Stuck between the ideal worker and the bread winner
Experiences of motherhood and work during the Covid-19 pandemic in India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6058418 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Priya Kataria (0000-0001-5778-1774), Shelly Pandey |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 825-848 |
| Publication date | 2024-06-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Equal Opportunities International (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1758-7093 • E-ISSN: 2040-7149 |
| Publisher | Emerald (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1108/edi-08-2022-0213 |
| OpenAlex | W4387208293 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 74 |
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the experiences of middle-class working mothers from the ITES (Information Technology Enabled Service) sector in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their experiences of work from home are studied in the backdrop of the ideal worker model at work and the adult worker model at home. Further, the study aims to identify the need for sustainable, inclusive practices for working mothers in Indian organizations to break the male breadwinner model in middle-class households. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach to collect data from 39 middle-class mothers working in MNCs in four metro cities in India. The semi-structured, in-depth interviews focused on their experiences of motherhood, care and work before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings The pandemic made it evident that the ideal worker model in organizations and the adult worker model at home were illusions for working mothers. The results indicate a continued obligation of the “ideal worker culture” at organizations, even during the health crisis. It made the working mothers realize that they were chasing both the (ideal worker and adult worker) norms but could never achieve them. Subsequently, the male breadwinner model was reinforced at home due to the matrix of motherhood, care and work during the pandemic. The study concludes by arguing the reconstruction of the ideal worker image to make workplaces more inclusive for working mothers. Originality/value The study is placed in the context of Indian middle-class motherhood during the pandemic, a demography less explored in the literature. The paper puts forth various myths constituting the gendered realities of Indian middle-class motherhood. It also discusses sustainable, inclusive workplace practices for mothers from their future workplaces' standpoint, especially in post-pandemic times
Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Middle class · Originality · Pandemic · Political science · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Working class · Employment and Welfare Studies · Engineering · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Law · Medicine · Work-Family Balance Challenges
Cross-Domain Identity Transition during Liminal Periods
A Purposeful Approach to the Constant Comparative Method in the Analysis of Qualitative Interviews
Comparison of Convenience Sampling and Purposive Sampling
Advancing Gender Equity in Organizations
Opting Out
Saturation in qualitative research
Mothers and Workers in the Time of Covid-19
Content Analysis in Mass Communication
Psychological Well-Being of Indian Mothers During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Adult Worker Model Typologies
Working for/from Home’
The extreme gendering of Covid−19
The Individualised Worker, the Gender Participatory and the Gender Equity Models in Sweden
Mothering in a Pandemic
Debating Outcomes for “Working” Women
What Adult Worker Model? A Critical Look at Recent Social Policy Reform in Europe from a Gender and Family Perspective
The Decline of the Male Breadwinner Model
I would not have been working here!”
Motherhood and guilt in a pandemic
Neoliberal motherhood during the pandemic
A gendered pandemic
Mothering with a career during a pandemic; the case of the Ghanaian woman
Covid‐19 and the gender gap in work hours
The ethics of care and academic motherhood amid Covid‐19
The entrenchment of the ideal worker norm during the Covid‐19 pandemic
Mothering load
Local Childcare Cultures
New Labour’s communitarianism, supporting families and the ‘rationality mistake’
Parental leave regulations and the persistence of the male breadwinner model
Reflexivity over caste and gender
Better lives”
The motherhood penalty and The fatherhood premium in employment during covid-19
Middle-class Women and Domestic Work in India and the United States
Gendered share of housework and the Covid‐19 pandemic
Using thematic analysis in psychology
From Sex Roles to Gendered Institutions
The invisible frontline workers
Committed Mothers and Well-adjusted Children
Domestic Goddesses
Is Anyone Doing the Housework? Trends in the Gender Division of Household Labor
Permeable Homes
Work-Life Conflict During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Motherhood, Paid Work and Partnering
Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies
Inequality Regimes
Language and Understanding(1970)
Women's employment patterns during early parenthood
The Rise and Decline of the Male Breadwinner Model
The adult worker model family, gender equality and care
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |