This research project will examine whether laws protecting leave takers can change negative normative judgments about working mothers and leave takers. Using experimental procedures to be conducted at Cornell University, the investigators will compare subjects? evaluations of workers? files in situations where the law prohibits discrimination and situations in which no law is in place. The main hypothesis is that laws that protect leave takers from discrimination will not only reduce discriminatory outcomes but also produce more positive evaluations of these workers. The findings from this study will make important contributions to understanding whether laws can change both behavior and normative belief systems. Results could also provide scholars with new knowledge and information to understand whether employers will penalize workers when they defy stereotypes that women should be family caretakers and men should be family breadwinners. Theoretically, the project will collect new data to illuminate whether normative discrimination -- whereby employers discriminate because they believe that mothers should stay at home with their children and fathers should support the family ? is widespread or contingent. This project offers several broader benefits. First, the social benefits to workers and families of identifying effective legal reforms are potentially enormous; one estimate is that caretaker bias costs mothers as much as $1 million over the course of their careers. Second, the project will give both undergraduate and graduate students first-hand experience conducting empirical research. From past experience, the investigators expect that up to half of these students will be women and/or minorities, increasing the likelihood that these students will pursue scientific careers. Finally, this project will not only establish a new, interdisciplinary collaboration between UC Berkeley and Cornell, but will also reach out to other innovative organizations focused on work and family issues.
