Limitations to Gender Equality in Academia: the Parenthood Penalty and Masculine Organizational Cultur

Abstract

Gender inequality in the workplace, more specifically the way that women are still widely underrepresented in higher positions of organizations, is increasingly being addressed nowadays. The current study aims to examine if the parenthood penalty plays a role in motivating women to leave academia in higher numbers than men. In this two-wave longitudinal study (N = 421 and N = 205), it is hypothesized that experiencing a parenthood penalty negatively affects work outcomes one year later, with a stronger effect among women and for academics working in a masculine culture (like academia). Results indicate that women experience the parenthood penalty more strongly than men do. Moreover, a masculine culture predicted a stronger parenthood penalty for both male and female employees with children. In contrast to predictions, although the results show that the parenthood penalty is negatively related to work outcomes at T1, the results do not demonstrate an effect of the parenthood penalty on work outcomes over time (from T1 to T2). Yet, masculine culture is found to be a longitudinal negative predictor of estimated chance of staying in academia one year later. These findings reveal the importance of universities investigating exactly how the parenthood penalty experience is created and intervening to change their masculine culture in order to maintain female talent.