Is It Discrimination, or Fair and Deserved? How Beliefs about Work, Family, and Gender Shape Recognition of Family Responsibilities Discrimination

Abstract

Why do some label employers’ actions discrimination, while others do not? We explore whether beliefs about work, family, and gender are associated with labeling an employer’s denial of a promotion because of parental leave-taking—an illegal form of family responsibilities discrimination—discriminatory. Data from 702 respondents who evaluated a fictitious transcript of a supervisor-employee conversation show that the stronger one’s beliefs that good workers prioritize work over family, that employers do not owe workers job security, and that men are best-suited to work and women to care-taking, the less discriminatory one finds the supervisor’s promotion denial. Mediation analyses reveal that these relationships are primarily due to the association between these beliefs about gender, work, and family and perceptions that the supervisor’s promotion denial is deserved and, to a lesser extent, fair. Findings hold net of respondent knowledge of discrimination law, gender, and caregiver status.