It takes two: Men’s caregiving roles shape women’s career aspirations

Highlights:

• Women’s career and family aspirations are influenced not only by their ambitions, but also by their perceptions of men’s increasing involvement in caregiving and domestic roles.
• Women who believe men are taking on more caregiving roles than before are more likely to envision themselves as primary breadwinners, while those with stagnant views on men’s roles have expectations of becoming the primary caregiver.
• Policies that promote men’s caregiving involvement are essential not only to reduce caregiving burdens on women, and but also to expand their career possibilities.

Can women’s perceptions of men’s domestic involvement shape how they imagine their career and family? Researchers have long studied how gendered stereotypes have constrained women’s professional choices, impacting women’s career and labour market decisions. However, recent research suggests that women’s career and family aspirations are not solely shaped by their own ambitions, but also by their expectations about men’s involvement in domestic roles.

Men’s roles influence women’s aspirations

In a 2019 study by Alyssa Croft, Toni Schmader, and Katharina Block, the authors used five experiments and a comprehensive meta-analysis to uncover how women’s perceptions of men’s domestic involvement might impact their career trajectories. Prior research had not directly tested whether changes in men’s roles influence how women imagine their futures.

They found that women who are primed to believe that men’s domestic involvement is increasing are significantly more likely to envision themselves as primary breadwinners and less likely to foresee themselves as the primary caregiver. The authors introduce the “complementarity hypothesis,” which proposes that women are more likely to imagine themselves as primary economic providers if they believe men are becoming increasingly engaged in caregiving.

…women who are primed to believe that men’s domestic involvement is increasing are significantly more likely to envision themselves as primary breadwinners

The experiments also showed that women who were exposed to changing expectations that men were performing greater caregiving roles were more likely to expect equal sharing of both breadwinning and caregiving responsibilities. Meanwhile, women primed with messages suggesting slow or stagnant change in men’s caregiving roles were significantly more likely to anticipate becoming the primary caregiver.

Policies for men’s caregiving

Women have entered the workforce in greater numbers over recent decades, yet they continue to bear a disproportionate share of family responsibilities. These findings suggest that the perception that men’s caregiving contributions are stagnant may reinforce traditional gender roles, leading women to anticipate becoming the primary caregiver in their future families.

However, shifting social norms about male caregiving can expand women’s perceived career possibilities. Traditionally, there has been a focus on finding ways to change stereotypes about women in the workplace or their caregiving duties, but this research sheds light on the need for supporting policies, cultural narratives, and workplace practices that promote men’s caregiving involvement, which could expand women’s career aspirations and reduce caregiving burdens.

…this research sheds light on the need for supporting policies, cultural narratives, and workplace practices that promote men’s caregiving involvement, which could expand women’s career aspirations

In addition, the authors found that although men’s changing norms might influence women’s role expectations, women might not be aware that this is happening, or why. This might point to the need to discuss these embedded norms and ideals explicitly, or investigate how subconscious perceptions shape how women might view their caregiving or economic responsibilities, particularly in the context of changing gender roles.

In sum, the findings show that men’s potential caregiving roles play a pivotal role in enabling women to pursue career paths, which have been historically constrained by traditional family role expectations. Future research can address whether men also experience complementary patterns in their expected future roles if they face new information about women’s changing roles.

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Research brief prepared by:

Laura Lam