Skip to main content

Sage Social Science Thesaurus

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

... > social science subjects > sociology > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > maternal wall
... > social science subjects > psychology > social psychology > interpersonal relationships > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > maternal wall
... > social science subjects > sociology > social interaction > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > maternal wall
... > social science subjects > sociology > social theory > micro-interactionist theory > social interaction > human relationships > family studies > motherhood encyc > motherhood and society > maternal wall

Preferred term

maternal wall  

Definition

  • The term maternal wall, coined by Deborah J. Swiss and Judith P. Walker in their 1993 book, Women and the Work/Family Dilemma: How Today's Professional Women Are Confronting the Maternal Wall, is a metaphor to describe the marginalization and disadvantages mothers face at work. Even though the economic and social position of women has improved greatly since the 1960s and 1970s American feminist movement, by the 1990s, many experts were surprised that women continued to earn less than men and were not advancing at higher rates in professional organizations.The phrase quickly became common in the 1990s among both academics and the popular press as way to explain these ongoing pay and professional inequities, which are rooted in women's responsibilities as primary caregivers of children and gender stereotypes about women once they become mothers.Economically, the “motherhood penalty” is estimated between 3 and 10 percent of earnings. [Source: Encyclopedia of Motherhood; Maternal Wall]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/maternal_wall

Download this concept:

RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD