A Matter of (in)Congruence: Attitudes toward Women’s Childlessness and Their Relation to Occupational Sex Segregation

Valeria Insarauto , Université de Lausanne
Danilo Bolano , University of Florence

Previous research on attitudes toward childlessness remains inconclusive as to why more egalitarian attitudes are found among women than men. In this article, we explore the drivers behind this gender gap by addressing the role of occupational sex segregation on attitudes toward women’s voluntary childlessness. We argue that the different allocation of men and women to sex-typed occupations carries gender-specific pressures toward gender-role congruence that are likely to shape differently the perceived costs of motherhood, and hence attitudes toward female childlessness. We test this argument within the context of Europe by drawing on European Social Survey data for the years 2005 and 2017. We find that women’s more favorable attitudes are explained by women’s gender-role incongruence with respect to their occupational domain and attainment. Childlessness is more acceptable to women in male-dominated occupations, especially when they are in high-status positions. In these cases, women are most likely expected to perform like men in order to succeed in their job role, making motherhood less salient for their identity and more costly for their career. These findings contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms that underpin gender roles in society, in that they address how attitudes toward gendered parenthood norms are related to structural gender inequalities in the work system.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe