Microsoft Word Socialized Choices 31-12 pod docx

 
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Outline of the thesis 
 
This research, which aims at a better understanding of mothers’ diverse labour 
market decisions, is carried out in the Netherlands. The wider structural and 
cultural context of the Netherlands is therefore relevant. The first chapter will 
provide a concise historical overview of the Dutch context within the period 1945 
to 2012. The most important institutional and cultural turning points in relation to 
mothers’ labour market behaviour are addressed specifically, such as the enduring 
cultural Dutch tradition of ‘proud’ housewives (Kloek, 2009), which became 
brittle at the end of the ‘60s with the plea of Joke Smit (1967), and the typically 
Dutch ‘polder’ solutions of the ‘80s which, as remedies for the declining 
economy, create possibilities for part-time work. This chapter ends with the 
question of whether part-time work has, by 2012, put a stall on the emancipation 
process, since part-time work for mothers seems to have turned into a moral 
obligation rather than an alternative choice.  
In chapter two, the main theoretical grounds of this study are described. 
Research areas where I could find explanations for different employment 
decisions on a micro level are micro-economic theory (Becker, 1965), the theory 
of planned behaviour (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1973, 2005), preference theory 
(Hakim, 2000, 2003a-d) and socialization theory (Bandura, 1977; Berger and 
Luckmann, 1967; Handel, 2006). The theory of planned behaviour is useful since 
it understands that the influence of attitudes, subjective norms and perceived 
behavioural control (the sense of self-agency) on behaviour is mediated by 
intentions (what a person intends to do or would do in a certain situation). Within 
this study, intentions are understood as preferences (the number of hours a person 
wants to work). It is assumed theoretically that (gender and work) values and 
attitudes affect work preferences, and that work preferences in turn have impacts 
on the labour market behaviour of Dutch mothers.  Previous research has shown 
that the causal relationships between values and attitudes on the one hand, and 
preferences and labour market behaviour on the other, are not unambiguous 
causal relationships, but are reciprocal and can be contradictory as well. Such an 
understanding of the attitudinal-behavioural relationship is acknowledged in this 
study, however my primary concern is to look toward the more consistent and 
robust areas of values, attitudes, and therefore also of preferences, by revealing 
their social roots. Subsequently, the main assumption of this study is that 
preferences do not arise in a void, but rather are (at least partly) embedded within 
prior social relations, by means of individuals’ socially-shaped values and 
attitudes, on which their preferences are based. To understand how values and 

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Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers 
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attitudes are shaped by the influences of significant others, I make use of the 
theoretical insights of socialization theory. It is theorised that in order to 
understand individuals’ values, attitudes and preferences, it is important to shed 
light on the construction and reconstruction of these attitudes and preferences 
within prior micro social relational contexts. In socialization theory, the 
intergenerational relationships of early life, and other social relational contexts 
later in life (in the form of teachers, partners, friends and colleagues) are viewed 
as vital social contexts within which individuals’ values and attitudes are shaped 
(Bandura, 1977; Berger and Luckmann, 1967).  
Chapter three is based on the first empirical qualitative study, which explores 
whether and how mothers with differences in working patterns also differ in their 
‘narratives of choice’ and their values and attitudes towards work, gender and 
motherhood. This is achieved via 39 semi-structured interviews with mothers 
living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This qualitative study reveals a typology 
of Dutch mothers based around the variety of their narratives of choice and 
considerations regarding paid and unpaid work and motherhood. Similarities 
emerged in the narratives of all of these interviewed mothers, despite their diverse 
work preferences and subsequent behaviour. These similarities include a 
‘narrative of non-complaining’ regarding their spouses’ contribution to the unpaid 
work, accompanied by a disappearance of gender concerns.  
Mothers’ diverse work preferences and subsequent decisions are not only 
examined with qualitative research, but also with a quantitative analysis. Chapter 
four is based on a quantitative structural path analysis of a representative national 
survey among 935 Dutch mothers.  The analysis demonstrates that the effect of 
values and gender and work attitudes on a mother’s labour market behaviour is 
largely mediated by the variable work preference, which influence on actual 
labour participation appears much larger than the influence of objective 
background characteristics. Secondly, the analysis shows that part of work 
preferences and related gender values and attitudes are influenced by the labour 
market participation of the respondent’s mother during childhood. It is assumed 
that this stable part has a balancing effect on otherwise more flexible work 
preferences. Dutch mothers’ preferred number of work hours seems therefore to 
be, to some extent, a good predicator of her future labour market behaviour.  
In chapter five, I dive deeper into socialization factors by examining whether 
and which parental values and attitudes, remembered from childhood, still affect 
Dutch mothers’ current general and personal gender attitudes. This cross-
sectional analysis is based on the same large national sample of Dutch mothers. 
The analysis shows that parental socialization (via mental and verbal codes) plays 
a role in explaining both mothers’ general gender values and their personal 
gender attitude (i.e. their ideal family life).  In this chapter, I also demonstrate the 
impact of perceived professional and career support by significant others on a 
mother’s current general gender values and her personal general attitude. Job 
encouragement earlier in life by significant others such as teachers, partners, 
colleagues and supervisors, relate to a mother’s present egalitarian gender values 

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