performance and punctuality
        standards
   Evaluation:
       lower starting salaries for mothers
       mothers viewed as less promotable
       mothers less likely to be recommended for
        management training
       mothers less likely to be recommended for hire
The audit study
   1,276 applications to 648 employers
   Letters and resumes submitted in response to
    newspaper ad for entry and mid-level marketing
    and business openings
     equally qualified
     gender signaled by name
     parent status signaled by PTA involvement and
      reference to family in cover letter
The audit results
   Childless women more than twice as likely to
    receive callback than women with children
   Fathers more likely to be called back than non-
    fathers
   Childless women more likely to receive callbacks
    than childless men
How Does “Getting A Job” Relate to What
We Think We Know About Gender Inequality
in the Labor Market?
How Does “Getting A Job” Relate to What
We Think We Know About Gender Inequality
in the Labor Market?
   Methodological
       Employs both laboratory experiment and audit study to
        investigate the mechanisms underlying observed gender
        inequalities and parenthood
           Audit study provides external validity
       Finds that mothers are evaluated differently than fathers
How Does “Getting A Job” Relate to What
We Think We Know About Gender Inequality
in the Labor Market?
   Methodological
       Employs both laboratory experiment and audit study to
        investigate the mechanisms underlying observed gender
        inequalities and parenthood
           Audit study provides external validity
       Finds that mothers are evaluated differently than fathers
   Theoretical
       Supports theories of status-based discrimination
           Normative expectations about intensive mothering are
            inconsistent with normative expectations of ideal workers
Questions?