Keeping mum: how firms put a “monstrous” spin on pregnancy: Employer and public health attitudes to motherhood lie at two extremes

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

Few women of child-bearing age go into an interview without being aware that, for the people on the other side of the table, there is an elephant in the room. That creature is, of course, the question of whether that interviewee plans at any time soon to start a family. Employers might find a glittering prospect snatched away from them at any moment because of the calls of motherhood. When public health discourses are held in Anglo-American cultures, pregnancy and motherhood are put on a pedestal. But this is not the way things appear to those organizations that stand to lose, temporarily or permanently, the services of these paragons. For them, motherhood is a messy, inconvenient and even disgusting and monstrous business.

Practical implications

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Citation

(2016), "Keeping mum: how firms put a “monstrous” spin on pregnancy: Employer and public health attitudes to motherhood lie at two extremes", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 13-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-10-2015-0159