Conscious decisions, unconscious paths

Abstract

Many authors contend that women who are employed in senior corporate and management positions have often had to work "like men" in order to succeed; that is, they have had to put career before family and other commitments. Pregnancy, however, confounds the image of the corporate manager as someone for whom family is sidelined, and complicates the notion of the unencumbered worker traditionally required by capitalism. This paper reports the initial results of a study that explores the experiences of pregnant women employed in senior and corporate positions. Interviews with a small group of managers indicate that for many women in these positions, work becomes less important during pregnancy, and that this is not always a conscious decision. For some women, this change in work/family priorities seemed to occur more unconsciously, while for others, putting family first required more conscious "identity labor."