Negotiating Identities: How First-Time Expectant Mothers Plan To Integrate Employment and Motherhood.

This study investigated the processes that underlie women's desires and plans regarding combining careers and motherhood. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with 14 employed first-time expectant mothers. Analysis of the extensive qualitative data indicates that the women's plans for combining work and motherhood were largely inconsistent with their desires. Of those with inconsistent plans and desires, about half expected to be employed full-time and the other half arranged to reduce their labor force participation. A comparison of these two groups revealed that expectant mothers with greater confidence in their abilities as mothers were less likely to reduce their labor force participation. Expectant mothers who were less confident in their abilities as parents were more likely to reduce their labor force participation. The two groups of women were similar in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, job experiences, and commitment to work prior to pregnancy. The factor that most clearly distinguished between the groups was the women's perceptions of their mothers as positive role models. Women who described their mothers as positive role models were more likely to be confident in their parenting abilities, whereas women who viewed their mothers as negative role models were less confident in their parenting abilities. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]