Research
suggests that women, but not men suffer negative professional
consequences if they have children. These unequal consequences can be
attributed to stereotypes about women's and men's roles as caregivers
and breadwinners for their families, respectively. Two field studies of
workplace mistreatment among middle-class employees examined whether
fathers who violate these gender stereotypes by actively caregiving for
their families suffer negative consequences at work. Study 1 (N = 232)
examined not man enough harassment (being derogated as insufficiently
masculine) and Study 2 (N = 451) examined general forms of mistreatment.
Results showed that caregiving fathers experience more harassment and
mistreatment than traditional fathers and than men without children.
Women without children experience more harassment and mistreatment than
mothers, and mothers who spend less time on caregiving experience more
harassment and mistreatment than mothers who spend more time on
caregiving. We discuss implications for theory and practice.
