Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving by Caitlyn Collins

Author:Caitlyn Collins [Collins, Caitlyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: business, parenting
ISBN: 9780691185156
Google: aqlrDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2019-02-12T05:00:00+00:00

Ideal Worker Norms

Although more and more Italian women are employed outside the home,54 workplaces still adhere to a traditional breadwinner model. It was clear in conversations with moms in Rome that they were expected to embody the ideal worker norm by being single-mindedly committed to their jobs. Bianca was one of two women I spoke with who had managed to secure part-time work. She is married, an Italian mother of three, and works twenty hours a week as a secretary. I asked Bianca whether anything during her workday changed once she became a mother. She replied hastily,

No, no. Absolutely no. I am very responsible at work. So, if I decide I need to work, I need to be there physically and mentally. So, if I had to do overtime I try to organize myself with my husband, and with this girl I told you before that sometimes helps me. And so absolutely no.

For Bianca, changing anything about her workday would suggest she was not “very responsible at work.” When she was at her office, she forced herself to be fully present without the distraction of outside tasks. If family-related tasks did arise, she asked her husband, Tommaso, or a babysitter to fill in so she could work without interruption. Bianca’s part-time schedule seemed to be the only family accommodation she secured at work—and it was one many women in Rome wanted but couldn’t obtain. Unlike women in Stockholm and Berlin who enjoyed and expected flexibility at work, these benefits seemed more like a rare luxury for moms in Rome.

Women felt that being a good mother, which meant prioritizing one’s children, clashed with pursuing a highly successful career trajectory, even though many of the women I interviewed were on such trajectories themselves. I asked Thérèse (the French mother living in Rome) whether she thought mothers in Italy could advance to the top in their careers. She replied firmly,

No. Definitely not. Because for that work has to be your priority. So, they [mothers] can do it, they can succeed in doing it, but in my opinion, doing a lot of sacrifice with respect to family life in that case. And the price to pay is very high. It’s always very difficult because the assumption is always that you are first a mother. But you cannot have your kids as a priority and be also excellent in your job, which means that you could also have access to a very high position. This is the common opinion.

To achieve top positions, Thérèse thought women would need to sacrifice family time in order to dedicate themselves entirely to work. She also felt mothers would always be seen first as mothers and second as employees. To overcome this hurdle, women had to pay a high price to show their dedication to their careers and move up the ladder. Thérèse herself decided to leave her position at a law firm and begin consulting so she could have more control over her schedule and working hours.

Most women felt

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