Like mother, like daughter ? : how career women influence their daughters' ambition

Women are encouraged to believe that they can occupy top jobs in society by the example of other women thriving in their careers. Who better to be a role model for career success than your mother? Paradoxically, this book shows that having a mother as a role model, even for graduates of top universities, does not predict daughters progressing in their own careers. It finds that mothers with careers, whilst highly influential in their daughters’ choice of career path, rarely mentor their daughters as they progress. This is partly explained by ‘quiet ambition’ – the tendency of women to be modest about their achievements. Bigger issues are the twin pressures from contemporary motherhood and workplace culture that ironically lead career women’s daughters to believe that being a ‘good mother’ means working part-time. This stalls career progress. Based on a large, cross-generational qualitative sample, this book offers a timely and original perspective on the debate about gender equality in leadership positions. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER? Contents List of figures Preface 1. Mothers, daughters and careers Chapter themes Mothers as career mentors and role models? Generations Generations of gender progress at work Underrepresentation of women in senior roles Introducing successful career women and their daughters Outline of the rest of the book 2. Well-mothered daughters? Chapter themes The world in which the mothers’ generation worked Work-life conflict and maternal guilt Gender identity, motherhood and work Identities as mothers and workers Attitudes to managing motherhood and work Was there talk about the effect of working? Mothers on the effect of working on their daughters How mothers mitigated the effect of working Daughters’ stories on the effect of working Conclusions 3. A backlash against the way their mothers worked? Chapter themes Women should work – but not too much Intergenerational transmission and working hours Working hours and stress in professional jobs Are mothers’ longer working hours detrimental to children? Daughters who disliked their mothers working hours – their explanation Daughters emulating their mothers’ working hours Conclusions 4. Career choice: like mother, like daughter Chapter themes Standing on their mothers’ shoulders Educational attainment Role modelling the expectation of a career “My mother was my main influence”: how daughters characterise their mothers’ influence How mothers characterised their influence Other influences Conclusions 5. Quiet ambition Chapter themes Do women aim for the top? The confidence gap becomes an ambition gap Workplace culture Women’s view of success Work talk How mothers talked about ambition and success How daughters talk about ambition and success Explaining quiet ambition Clear ambition The father factor Conclusions 6. Daughters’ aspirations for working motherhood Chapter themes Gender identity and the anticipation of motherhood The notion of ‘choice’ about working motherhood Contemporary cultural scripts of motherhood Complexity of drivers of decisions about working hours Choosing a career with motherhood in mind ‘The best of both worlds’ Contemporary motherhood culture Conclusions 7. Working motherhood across generations Chapter themes Historical, biographical and generational time Maternal time Work and time Daughters before children: the mothers’ influence over their daughter’s work/family aspirations ‘Daughter mothers’: the grandmothers’ influence over their work/family choices Gains and losses of contemporary motherhood Conclusions 8. Partners in parenting Chapter themes Negotiating shared parenthood Partners sharing parenting responsibilities The daughters’ generation: expectations of partners Conclusions 9. Making working motherhood work Generations and gender equality in careers Headline key findings Key findings Implications for families Implications for organisations and social policy Summary of recommendations Concluding remarks Appendix 1: Study design and method Research questions Methods Analysis Ethical approval Appendix 2: Table of participants References Index Does having a mother who is successful in her career benefit girls? Does it lead them to have higher aspirations for their own careers, and, if so, do those ambitions translate into career success? This book looks at these questions and more, using case studies of women who are at the tops of their fields and their daughters. What the book finds is that while many of the daughters end up following the same career path as their mothers, that can't be traced to explicit mentoring, which turns out to be rare. It traces that reluctance to what the author terms “quiet ambition”: a tendency for women to downplay their aspirations and achievements. Mothers in high-status career roles are, in most cases, the primary influence over their daughters' career expectations. The book's research shows that at the start of a daughter's career the mother is highly influential. The book examines how daughters felt about having grown up with a mother mainly working full-time or close to full-time hours. It explores the idea that one should expect a backlash from the daughters against wanting to work as long hours as their mothers due to having seen their mothers try to ‘have it all’, or because of how they feel their mothers' working hours impacted upon them. It also focuses on the aims and aspirations of the daughters with regards to combining work with motherhood,and examines the influence that the generations of mothers and grandmothers have upon their daughters' views about combining work with motherhood. The book examines the crucial role played by partners and fathers in influencing both the positive and negative feelings mothers have about combining work with motherhood. Finally, it explores the intersections between the accounts of the relationship between mothers and daughters with social changes in the expansion of opportunities for women Women are encouraged to believe that they can occupy top jobs in society the example of other women thriving in their careers. Who better to be a role model for career success than your mother? Paradoxically, this book shows that having a mother as a role model, even for graduates of top universities does not predict daughters progressing in their own careers. It finds that mothers with carrers, whilst highly influential in their daughter's choice of career path, rarely mentor their daughters as they progress. This is partly explained by 'quiet ambition' - the tendency of women to be modest about their achievements. Bigger issues are the twin pressures from contemporary motherhood and workplace culture that ironically lead career women's daughters to believe that being a 'good mother' means working time. This stalls career progress. Based on a large, cross-generational qualitative sample, this book offers a timely and original perspective on the debate about gender equality in leadership positions. Book jacket Women are encouraged to believe that they can occupy top jobs in society by the example of other women thriving in their careers. Who better to be a role model for career success than your mother? Paradoxically, this book shows that having a mother as a role model, even for graduates of top universities, does not predict her daughter progressing in her own career. It finds that mothers with careers, whilst highly influential in their daughters' choice of career path, rarely mentor their daughters as they progress. This is partly explained by 'quiet ambition' -- the tendency of women to be modest about their achievements. Bigger issues are the twin pressures from contemporary motherhood and workplace culture that ironically lead career women's daughters to believe that being a 'good mother' means working part-time, which stalls career progress. Based on a large, cross-generational qualitative sample, this book offers a timely and original perspective on the debate about gender equality in leadership positions Jill Armstrong. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 195-212) And Index.