Methods: Career and Motherhood - Research Paper Example

Research methodology: The research adopts both qualitative and quantitative study for the proposed research and it mainly consists of literature review and questionnaire analysis. The research draws its conclusion from the vast number of literature that is reviewed in this research. The research will be both quantitative and qualitative in type as the subject enquiry is absolutely debatable. It has been collecting a number of newspaper articles and general literature to help gain a focus and evaluate evidence as to develop the research paper. The literature review also includes books, journals and magazine articles; both quantitative and qualitative approach is maintained for the purpose of the research as it best suits the topic under study. The issue of ‘career and motherhood’ had been a controversial issue among the public and media for several years. Some of the data to be analyzed will be qualitative as it will be used to test the various hypotheses concerning the impact of professional life on motherhood and domestic life of women in England. The analysis of data sets will particularly focus on a national context for the current status of women and their adjustment problems in family life, domestic activities, professional life, and motherhood. Different methods such as naturalistic observation, secondary data analysis and discussion have been adopted to gather information and data for the research. The research will focus on the events occurred during the last few years and analyze the present and the future trends. It may also focus the point of view of women in England and also discusses various related subjects. The research has attempted to focus on the main issue discussed in the topic, which is the impact of career or profession in motherhood among the women in English society. Questionnaire: The questionnaire will also be helpful in identifying the real status, whether it is that of walking to promote spirituality in old age. So as to prove the aforesaid, a survey is conducted with the provided questionnaire .The questionnaires are used as helping factors in order to get the right answers in the proposed survey. To have the desired effect, the research has been designed to suit the situation. The statistical data is employed in the dissertation to see whether they supplement the findings of the literature reviewed. The proposed questions are generally focused on to make casual inferences on the prescribed topic. All the questions that include in the Questionnaire are designed with an objective structure. Questions are based on the profession, career, family life, financial status, and motherhood. These inferences are selected from various materials and survey (semi-structured interview) selected for the study and the researcher takes stand on a particular view point. These types of interview constitute reliability and authenticity for the proposed dissertation. After the questions about casual inferences, the next set of questions generalize from the cases studied to a broader group. Presence of a structured questionnaire helps the research to increase its reliability and authenticity. It will be specifically looking at the following academic books as they are most relevant to the paper. The Importance of Motherhood among Women in the Contemporary United States- Julia McQuillan. A. (I986). Hard choices: how women decide about work, career, and motherhood By Kathleen Gerson (2002). Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home Pamela Stone (2008). Weaving work and Motherhood: Anita Ilta Garey (1999). Social policies, labour markets and motherhood: a comparative analysis of -Daniela Del Boca, Cécile Wetzels (2007). Ethical issues in research methods: The proposed research will seek to establish the current status of women in English society and their adjustment problems in professional, family life and motherhood. Many of them have faced crucial crisis in managing career and motherhood. It will also discuss the cultural, social and gender differences in English society towards women having a professional career. All the information collected will be kept highly confidential and the original data will be destroyed once the project is complete. Researcher ensures that all questions are anonymous and no identities are revealed in the final paper. As the subject is a controversial one, the researcher should have the responsibility to solve the anxieties of participants. Another important thing is that the participants will get the opportunity to withdraw at any time and omit questions when he/she feels problems. The study includes informal interviews and face-to-face meetings, and the researcher ensures that social, religious, and ethnic background of the participants will not affect the process. An official document will be prepared for the researcher. The study will ensure that the researcher is aware of his/her right to keep and maintain collected data with its significance. Researcher will promise that all information will remain highly confidential and will not turn out to be a public document. The results of the survey will only be used for the Fd Business project “Career and Motherhood”. Through out the study, the researcher must explain the actual purpose and aim of the research and it must be explained how the information will be used and who will have access to the research paper. The proposed study will follow the Data protection Act 1998. The research paper is free from all kinds of cultural, social, political and religious influence and it will keep its seriousness and authenticity. Significance of the study: The entry of mothers or women in to the labor force in 1950s has paved the way for various questions about the significance of motherhood in women’s lives in England and other European countries. Contemporary Western society has often followed the idea that motherhood is vital to contemporary gendered expectations for females. Educated women in English society often enjoyed better chances and more alternative sources of self esteem than less- educated women. The separation of child care and domestic duties make merging career and motherhood challenging for most of the women in English society. Culture and Identity crisis: Identity approaches/crisis and culture to motherhood underline the motherhood mandate pressures on females in England. Gender ideologies and religion play a significant role in the process of making cultural identity and their influence in motherhood. The study explores a clear hypothesis about the remaining problem. One cannot find a conscious effort from the part of women to avoid career or the status of motherhood. Researcher explores the hypothesis that women who have the functions of a mother and an employer face various barriers such as social, economical, cultural and personal. Existing patriarchal society often shows signs of their unwillingness to accept women’s efforts to adjust career and motherhood. “Social situations explain more of the variance in the importance of motherhood than economic predictors.” (McQuillan et al 2008, p.17). This view often becomes a barrier between career and motherhood for women. Literature review: Social and cultural ideologies influence the public perceptive about career and motherhood in Western society. Male dominating society is never ready to divert traditional beliefs and customs about motherhood and they often force the women to follow existing customs. Hard choices: how women decide about work, career, and motherhood by Kathleen Gerson is noted for its content and it discusses various subjects related to women and motherhood. Kathleen Gerson made detailed studies in the field of career and motherhood and he states; “Many have embraced the patterns of their predecessors; they married, borne children, and settled down to full-time mothering; they have worked outside the home only intermittently, if at all.” (Gerson 1986, p.11). The book is highly useful for a researcher and the author beautifully presents the issue with enough reliability and authenticity. Even though, it is known that, people who live in educated and civilized society would make conscious efforts to prevent the female’s effort to become self-sustained in social and economic life. Here the society forces women to go down only in domestic activities and nurturing children. Pamela Stone, feminist activist remarks that; “Research shows that women –even successful women – encounter obstacles of all sorts, that the workplace can be hostile and chilly, especially to mothers, despite –friendly rhetoric to the country.” (Stone 2008). The term ‘Maternal visibility is’ coined by Anita Ilta Garey in her book entitled Weaving work and motherhood describes the practical problems faced by womenfolk. Women often show their own expressions, tenderness and care towards children differently from others. The society considers these expressions as her responsibility. Author remarks that; “Maternal visibility is an emphasized indication of self as mother.” (Garey 1999). Social and cultural factors influence the process of molding attitude towards women with a job. Existing social structure follows the idea that it is impossible for women to have a career and be a mother. The book entitled Challenges and negotiations for women in higher education gives valuable information about the issue of career and motherhood. Authors point out that; “This is not to suggest that men do not have caring responsibilities at home and at work but it is fair to say that expectations and experience are gendered.” (Cotterill, Jackson & Letherby 2007). Expectations about parenthood and children are equal in case of men and women in the society but caring and housework gradually concentrate to females. In their joint venture entitled Gender and well-being in Europe: historical and contemporary perspectives, Bernard Harris, Lina Gálvez, and Helena Machado states that; “Men and women feel themselves targeted by social pressure, which produces great emotional suffering, sometimes forcing them to pretend that having children is not a priority in their life.” (Harris et al 2009, p.230). “Among family variables, age at first childbirth was positively related and career priority favoring the husband was negatively related to both income and subjective career success; number of children was negatively related and years elapsed since first childbirth was positively related to income only.” (Valcour & Ladge 2008). Care and encouragement are essential for children especially in the period of early childhood. News reports have reported many cases about poor parent caring. As a result of this, mothers often are forced to give up their career. The online article entitled Children left in danger by court delays by Randeep Ramesh comments that; “The result is that children are either left in danger with unsuitable parents or bounced around the foster care system, which is especially damaging for the very young.” (Ramesh 2010). Various gendered benefits and costs force women to think more about parenting and child –well being than their employment, and gradually majority of them is subjected to public opinion about the appropriateness of career. Julia McQuillan et al. remarks; “Children also present potential costs, particularly for women, including less time, money, emotional energy, likelihood of work advancement, or economic opportunities.” (McQuillan et al 2008, p.4). Generally women who expected to have a career is thinking about a childfree life for only a short period but the society considers this to be criminal. Here people often think that career is a barrier in motherhood. Kristine M. Baber and Patricia Monaghan denote that; “All of the women expected to have careers, but few planned to be child free or have only one child. Women pursuing innovative careers were, however, less child oriented than those planning careers moderately innovative or traditional for women.” (Baber & Monaghan n.d). Recent studies and researches often discuss about the significance of female contribution in planning family budget. Some of them believe that career and motherhood are not a controversial issue. Paula K McDonald, Lisa M Bradley and Diane Guthrie underlines that; “The results inform the current understanding of normative beliefs of motherhood in Western societies and may contribute to the development of targeted policies that support families in their employment and care-giving responsibilities.” (McDonald et al 2010). Motherhood often creates problems in the career of women because of the negative attitude of the society. Many of them quit their job for parenting and this adjustment problem creates serious family problems. Women deserve self reliance and personal status in society. If the society implements some social restrictions about parenting that is equal for both men and women. The online article entitled Balancing a career and motherhood rightly comments that; “While society expects women to have children, these same children are seen as unfavorable to the womans career prospects and her job performance.” (Balancing a career and motherhood, 2010). Economical factors also contribute to the problems in Woman’s career. Existing trade culture demands maximum output from the workers. Studies often documented the difference between the wages of women having children and that of childless women. The web article entitled The Wages of Motherhood and a Stalled Revolution explains; “However, wages have not kept pace with job opportunities; the average wages for working women with children remain less than those of childless women.” (The Wages of motherhood and a stalled revolution, 2003). Daniela Del Boca, and Cécile Wetzels conducted further studies in the issue of wage difference between women having children and that of childless women. The book entitled Social policies, labour markets and motherhood: a comparative analysis of state that; “Women who had leave coverage and returned to work after childbirth received a wage premium that offset the negative wage effects of children.” (Boca & Wetzels 2007). Mutual understanding and cooperation between men and women contribute positive energy for effective functioning of profession and motherhood. The online article the baby blues: Study finds a third of mothers slip down career ladder permits the reader to think about the need of mutual understanding between men and women. It says; “It showed that despite government moves to allow parents of children under six to request flexible working, highly-qualified women still traded job status and responsibility for the hours many felt their family needed.” (Ward 2008). It is obvious after a detailed analysis that the term ‘Career and motherhood’ is not a controversial one. Women can maintain both her career and motherhood without any obstacles. It is better to consider the fact that career and motherhood are inevitable part of a women’s life. The web article entitled Working Mothers: How Much Working, How Much Mothers, and Where Is the Womanhood? comments that; “The working mother is an institution in her own right, one who combines a successful career giving her financial independence, with an effective motherhood raising a child.” (Poduval & Poduval 2009). Career and motherhood are interrelated. If her surroundings permit, women can handle both her career and motherhood. Triangulation process: Triangulation describes an evaluation about the consistency of research methods and acquired findings through various instruments. In this research, triangulation will augment the chances to asses the reliability of survey reports. Through the help of an official document researcher, we can ensure the reliability and authenticity of the proposed study. The researcher documents personal information about the participants in a formal way. Authority can check the validity and reliability of the results without practical barriers. Structured interview is another method that is used to collect data. Reference List Baber, K. M. & Monaghan, P. n.d. College women’s career and method expectations: new option, old dilemmas. [Online] Springer link. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/t87r182004868226 [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Balancing a career and motherhood, 2010. [Online] Agenda. Available at: http://www.agenda.org.za/content/view/12265/88889049/ [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Boca, D. D. & Wetzels, C., 2007. Social policies, labour markets and motherhood: a comparative analysis of European countries. [Online] Cambridge University Press. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wv8sJP5zaaYC&pg=PA264&dq=carrer+and+motherhood+in+england&hl=en&ei=_cFfTLnaEM-jceXBjNsO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Cotterill, P. Jackson, S & Letherby, G., 2007. Challenges and negotiations for women in higher education. [Online] Springer. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=228l34MQkPgC&pg=PA49&dq=Careers+and+motherhood,+challenges+and+choices&cd=5#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Garey, A. L., 1999.Weaving work and motherhood. [Online] Temple University Press. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=y_wCUxkyQYsC&pg=PA21&dq=career+and+motherhood&hl=en&ei=8WddTKeBMYHGvQOO_dSZDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=career%20and%20motherhood&f=false [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Gerson, K., 1986. Hard choices: How women decide about work, career, and motherhood. [Online] University of California Press, p.11. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yTErZcH99dcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+issue+of+career+and+motherhood&hl=en&ei=DgpdTMn1OcarceS50NoO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Harris, B. et al., 2009. Gender and well-being in Europe: Historical and contemporary perspectives. [Online] Ashgate Publishing Ltd, p.230. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=nvqP7lEuwIIC&pg=PA235&dq=(Ulrich+and+Weatherall+2000&hl=en&ei=lZZfTLn4MM6XcYqghdoO&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=(Ulrich%20and%20Weatherall%202000&f=false [Accessed 10 August 2010]. McDonald, P. K. et al., 2010. Good mothers, bad mothers: Exploring the relationship between attitudes towards nonmaternal childcare and mother’s labour force participation. [Online] Journal of Family Studies. Available at: http://jfs.e-contentmanagement.com/archives/vol/11/issue/1/article/61/good-mothers-bad-mothers [Accessed 10 August 2010]. McQuillan, J. et al., 2008. The Importance of Motherhood among Women in the Contemporary United States. [Online] Bureau of Sociological Research-Faculty. Available at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=bosrfacpub [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Poduval, J. & Poduval, M., 2009. Working mothers: How Much Working, How Much Mothers, and Where Is the Womanhood? Available at: http://www.msmonographs.org/article.asp?issn=0973-1229;year=2009;volume=7;issue=1;spage=63;epage=79;aulast=Poduval [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Ramesh, R., 2010. Children left in danger by court delays. [Online] Guardian.Co.uk. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/aug/09/family-court-delays-children-barnardos [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Stone, P., 2008. Opting Out?: Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home. [Online] University of California Press. Available at: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=QlBeNsOtPswC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+issue+of+career+and+motherhood&cd=2#v=onepage&q=the%20issue%20of%20career%20and%20motherhood&f=false [Accessed 10 August 2010]. The Wages of motherhood and a stalled revolution, 2003. [Online] Press Release. Available at: http://www.ncfr.org/pdf/press_releases/Binder1.PDF [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Valcour, M & Ladge, J. J., 2008. Family and career path characteristics as predictors of women’s objective and subjective career success: Integrating traditional and protean career explanations. [Online] Science Direct. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WMN-4SRCJS3-2&_user=10&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1424997450&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3e75420ddf437fc5444a35fc315a286b [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Ward, L., 2008. The baby blues: Study finds a third of mothers slip down career ladder. [Online] Guardian.co.uk. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/27/worklifebalance [Accessed 10 August 2010]. Read More