An Organizational Behavior and Management Perspective on Parental Leave
Key Words
- Parental leave
- Paternity leave
- Maternity leave
- Discrimination
- Employer Benefit Outcomes
Team Boeing will be completing a project that will explore organizational behavior and management on parental leave. People taking varying amounts of parental leave based upon company culture, varying policies, management expectations, social norms, and the likelihood of certain consequences for career advancement. Additionally, the effects of taking parental leave can have varying impacts for men versus women.
Grover, S. L., & Crooker, K. J. (1995). Who appreciates family-responsive human resource policies: The impact of family-friendly policies on the organizational attachment of parents and NON-PARENTS. Personnel Psychology, 48(2), 271–288. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1995.tb01757.x
Annotated Bibliography: In this study Grover and Crooker investigate the impacts of family friendly policies on employees and their organizational attachment. After the implementation of the Family Medical Leave Act the stigma around parental leave has shifted significantly. The data in this study shows that employees who had access to childcare assistance and parental leave had more commitment and showed less dissatisfaction with their jobs than those without. The study also tackles and disproves the contrasting opinion that employees only approve of progressive human resource policies that affect them. Not only are these programs beneficial to the employees they directly affect but also to the companies that implement them.
Guillaume, Y. R., Dawson, J. F., Otaye‐Ebede, L., Woods, S. A., & West, M. A. (2017). Harnessing demographic differences in organizations: What moderates the effects of workplace diversity?. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), 276-303.
Annotated Bibliography: This study uses the “Categorization-Elaboration Model” to review workplace diversity’s effects on social integration, performance, and well-being outcomes, focusing on factors that organizations and managers can control like strategy, unit design, human resource, leadership, climate/culture, and individual differences. The study finds that when workplace diversity works well, it leads to better outcomes through more innovations, better decision making, a larger talent pool and a wider customer base. This study also addresses conflicting information on negative effects of workplace diversity that occur in certain situations, such as lower employee morale, more conflicts and poorer job performance.
Jayachandran, S. (2021, June 25). Universal paternity leave needs more than new laws for a push. The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/business/paternity-leave-companies-fear.html
Annotated bibliography: This article from the Harvard business review deeps dives into a case study about paternity leave between the U.S.A and Norway as the U.S considers pushing new laws to require the option of paternity leave. The article exams that the law alone will not be enough to push for paternity leave but a shift in U.S business environment. Competition amongst coworkers is one the leading factors why many men choose not to opt for paternity leave. Rightfully so as studies in Norway show that those who took paternity leave, their salary growth declined. The article recommends that incentives from the company to encourage paternity leave and will cancel the competition relationship among employees as the competition will be on equal ground and this will shift to normalize paternity leave. It mentions how normalizing paternity leave leads to enormous benefits such as creating long lasting relationships with children but also eases stress on mothers and makes career balance more sustainable.
Krstic, A., & Hideg, I. (2019, July). The effect of taking a paternity leave on Men’s career outcomes: The role of communality perceptions. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2019, No. 1, p. 13912). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Annotated Bibliography: This article covers the positive social and career outcomes that come about for men who take paternity leave. The article illustrates that men are often viewed in a more positive light when they decide to take paternity leave and often experience social and career rewards. This article is particularly relevant to our project, as it explores how men end up seeing rewards for taking (much deserved) time off work, which is in stark contrast when compared with outcomes experienced by women. With this article we will be able to see half of the paternal leave in greater depth and will be able to juxtapose it with women’s outcomes.
Morgenroth, T., & Heilman, M. E. (2017). Should I stay or should I go? implications of maternity leave choice for perceptions of working mothers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.04.008
Annotated Bibliography: Morgenroth and Heiman study the pros and cons as well as the implications of taking maternity leave on women’s careers. They found that both options present negative stigmas in both the work and familial domains. Those that sought to exercise their maternity leave faced negative evaluations by their peers in the workplace for job commitment while those that chose not to exercise their maternity leave options faced a negative stigma about their familial commitment.
Omidakhsh, N., Sprague, A., & Heymann, J. (2020, June 4). Dismantling Restrictive Gender Norms: Can Better Designed Paternal Leave Policies Help? The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/asap.12205
Annotated Bibliography: This study investigates how parental leave policies influence gender norms in the workplace. The results from the study show that policies incentivizing fathers to take time off work are associated with changes in attitudes towards women’s equality in the workplace. The authors use data that is nationally representative from nine countries and uses the data to estimate the effects of changing paternal leave on workplace attitudes towards woman’s work. This study will provide helpful information for the presentation section about recommendations for better practices and policies surrounding paternal leave.
Petts, R. J., Mize, T. D., & Kaufman, G. (2022). Organizational policies, workplace culture, and perceived job commitment of mothers and fathers who take parental leave. Social Science Research, 103,102651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102651
Annotated Bibliography: This article talks about the policies that influence parents’ decisions to take their full maternity leave or paternity leave. The authors discuss employees’ fear of commitment penalty –where taking prolonged periods of leave from work lowers their supervisors’ perception of their commitment to the job. The results of this study help organizations set up policies that increase the likelihood that parents will take their entire parental leave without damaging their careers. Overall, the study identifies organizational policies and cultural norms in the workplace that can improve perceptions of work commitment and effort for employees who take parental leave. The study also details why it is important to be mindful of an unfavorable work environment when designing parental leave policies. Petts et al. examines the causal effects of organizational factors and gender on perceived commitment to working for the company. The policies that encourage more workers to take a leave of absence will have a strong benefit for societies and families. This study will be relevant to our project as it shows that policies like parental leave have positive outcomes in broader society and it will show how we need to figure out ways to address the inequities like career advancement limits that arise from these sort of policies, however well-intentioned and positive they may be.
Rossin-Slater, M. (2017). Maternity and family leave policy (No. w23069). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Annotated Bibliography: This article talks about the benefits and negative outcomes of the policies and their effect on statistics like retention rates, social perceptions within the workplace, long term career outcomes. While short-term maternity leave ends up boosting retention rates and social perceptions within the workplace, it is likely that women who take said leave end up suffering long-term regarding career advancement and promotions within their workplace. This piece will be particularly relevant to our project as it shows a vastly different outcome than men who take paternity leave experience and how even if a policy may be meant to provide equal benefits, it does not always lead to equal or even just outcomes.
Rudman, L. A., & Mescher, K. (2013). Penalizing men who request a family leave: Is flexibility stigma a femininity stigma? Journal of Social Issues, 69(2), 322–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12017
Annotated Bibliography: This study dives into the negative workplace consequences for men seeking to exercise their right to family leave. Rudman and Mescher found that male leave requesters suffered from a perceived femininity stigma and scored higher on weak feminine traits and lower on masculine traits. These changes resulted in greater risk for workplace penalties like demotions or downsizing for men. They found that there was trivial difference between the results along racial lines and that all ethnicities faced equal discrimination. With this information they make the claim that men are unfairly discriminated against when seeking benefits that are socially seen as feminine.
Zagorsky, J. L. (2017). Divergent Trends in US Maternity and Paternity Leave, 1994- 2015. American Journal of Public Health, 107(3), 460–465.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303607
Annotated Bibliography: This study goes in depth on the statistics of the trends within the United States that concern the leave of employees while under the paternal and maternal matter. This article goes into the statistics on how many individuals get paid during the past 2 decades. As well with supporting the statistics within maternal and paternal leave in the United States, the author produces concise explanation of their findings with comparison details within not only the United States but other countries as well. With these statistics, we can compare the United States path and view on parental absence within the workplace and whether it is common within companies to follow or not.
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