Research Paper 1

Topic: Career vs. Family: Why is it difficult for women to have both?

Johnna Thatch

North Carolina A&T State University

JOMC 303- Section 1

9/13/20, Professor Zhang

Fall 2020
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Introduction

Our group wanted to explore if women can have both a family and a successful career

simultaneously or does she choose one over the other. Before we answer ‘Do women prioritize

one over the other?’, we have to first look at the dependent variables that can affect this question.

The first dependent variable that we are focusing on is what happens when women have children

before obtaining a high school or college-level education. The second variable is what happens

when women obtain education prior to having children. The third variable is how does having a

child or education at different stages of your life affect women? All of these factors can have an

effect on if a woman chooses to prioritize her career or her family.

This topic is important because it allows women, who are younger, to see their options

before making a choice. Another reasoning is that it expresses the importance of education if you

want both a career and a family, especially if you’re older. Another reason is men and women

can converse about the roles of the house. Changing these roles can allow for women to not have

to choose between education/career or family. It also changes society’s beliefs about what

women’s roles should be.

This problem of women prioritizing career over family or vice versa relates to

communication in many ways. For example, it sheds light on the importance of how women

communicate to men about what they want in a marriage or relationship. This also shows how

traditions may influence young girls' futures. Linda for example in Pik Lin Choi’s journal article,

followed her grandmother's footsteps because at a young age she saw these traditions of what a

woman does, making her more family-oriented. “Although she (Linda) held strong views that a

woman had to be monetarily independent, she followed her grandmother's model and "those

traditional virtues of a housewife such as practising frugality and demonstrating good house-
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keeping…(Choi, 2013)”. This also shows how women can be reflected in films or the media as

doing only house duties.“Women in the African films fit into old frames in which they are

portrayed as sex objects and objects to fulfill the desires of men. They are also seen as domestic

servants…(Alzahrani, 2016)”. Women also are affected emotionally by their choice of family or

career. “Work status consistently emerged as an important predictor of change in women’s level

of distress …Women who returned to work part-time after the birth of their first child were

significantly more depressed postpartum than they were prenatally (Goldberg & Perry-Jenkins,

2004)”. If the woman receives help from her husband or boyfriend then stress levels would

lower. These are all the reasons why this research should be looked into farther.

Literature review

Our research topic focuses on why it is difficult for women to have both family and

career. We want to examine why women seem to prioritize one over the other rather than valuing

both. We also want to touch on the importance of communication outlets when examining this

topic. Mass media communication reaches a large audience so this research topic has become

more available to people through the internet, television, and films. The background of this

phenomenon comes from the roles of women back in the day. Women prioritized their family

because they weren’t afforded the same opportunities as men when it came to working a job or

getting an education. When women finally were able to work, they were limited to simple jobs

that didn’t interfere with them taking care of home. As time passed, the role of women changed

drastically. More women were seeking college education so they could pursue a career that

interested them. Soon opinions began to surface about how women couldn’t possibly maintain a

successful career if they had/wanted a family. At one point only 13-17% of the population of

women acquired both “career and family.” “Career and Family: College women look to the past”
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(Goldin, 1995). This discouraged women & made them feel like they had to choose between

having a family or career because acquiring both presented to be more difficult than they

originally thought.

We believe studying this phenomenon is important because it gives us insight on why

there are women continuing to accept the stereotype stating that women can’t manage having a

career and a family. Studying this phenomenon helps us--along with others--better understand

most women’s thought process. It also shines light on how this all started which is informative to

know since it is still going on. Our motivation for choosing this research topic is the belief that

all women have the potential to have a successful career and a loving family.

We’ve come up with several theories to explain this phenomenon. Theory number #1,

women that didn’t have children at an early age are more likely to be career oriented. They put

the idea of having a family on hold or disregard it permanently. Theory number #2, women that

had children at an early age are more likely to be family oriented. Which encourages them to put

the idea of having a successful career on hold or disregard it permanently. “The traditional career

perspective would suggest that women’s objective career success is likely to be limited by family

factors including early-career childbearing….” (Valcour & Ladge, 2008). Theory number #3,

women that have children while in the middle of their career run the risk of completely

disregarding their career. Age also contributes to women deciding which is most important for

them to achieve, a family or a career.

Theory number #1 explores women that didn’t have kids before graduating high school

or during college. Those women are the ones that focus more on having a successful career

instead of the ideal traditional family. Most women pursue a career over a family because quite a

few of them don’t intend on having kids or want to be physically, mentally, and emotionally
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stable before getting married and starting a family. Theory number #2 explores women that had

children young and had to devote all their time and energy to motherhood. They disregarded any

possibilities of going to college and getting a degree in the career field of their choice. Having a

family became their top priority. Theory number #3 explores women that had to put their career

on hold, because family responsibilities began to interfere. A few women rationalize that the

career can wait. Yet, others come to the conclusion that pursuing the career again after taking a

break would be purposeless. “Career vs. motherhood - Women weigh whether to return to their

jobs after having children and how to find balance if they do” (Correa, 2005). Age is also a

factor in women deciding which to pick. Women assume by age 35 if they haven’t settled down

with a family or are working their dream job then the opportunity has passed them by. These

theories highlight the common reasons why women have become comfortable with choosing one

over the other instead of proudly tackling both.

In the five studies that have been examined, it has been discovered that women find it

difficult to have both a family and career. Research shows that women often feel a need to

choose between a career and a family.

For women of color specifically, it has been found that their career path is driven by a

number of factors. According to the article, “Family Influence, Critical Consciousness, and

Career Calling in Women of Color”, women of color are motivated by a sense of purpose and a

social consciousness. This “calling” leads them to desire work that makes a significant impact in

society and their respective communities. Additionally, the same study found that some women’s

choices are heavily influenced by family members. In other words, for some women of color

their jobs should serve a higher purpose that adds to the value and meaning of their life, while

some women don’t completely explore their passion because they feel pressure to simply please
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their families. Whatever the case, this study demonstrates that women must seek a work life

balance that allows them to not only seek and fulfill their own dreams but also allows them to

meet the expectations of their family. The article sums it up best, “Family seems to be most

important with women who are in the process of searching for a calling”.

On the other hand, some believe that there is no having both; therefore, a sacrifice needs

to be made. In Marianne Bertrand’s article, “Career, Family, and the Well-Being of College-

Educated Women”, she implies that the ultimate sacrifice of “having it all” may very well be the

mental health and emotional well being of a woman. She contends, “The biggest premium to life

satisfaction is associated with having a family; while there is also a life satisfaction premium

associated with having a career, women do not seem to be able to “double up” on these

premiums.”

She goes on to say, “Among college-educated women with family, those with a career

spent a larger share of their day unhappy, sad, stressed, and tired compared to those that are

staying at home.”

This complicated situation of being able to juggle both family and career may prove a

good point as to why some women either keep advancing towards their career or decide to opt

out altogether.

One might ask where men fit in this equation. According to the scholarly article,

“Balancing Act: Career and Family During College-Educated Women’s 30s”, men want to enjoy

both sides of the spectrum as well. The research reveals, “Women college students in the U.S.

say that they want it all – career, marriage, and motherhood. In this regard, they do not differ

from college men. Both genders consider career to be very important and both want other things

in their lives as well, including marriage and parenthood (Hoffnug and Williams).”
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Therefore it can be said that it is quite common to want both a family and career, but who

actually makes the sacrifice? Which gender has the true ability to make” having it all” a reality?

Research shows that men are not required to find the balance and more likely to be able to give

their careers more attention.

The article states, “Although combining career and family has been typical for men, it has

not always been possible for women...Although women often combined career and family in

their lifetimes, estimates of women who graduated [from college] between 1946 and 1965, and

remained in the workforce when they had young children, range from 13 to 28% (Hoffnug and

Williams).”

Even though women today are now more likely to attend graduate school and seek

management positions there is still a trade off. The study shows that career driven women are

having less children or none at all.

“Educational level...has an impact on motherhood and employment. Women with

graduate and professional degrees are among the most likely never to have children, although

their rate of childlessness has been rapidly declining, from 31 % in 1994 to 24 % in 2008. Those

with higher educational status are also more likely to have smaller families...(Hoffnug and

Williams ).

Information found in the study entitled, “Women and Careers: New Zealand Women's

Engagement in Career and Family Planning”, suggests the same idea that when women became

more career oriented, the composition of the family was impacted. It indicates, “Some women

delay starting a family due to their careers, and where work is more salient, women have fewer

children, postpone starting a family, and make career choices over family choices (Ussher,

Roche and Cable).

Overall, it can be argued that women truly can’t have it all in the sense that men can.

Why so? “Men are typically less engaged in the care of young children, and less likely to suffer

in terms of career as a result of having children (Bono, Weber and Winter-Ebmer).” Therefore, it

seems that no matter how much a woman progresses in education and career, she is still expected

to fulfill the never-ending role of being a mother. She is expected to nurture her children from

birth to adulthood. With that said, it would be helpful to see more research about men and how

family impacts their career choices. Little is mentioned about how much men give up in order to

establish a successful career. It would be interesting to see if career trends have changed through

the years for married men with families.

References

Livingston, G. (2020, July 31). For most highly educated women, motherhood doesn't start until the 30s.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/01/15/for-most-highly-educated-women-
motherhood-doesnt-start-until-the-30s/

Valcour, M., & Ladge, J. J. (2008). Family and career path characteristics as predictors of
women's objective and subjective career success: integrating traditional and protean
career explanations. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73(2), 300–300.

Alzahrani, F. (2016, April). The portrayal of Women and Gender. International Journal of Scientific &
Engineering Research, 7(4). https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/The-portrayal-of-Women-and-
Gender-Roles-in-Films.pdf.

Goldberg, A. E., & Perry-Jenkins, M. (2004). Division of Labor and Working-Class Women's Well-Being
Across the Transition to Parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(1), 225–236.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.18.1.225

Hoffnung, M., & Williams, M. A. (2013). Balancing act: career and family during college-educated
women's 30s. Sex Roles, 68(5-6), 321–334.
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RIMER, S. (1988, December 4). Younger women weigh career vs. motherhood. Houston Chronicle, p. 5.
Available from NewsBank: Access World News Research Collection:
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p=AWNB&docref=news/0ED7AEAA9F86915C.

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balance if they do. ; infobox. (2005). The Fresno Bee, D1, 1.

Pik, L. C. (2013). Gender identities and career aspirations of middle leaders. The International Journal of
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Bertrand, M. (2013). Career, family, and the well-being of college-educated women.

Marks, L. R., Harrell-Williams, L. M., Tate, K. A., Coleman, M. L., & Moore, K. (2018). Family
influence, critical consciousness, and career calling in women of color. The Career Development
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