The Longest Shortest Time

EPISODE #142: It’s A Real Mother, Part 2: Ideal Worker

When Brigid Schulte asked her boss to work a flexible schedule after her daughter was born 16 years ago, he said yes. And he warned her that it might ruin her career.

But, uh, he was wrong. Brigid went on to report with a Pulitzer Prize winning team at The Washington Post and write the best-selling book we wanted to talk to her about, Overwhelmed: Work, Love And Play When No One Has The Time.

Brigid set out to write about her experience as an overwhelmed working mother. But she quickly found herself asking why things are the way they are and how they could be better.

Tune in to hear how the traditional American workplace actively works against mothers; and how that negatively impacts everyone.

Wanna know more?
Here are some of the studies Brigid mentions in this episode.

This is the study that used fake resumes to find out if there’s a motherhood penalty (Shelley Correll, Stephen Bernard; The American Journal of Sociology). The results motivated us to do this series in the first place!

Here’s a summary of the study that found parents spend more time with their kids today than 50 years ago. (Giulia M. Dotti Sani, Judith Treas; Journal of Marriage and Family)

It’s A Real Mother

Discrimination against working moms is a real mother of a problem. But you can help. Listen to all the episodes of our series and find out what YOU can do – no matter who you are here.

If you’ve experienced discrimination in the workplace as a pregnant person or parent and need help, we’ve got resources for you here.

Brigid’s headshot: Peter Heimberg