Tainted leave

A survey-experimental investigation of flexibility stigma in Japanese workplaces

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2243530
AutoresHilary J Holbrow (0000-0003-4512-9126, Indiana University, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume104
Fascículo3
Páginas1051-1070
Data de publicação2025-05-26
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Forces (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0037-7732 • E-ISSN: 1534-7605
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/sf/soaf063
OpenAlexW4410730122
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas38

Scholars posit that the flexibility stigma-a belief that workers who use flexible workplace policies, such as parental and sick leave-exacerbates gender inequality. However, a large body of research argues that the smaller number of men who take leaves face even more severe stigma than women because they violate norms of masculinity as well as the employers' expectation that employees prioritize paid work. Empirical evidence in support of this claim comes largely from studies that estimate stigma using proxy measures such as leave uptake rates and pay inequality for leave takers. This study tests the gender deviance perspective more directly using survey experimental methods, in a setting where we would expect stigmatization of male leave takers to be particularly high-among workers in four elite firms in Japan. Drawing on data from over 8,000 employees, the results reveal that, even where the male breadwinner ideology is deeply entrenched, men's leaves are no more stigmatized than women's. To the contrary, there are no gender differences in stigmatization of sick leave, and women who take parental leave face more severe stigmatization than men. The results undercut claims that men face greater stigma when they take similar leaves as women, demonstrate the fallibility of proxy measures of stigma, and highlight how, in large Japanese firms, women remain doubly disadvantaged by the flexibility stigma

Economics · Flexibility (engineering) · Management · Psychiatry · Stigma (botany) · Applied Psychology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Psychology · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges