Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Parenthood and Commitment to the Legal Profession: Are Mothers Less Committed than Fathers?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Family and Economic Issues Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This research examined the relationship between parenthood and career commitment. Karasek’s (Administrative Science Quarterly 24:285–308, 1979) Job Demand-Job Control Model was used as a theoretic framework for hypothesizing the relationships between work and family demands, job control and social support and parents’ career commitment. Questionnaire data from a sample of practicing lawyers with children were used to test this model. The results show fathers generally reported more work demands than mothers; whereas, mothers reported more family demands than fathers. Job control and social support did not moderate relationships between work and family demands and parents’ career commitment. Perhaps the most surprising finding of this study, contrary to assumptions in the literature and the workplace, was that mothers practicing law are significantly more committed to their careers than fathers. This paper closes by discussing possible explanations for these findings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Coser (1974) introduced the term greedy institutions to refer to the total or near total commitment demanded by organizations such as the military and monastic orders.

  2. For example, in this study, virtually all of the female lawyers’ husbands worked full time; whereas, only half of the married male lawyers (52%) were in dual-career situations where both spouses work full time. One quarter (24%) of the male lawyers’ wives worked part time, and one quarter (24%) reported that their wife was unemployed.

  3. Only married parents were included as spousal support and spouse’s work hours are not applicable to single parents. Forty single mothers and 21 single fathers were excluded.

  4. Three items were excluded because of their similarity with other measures included in the survey (e.g., emotional spousal support and family-to-work conflict).

  5. Having flexible hours buffered the negative effects of hours worked at the office and control over hours buffered the negative effects of work-to-family conflict.

  6. More flexible hours and a more supportive work-family culture increased the negative effect of work-to-family conflict on commitment and greater coworker support increased the negative effect of hours worked at home on career commitment.

References

  • Beatty, C. A. (1996). The stress of managerial and professional women: Is the price too high? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17, 233–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bielby, D. D., & Bielby, W. T. (1988). She works hard for the money: Household responsibilities and the allocation of work effort. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 1031–1059.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brayfield, A. H., & Rothe, H. F. (1951). An index of job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 35, 307–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brockman, J. (1992). “Resistance by the club” to the feminization of the legal profession. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 7, 47–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, S. C. (2001). Work cultures and work/family balance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 348–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comer, D. R., & Stites-Doe, S. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of faculty women’s academic-parental role balancing. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 27, 495–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coser, L. A. (1974). Greedy institutions: Patterns of undivided commitment. New York, NY: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L. (2007). How employed mothers in Australia find time for both market work and childcare. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28, 69–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damiano-Teixeira, K. M. (2006). Managing conflicting roles: A qualitative study with female faculty members. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 27, 310–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, C. F., Seron, C., Oglensky, B., & Sauté, R. (1999). The part-time paradox: Time norms, professional life, family and gender. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, S. B., Noonan, M. C., & Maume, D. J. (2007). Is work-family policy use related to the gendered division of housework? Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28, 527–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ettington, D. R. (1998). Successful career plateauing. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 52, 71–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, J. (1991). Regression diagnostics. (Sage University Paper Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, 79). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golden, L. (2001). Flexible work schedules: Which workers get them? American Behavioral Scientist, 44, 1157–1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haddock, S. A., Zimmerman, T. S., Ziemba, S. J., & Lyness, K. P. (2006). Practices of dual earner couples successfully balancing work and family. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 27, 207–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., & Kay, F. (1995). Gender in practice: A study of lawyers’ lives. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammer, L. B., Allen, E., & Grigsby, T. (1997). Work-family conflict in dual earner couples: Within-individual and crossover effects of work and family. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 50, 185–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtzman, M., & Glass, J. (1999). Explaining changes in mothers’ job satisfaction following childbirth. Work and Occupations, 26, 365–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kay, F. M., & Hagan, J. (1998). Raising the bar: The gender stratification of law firm capital. American Sociological Review, 63, 728–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maume, D. J., Jr., & Houston, P. (2001). Job segregation and gender differences in work-family spillover among white-collar workers. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 22, 171–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Netemeyer, R. G., Boles, J. S., & McMurrian, R. (1996). Development and validation of work-family conflict and family-work conflict scales. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 400–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parasuraman, S., Greenhaus, J. H., & Granrose, C. S. (1992). Role stressors, social support, and well-being among two-career couples. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 12, 339–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perlow, L. A. (1995). Putting the work back into work/family. Group and Organization Management, 20, 227–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Press, J., Fagan, J., & Bernd, E. (2006). Child care, work and depressive symptoms among low-income mothers. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 609–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reskin, B. (1993). Sex segregation in the workplace. Annual Review of Sociology, 19, 214–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roehling, P. V., Roehling, M. V., & Moen, P. (2001). The relationship between work-life policies and practices and employee loyalty: A life course perspective. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 22, 141–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searle, B., Bright, J. E. H., & Bochner, S. (2001). Helping people to sort it out: The role of social support in the job strain model. Work and Stress, 15, 328–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seron, C. (1996). The business of practicing law: The work lives of solo and small-firm attorneys. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, L. T., & Ganster, D. C. (1995). Impact of family-support work variables on work-family conflict and strain: A control perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 6–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, C. A., Beauvais, L. L., & Lyness, K. S. (1999). When work-family benefits are not enough: The influence of work-family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 392–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Doef, M., & Maes, S. (1999). The job demand-control(-support) model and psychological well-being: A review of 20 years of empirical research. Work and Stress, 13, 87–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voydanoff, P. (2005). The differential salience of family and community demands and resources for family-to-work conflict and facilitation. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 26, 395–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. E. (1997). It’s about time: A study of hours worked and work spillover among law firm lawyers. Journal of Vocational Behavior (Special Issue on Work and Family Balance), 50, 227–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. E. (1999). Work-to-nonwork conflict among married male and female lawyers. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 797–816.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. E. (2001). Explaining why lawyers want to leave the practice of law. In J. Van Hoy (Ed.), Sociology of crime, law and deviance, Volume 3: Legal professions: Work, structure and organization (pp. 117–145). London: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. E. (2004). Motherhood and career commitment to the legal profession. In N. DiTomaso & C. Post (Eds.), Research in the sociology of work, Volume 14: Workforce diversity (pp. 219–246). Amsterdam: JAI Press/Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. E. (2005). Job stress, depression and work-family conflict amongst lawyers: A test of the strain and buffer hypotheses. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, 60, 510–537.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a research grant from the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC). The opinions contained in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of LSAC.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4

    Jean E. Wallace

Authors
  1. Jean E. Wallace
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean E. Wallace.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wallace, J.E. Parenthood and Commitment to the Legal Profession: Are Mothers Less Committed than Fathers?. J Fam Econ Iss 29, 478–495 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-008-9113-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-008-9113-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation