就業母親之母職經驗與就業策略初探

Abstract

研究目的：探討就業母親的母職經驗以及這些經驗和母職意識型態如何影響到其就業的策略。研究方法：採質化方式，深入訪談並加以內容分析。以立意抽樣中的判斷抽樣，訪問有子女就學於國小階段之曾經全時就業的媽媽。訪談採半結構式進行。總共訪談18位媽媽，為顧及資料的充實性，樣本包括單親媽媽與雙親媽媽。母職是環繞在作為母親的所有角色上面。研究結果：在『母職角色的認知』上，出現：母親應該親自帶孩子、給予子女照顧與教育、對孩子付出柔性的關懷、母職是天性也是天賦的責任、犧牲與奉獻的本質。另外也發現就業母親之母職角色會和自我需求產生衝突。『母職意識影響下的就業策略』：包括就業母親中出現三位中斷型就業者，一位性別平等與自我實現的追求者、其他比較多的是抱持實用主義的彈性工作策略者和親自育兒的自由工作者。研究結論：研究者提出了與理論和研究的對話，以激發更多鼓勵母親就業的思考和機會。

Purpose: Many mothers feel pressure from trying to work and care for their children at the same time. When employed mothers try to play a good mother role, they are more likely to intensify their motherhood ideology (Hattery, 2001). This study investigated how employed mothers perceive their experience and role as a mother, how this role conflicted with their own needs, and how their motherhood ideology affected their employment. Methods: Working mothers with children in primary school were selected for interviews using judgment sampling. Eighteen in-depth interviews were collected from 10 married mothers and 8 single mothers from metropolitan Taipei with a variety of education levels and occupations. Their ages ranged from 30 to 50 years old. Results: Results indicated that their idea of motherhood entailed the belief that they should raise their children themselves by nursing them, teaching them, and showing them warm care and concern. They also believed that motherhood is a natural duty requiring sacrifice and devotion. They frequently felt conflict between child care and their own needs. However, their beliefs about motherhood were positive overall. They used 4 strategies in order to participate in employment: interrupted employment (quitting their jobs to restart when the children are older), gender-equality and self-actualization (refusing to accept motherhood ideology and insisting on equal co-parenting), flex-time, and unconstrained work (working in a position that allows them to do all their own childcare). Conclusions: This study provides an understanding of the employment strategies of mothers.