A Narrative Approach to Pregnancy-related Discrimination and Leader-follower Relationships

Abstract

This study sheds light on women's perceptions of pregnancy-related discrimination committed by the discriminated woman's immediate leader. The purpose is to show how women describe this perception during pregnancy and after their return to working life after maternity leave. Further, the study explores the ways in which the quality of the leader-follower relationship is revealed during the narration process. The research draws on five individual stories, collected in two rounds of interviews. Representations of several kinds of discriminatory practices can be found in the narratives and reveal that even being a partner in a good-quality leader-follower relationship does not necessarily protect a woman from pregnancy-related discrimination. However, women involved in a high-quality leader-follower relationship described their perceptions in a more positive manner than those in a low-quality relationship. The contribution of the article to the literature is twofold: firstly, the results challenge the traditional view that high-quality leader-member exchange relationships lead to positive outcomes. Secondly, examining the different ways in which people describe their perceptions of discrimination deepens our understanding of the equality problems that working women face. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.