Ethnography Paper

Ethnography Paper

Research Design
Many blame wage gap on pregnancy and motherhood. There is also still an obvious glass ceiling for women in many professions. Growing up in a home with a working mom, I always wondered were things were harder for my mom because she was a mom and also what restrictions were placed on her because she was a woman?
My mom is the publisher and president of The Journal Record, a business newspaper in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The paper is one of many across the country, and though she is the president of the paper locally, there is a corporate office that she answers to. The corporate staff is predominately male, though her local staff is mainly women.
I spent a lot of time in her office growing up, and since there were so many women in the office, I never thought anything of her being a woman. But now, as I hear her stories of the executives who work in the corporate office, I see that she has also struggled with gender inequality. Despite these inequalities she still managed to climb the ladder, while also having a young daughter.
I never felt that I was missing anything growing up. I saw my mom almost every night for dinner and spent the weekends with her. In my opinion, she was the best mom, but I wanted to see what she thought about being a mom and a career woman.
The respect I have for what my mom has done as well as the knowledge that most all women face inequalities in the workplace are what made me decided to base my research questions on motherhood in the workplace.
I conducted my research through an interview, and I visited my mom at her office.

Interview Questions

1. How have you balanced working and being a mom?
I don’t know if balance has ever been a reality, though it is something I always strived to achieve. It has taken a lot of juggling to keep up with my work and devote the time I always wanted to give as a mom. This has meant doing work after my daughter’s bedtime when she was young. As she got older we did our “homework” together. On the flip side, I tried not to miss any of her significant events at school and found a way to be a homeroom mom. Looking back, I think I was always there and fully present for her when she needed me. She is a well-adjusted, good person now—so I hope I succeeded.

2. What changed in the balance as you were promoted?
As I was promoted and my responsibilities grew, so did the amount of stress and hours needed at work. I didn’t really change anything in the way I approached motherhood, but my entire family did have to make concessions because of the time I spent traveling and at the office. Luckily I always had a great support system. We are not really a traditional family, so I never felt compelled to come home and cook a big dinner, which lessened my stress and gave me more time to spend with my daughter in the evenings. A cleaning lady really helped as well!

3. Do you think that being a woman/being a mother has hindered your career? Do people not consider you for positions because you are a woman/mom?
I have turned down promotions that involved moving because of my family, but I don’t think I have ever not been considered because I’m a woman. I know that is not the case for others, however. I do have some questions about salary parity in my company, however.

4. Do you feel that you missed things as a mother because of your career?
There have been things I’ve missed and guilt was a feeling I became accustomed to when my daughter was young. My mom spent more time with her during the day than I did. While I was so grateful for that, I have to admit to feeling some resentment that she was the one who saw Madison tie her shoes for the first time and ride a two-wheeled bike on her own. In hindsight, I don’t think it harmed Madison in any way and I think I made it up to her in time with her as she got older.

5. Does being a mother ever help you in your career? Why?
Being a mother and having a career is a true test of time management and multi-tasking skills. Both are skills that make me a better manager. Empathy, patience and consensus building are also qualities and skills developed by a good mother that have made me a better leader.

6. Does being a mother ever effect your business decisions?
Even though I’ve mentioned that I missed some of my daughter’s milestones over the years, I also chose, whenever possible, to be home rather than attend certain networking events and business meetings. I figured out a way to be at networking functions and work the room very quickly in order to get home. Being a mother has also provided me with a moral compass that I’m not sure was fully developed prior to motherhood. As I’ve stressed to my daughter the importance of always doing what is right, not what is popular, I’ve got extra responsibility to not just “talk the talk”, but to “walk the walk”.

Field Notes:
My Observations: I have visited my mom’s office many times, so her staff as really seen me grow up, and they always want to talk with me when I am there. They know that I am an important part of my mom’s life and, I think, they like when I come in and not resent it. Because of this, it was very difficult to go in and just observe. In my mom’s office are lots of pictures of me and of our family. Even at work she surrounds herself with her family.
She will also always tries to answer the phone when I call, even if that means it takes away from her work for a few minutes.

Write up:
I think that my mom has probably had a struggle balancing a career and a family, but I do not think either side has ever been negatively impacted because of the other. I do not believe that her company discriminates against her because she is a mother.