Maternal Employment and Work Values of Young Women : An Indirect Effects Model

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between maternal employment and young women's work values, as mediated by egalitarian sex role attitudes, beliefs about the consequences of maternal employment for children. A questionnaire survey was carried out using a mailed questionnaire, and 296 female undergraduates completed (average age 21.75 years). Women asked to answer questions regarding to the importance of work values, scale of egalitarian of sex role attitudes, beliefs about the consequences of maternal employment for children scale, and career pattern of their mothers. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that maternal career pattern had positive effect to the importance of work values directly. In addition, beliefs about the benefits of working mother to children mediated the relationships between maternal career pattern and the importance of work values. On the other hand, no significant relationships between beliefs about the benefits of nonworking mother to children and the importance of work values and maternal employment and the level of egalitarian sex role attitudes w ere found. However, maternal career pattern led to less beliefs about the benefits of nonworking mother, beliefs about the benefits of nonworking mother was related to higher score of work values mediated by the level of egalitarian sex role attitudes