Examining the ‘Raced’ Fatherhood Premium: Workplace Evaluations of Men by Race, Fatherhood Status, and Level of Involvement

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Principal investigator:

Kathleen Denny

University of Maryland

Email: kdenny@umd.edu

Homepage: http://www.socy.umd.edu/gradprofile/Denny/Kathleen


Sample size: 1733

Field period: 03/09/2012-06/15/2012

Hypotheses

1. How is fathers’ level of involvement with children evaluated in the context of the professional workplace?
2. How is level of involvement with children evaluated for fathers of different racial/ethnic backgrounds in the workplace?

Experimental Manipulations

Race: African-American, Latino, Asian, and white
Level of Paternal Involvement: Non-Father, Less Involved Father, Highly Involved Father

Outcomes

Ten evaluation items, including:

Trustworthy
Likable
Hardworking
Responsible
Level of commitment
Test score required for consideration
Expected late days
Likelihood of hire
Starting salary offer
Likelihood of promotion

Summary of Results

Findings indicate that highly involved fathers are evaluated more favorably in the context of the professional workplace than men without children and than less involved fathers. However, this differs by race. Highly involved white and Asian fathers -- but not African-American and Latino fathers -- are evaluated significantly more positively than their childless counterparts in terms of character, commitment, and salary. Childless African-American men, on the other hand, are evaluated significantly more favorably than other childless men in terms of behavior, character, and hirability.

References

Privileging the Privileged: Evaluations of Fathers in the Professional Workplace by Level of Involvement with Children and Race to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 2013