Abstract:
Bangladesh is experiencing rapid economic, social, and cultural shifts that are influencing the labour market. Increases in women‘s labour market participation, especially among married women, particularly those with young children, have emerged as one of the most remarkable changes over the past three decades. This presents an interesting case for Bangladesh, where, despite the increase in mothers‘ participation in paid work, there are significant gender gaps that continue in terms of their representation and key labour market outcomes, notably income. Although there is a large body of literature which explores the gendered conflicts of work and family, this is predominantly on the experiences of Western, middle-class households and parents overlooking and marginalising the perspectives and experiences of parents and families from other regions, such as Asia and Africa. One of the overarching objectives of this study is to advance research on women from the global South, specifically Bangladesh. Drawing on the conceptual framework of cultural work and family devotion schemas that centre gender, family and work, this study sheds light on how persistent patriarchal beliefs and practices are in reproducing gender inequality in Bangladesh‘s contemporary labour market, focusing in particular on mothers with young children employed in the formal economy. Constructions of motherhood impede women from emulating masculinised expectations of paid work in Bangladesh, which, although desired, could also be harmful. To further explore this issue, I conducted in-depth interviews with 38 participants in Bangladesh from three cohorts: middle-class employed mothers, fathers, and experts in the field, to gain insight into the everyday home and work-life practices that affect mothers‘ labour market outcomes differently from fathers‘. Key findings suggest that employed mothers struggle to navigate multiple roles while conforming to or defying the social standards of their roles, both at home and in the workplace. Their daily struggle heightens the conflict between work and family devotion schemas, leading to reduced career progression relative to their husbands and male co-workers. Conversely, fatherhood ideals are embedded within the work devotion schema, with idealised fathers serving as a synonym for ideal employees. Findings show while most interviewed fathers supported the organisation‘s ideal worker norms, most interviewed mothers did not. Theoretically, then, this research speaks to the hegemony of work and family devotion schemas, where so many parties (fathers, in-laws, employers, policymakers) unconsciously take for granted women's restrictions in domestic spheres. Findings further suggest that while the present maternity leave policies and regulations have glaring flaws (e.g., they do not apply equally to all mothers), the policies regarding childcare remain dysfunctional. Overall, the study‘s findings frame working mothers‘ lives in Bangladesh‘s growing labour market as complicated and nuanced, with experiences of disjunction, hope, and opportunity. It also revealed the integration between two overarching devotions. The study stresses a need to reconceptualise motherhood within Bangladesh‘s increasingly neoliberal social structure in order to break down the structural and cultural barriers toward mothers‘ labour market equality.