IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp17995.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Chances or Choices? How We Think Parenthood Shapes Our Own and Others’ Careers

Author

Listed:
  • El Haj, Morien

    (Ghent University)

  • Dalle, Axana

    (Ghent University)

  • Verhofstadt, Elsy

    (Ghent University)

  • Van Ootegem, Luc

    (Ghent University)

  • Baert, Stijn

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

This letter contributes to the literature on gender disparities in professional life by exploring how men and women perceive the impact of parenthood on career outcomes. It does so through the lens of perceived employer-given opportunities (‘chances’) and perceived own career-related behaviour (‘choices’). We focus on how employees perceive this impact not only on their own careers but also on those of other parents. To this end, we survey a probability sample of 1,060 employees in Belgium. We find that fathers perceive a less negative impact of parenthood on their own careers than mothers do, in terms of both chances and choices. Additionally, mothers perceive greater career penalties for other mothers than they report for themselves. These insights are valuable in understanding how self-fulfilling prophecies may shape parents’ careers.

Suggested Citation

  • El Haj, Morien & Dalle, Axana & Verhofstadt, Elsy & Van Ootegem, Luc & Baert, Stijn, 2025. "Chances or Choices? How We Think Parenthood Shapes Our Own and Others’ Careers," IZA Discussion Papers 17995, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17995
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp17995.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17995. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.