Career-Minded Women, Mothers Face Negative Perceptions

Motherhood, Marriage and Careers: Researchers at Ireland’s Trinity College say married women and mothers face unfair advantages when competing with men for senior management jobs. A new study, presented at a conference at the Dublin-based school, says nearly 70 percent of men in senior management jobs are married, while only 12 percent of married women occupy similar positions. Also, of those in senior management, men are five times as likely to be parents as are women. The findings point up the need for a “positive discourse” to reverse negative stereotypes surrounding women with ambitious career goals, organizers of the Trinity College conference say.