Maternal bias is one of the most persistent — and often overlooked — forms of workplace discrimination. It happens when motherhood triggers assumptions that women are less committed, less capable, or less interested in their careers.
Even though awareness of unconscious bias has grown, simply knowing it exists isn’t enough. Maternal bias continues to influence hiring, promotion, and performance decisions — often in subtle ways that compound over time.
How Maternal Bias Works
When a woman becomes a mother, coworkers and managers may unconsciously assume her priorities have shifted away from work. She might be perceived as distracted, unavailable, or unwilling to take on new challenges.
These assumptions can have very real consequences:
- Mothers are often given fewer high-visibility assignments or leadership opportunities.
- They are held to higher performance standards than their male peers.
- Their commitment and competence are questioned more frequently.
This bias often begins even before a woman has children. Research shows that women who announce engagements or marriages can face quiet pushback — as colleagues or leaders assume they’ll soon start families and step back from their careers.
The Evidence Behind Maternal Bias
Multiple studies reveal how motherhood shapes perceptions of competence. In one well-known experiment, researchers sent out identical résumés — the only difference being that one included a line noting the applicant was a “PTA Coordinator.” The results were stark: the résumé mentioning motherhood received fewer callbacks and was rated lower in competence and hireability than the identical “non-mother” résumé.
That’s maternal bias in action: the belief that being a parent, specifically a mother, makes someone less capable or ambitious.
But maternal bias doesn’t just affect women. Fathers who step up to share caregiving responsibilities can also face backlash. Studies show that men who take paternity leave or request flexible schedules for family reasons often receive lower performance ratings and experience greater reductions in future earnings than mothers do.
In both cases, the underlying assumption is the same: that caregiving is incompatible with professional ambition.
The Impact on Career Growth
The effects of maternal bias ripple far beyond a single missed promotion. When women are overlooked for stretch assignments or major projects, they lose access to the very experiences that lead to advancement. Over time, this widens the gender pay gap and reinforces leadership imbalances across industries.
Even well-intentioned actions — like sparing a new mother from travel “to make things easier for her” — can inadvertently limit her career growth. These patterns accumulate, creating invisible barriers that make it harder for mothers to advance, even when they perform at the same level as their peers.
How to Challenge Maternal Bias
Awareness is the first step, but it must be followed by action. Both individuals and organizations can work to counteract these biases through intentional practices:
1. Check Assumptions Before Decisions
Before assuming someone wouldn’t want a demanding project or a trip, ask. Giving employees the choice respects their agency and avoids reinforcing stereotypes.
2. Normalize Caregiving for All Genders
Encourage both mothers and fathers to take parental leave or flexible schedules without penalty. This helps dismantle the idea that caregiving is solely a “women’s issue.”
3. Hold Leaders Accountable
Managers play a critical role in combating bias. Training, transparent promotion criteria, and inclusive feedback systems can ensure that opportunities are based on merit, not assumptions.
4. Use Tools to Identify Bias
Structured frameworks — like bias cards, checklists, or reflection prompts — can help teams recognize patterns and make fairer decisions.
The Bottom Line
Maternal bias doesn’t come from malice — it comes from long-standing social expectations about gender and caregiving. But its impact is powerful, affecting how women and men are evaluated, promoted, and supported at work.
Understanding how maternal bias works is the first step toward change. The next is to act — by calling out bias when we see it, questioning our own assumptions, and creating systems that reward performance, not parental status.
Because when organizations support caregivers equally, everyone benefits — teams grow stronger, workplaces become more inclusive, and talent is allowed to thrive without limits.
