On tiptoe: Identity tension and reconciliation among Shanghai stay‐at‐home mothers

Felicia F. Tian and Lin Chen

Gender, Work and Organization, 2024, vol. 31, issue 6, 2371-2387

Abstract: It is well documented that motherhood influences gendered outcomes in work institutions. However, how paid work influences women's private sphere and sense of self remains unclear and could vary across societies. This article focuses on identity construction among 28 college‐educated stay‐at‐home mothers in Shanghai. The findings from semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews reveal tension negotiation and reconciliation within these mothers' multiple self‐identities. Despite choosing to voluntarily leave their paid jobs and become stay‐at‐home mothers, participants differentiated between their maternal identity and their stay‐at‐home mother identity; in particular, they perceived motherhood as more valuable and socially acceptable than the choice to be a stay‐at‐home mother (i.e., participants readily identified as mothers but hesitated to describe themselves as stay‐at‐home mothers). To avoid this tension and protect their self‐image, participants incorporated aspects of their previous working identity into their stay‐at‐home mother identity, such as taking part‐time jobs and framing their childrearing experience as a future career asset. The results help explain how the notion of work shapes women's self‐image, even when they leave the labor market. Overall, the findings reinforce mothering imperatives and identities and the need to understand them from a cross‐cultural perspective in relation to societal prevailing gender norms.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12973

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:gender:v:31:y:2024:i:6:p:2371-2387

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0968-6673

Access Statistics for this article

Gender, Work and Organization is currently edited by David Knights, Deborah Kerfoot and Ida Sabelis

More articles in Gender, Work and Organization from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().