Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Gender Studies and Sexuality, 2024
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Examining the Work-Life Interface: Maternal Bodies and Institutional Logics in Organizational Contexts
Blessing Chukwuka
ABSTRACT:
This study explores the ‘maternal body’ concept in the workplace, focusing on the professional status of women with maternal responsibilities. The ‘maternal body’ refers to the actual or potential fertility of women, visible during pregnancy, childbirth, and child nurturing. Rooted in sociology and management studies, maternal body investigates the intricate relationship between motherhood and employment, encompassing cultural, physical, and biological aspects during pregnancy and postpartum. Prior research highlights how women’s exclusion from top management positions is linked to their reproductive roles, perpetuating workplace marginalization (Acker, 1990; Gatrell et al., 2017). Hausman (2004) underscores the underexplored research on the maternal body’s impact in the workplace, asserting that research has failed to acknowledge the consequences of childbearing on women who work outside the home. Furthermore, extant studies on the maternal body and work, primarily address maternal challenges from a Western perspective, overlooking the experiences of women in global southern countries. To address this research gap, a qualitative case study was conducted in two Nigerian organizations, exploring institutional and organizational factors influencing women’s experiences relating to their maternal body. Thirty-two semi-structured interviews with Human resource managers, line managers, pregnant and nursing mothers, were conducted. Theoretically, the study employs the lens of institutional logics, a multi-level framework, to analyze how societal, organizational, and individual factors shape the maternal body experiences of working women. By providing insights into the competing values between women’s maternal bodies and organizational logic influenced by societal perceptions, this research contributes to the embodiment literature in the workplace.
keywords: Embodiment; Institutional logics; Maternal body; Organization