Fast-Track Women and the “Choice†to Stay Home

Pamela Stone and Meg Lovejoy
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Pamela Stone: Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2004, vol. 596, issue 1, 62-83

Abstract: Increasing attention has been given to high-achieving women who appear to be leaving their careers in favor of staying home full-time to raise children. Some commentators interpret this trend as reflecting these women’s embrace of a “new traditionalism,†a rejection of feminist goals in favor of more traditional gender roles. Based on intensive interviews with forty-three women, the authors find that participants’ decisions to interrupt careers are highly conflicted and not grounded in a return to traditional roles. Although family concerns figure prominently, they are not the major reason behind most women’s decisions. Work-based factors play a primary role, with characteristics of husbands playing an important secondary role. The authors conclude that by virtue of their occupational status and class membership, professional women are caught in a double bind between the competing models of the ideal worker and ideal parent. The authors discuss the policy implications for the organization of work-family life.

Keywords: professional women; work and family; career interruption; stay-at-home mothers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:596:y:2004:i:1:p:62-83

DOI: 10.1177/0002716204268552

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