Discrimination Against Mothers in the Workplace

     Increasingly, mothers in the workplace are becoming the subject of discrimination.  This type of discrimination is called maternal wall bias.  What exactly is maternal wall bias?  Maternal wall bias can take many different forms.

• Prescriptive bias involves "should" statements, such as "now that you're a mother, you should be working part-time and taking care of your children, instead of working here full-time."
• Benevolent prescriptive bias is less obvious.  For example, if a husband and wife are working for the same company and the employer sends the wife home early to take of the children, yet makes the husband work long hours because he has a family to take care of, then this would be considered benevolent prescriptive bias.
• Descriptive bias is the most subtle of the three.  Descriptive bias stems not from the assumption about how people should act, but rather from assumptions about they will act.  An example would be if a mother went part-time, yet every time she was away from her desk her co-workers would assume she was at home with her children, rather than in a meeting. 

     One quirk about this type of discrimination: maternal wall bias cases often involve discrimination by women against women.  Researchers have discovered that female supervisors, who are mothers, expect their female employees, who are mothers, to "suck it up," often because female supervisors had to in their own personal work situations.

     Furthermore, if a woman has a child, her chances of being hired fall by 79%, she is 50% as likely to be promoted as a childless woman, and her salary offer, on average, will be reduced by $11,000.00.

     So what can be done to prevent maternal wall bias?  For one, create awareness of the problem by creating and implementing training programs to prevent maternal wall bias in the workplace.  Managers and co-workers also need to leave their personal opinions at home.  Also employers should ask mothers what they want, rather than withhold opportunities until it's "a good time."


If you are facing this type of discrimination in the workplace, please contact Ambuter Law.