Maternal bias: Has it happened to you?


Happy Saturday my lovely!

Over on LinkedIn, I’m gathering data from my network about experiences with maternal bias in the workforce re-entry journey.

​I've created a poll and hope that you'll join the other 146 women so far (with an easy, one-click vote).

The poll is up for five more days and I'd love your feedback, Reader!

Here is the post (I'll paste it here below):

Moms: How do you experience maternal bias in workforce re-entry --
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Is it
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Evident (not subtle at all)? πŸ˜‘

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OR

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Elusive (hard to put a finger on)? πŸ€”
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πŸ‘‰πŸΌ Maternal bias is when mothers are viewed as less competent or less committed. In the context of hiring and recruitment, they are passed over for interviews and/or job offers.
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The perception of a mother's lack of competence and commitment within a paid work sphere is rooted in a harmful, outdated concept of β€œideal worker” that reflects corporate mid-20th-century workplaces + 50s breadwinner/homemaker setups.
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Sociologist Joan Acker (1990) and Harvard law professor Joan C. Williams (1999) spoke to this πŸ‘†πŸΌ in their work decades ago ... and yes ... nothing's changed.
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Why are we as a society still, in 2024, operating from a 75-year-old 1950s norm?
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We've arrived at an unprecedented point in history with the rise of AI ... and after learning that maternity-related resume gaps triggered biased results in Large Language Models (NYU 2023)

- [[ not subtle ]] -

I wonder how can we embrace LLMs to boost efficiency in hiring (sans bias)?
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Can we train them in new narratives?

Neuroscience behind leadership strengths of mothers/caregivers/parents, for example?
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It's alarming that old biases creep so easily into innovative tech.

Mitigating that creep has gotta be prioritized. (On all fronts, not just maternal bias).
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I digress...
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​I'm curious if the bias you've encountered during a workforce re-entry is out in the open, or more elusive ... ?

​Add your voice to the poll here.

And many thanks in advance! πŸ€—

Here with you every step of the way,

rebecca joy

Hi! I'm Rebecca Joy

I help moms re-enter the workforce with confidence. Sign up here to simplify the job search and land call-backs :)

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