- Study finds that among parents working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, men have been three times more likely than women to receive a promotion and twice as likely to get a raise
- Fathers working from home much more likely than mothers to say they can take advantage of options to be more productive
- Disparity reflects an overall trend of working mothers shouldering more burdens during the pandemic, making them more likely to consider leaving the workforce
Women have been considerably less likely than men to advance their careers or receive rewards while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent study by the software company Qualtrics and the gender parity analyst theBoardlist. In the poll of 1,051 salaried employees conducted in July, 57 percent said remote work has positively affected their career while just 29 percent of women felt the same.
About two-thirds of men said they have been more productive while working remotely, though just 41 percent of women reported greater productivity. Men were 2.3 times as likely as women to believe that working from home would positively affect their career progression.
Among working parents, fathers were considerably more likely than mothers to say they had been rewarded while working from home. Thirty-four percent of men with children in the home said they had received a promotion, compared to just 9 percent of women with children in the home. Working fathers were about three times as likely as working mothers to say they had taken on additional leadership or given responsibility for important projects, and about twice as likely to say they’d received a raise, recognition, or positive formal reviews.
Men who said their productivity had improved while working remotely were consistently more likely than women to say they had benefited from factors such as less noise or distractions, more accessible workflows, and greater accessibility. Men with children in the home were most likely to say their productivity had improved, but also more likely than working mothers to report greater stress levels.
The study reflects other research suggesting that the pandemic has put more burdens on female employees than it has on male employees. Other studies have found that women are more likely than men to shoulder housekeeping and child care responsibilities in addition to remote work. The majority of workers who have voluntarily left the labor force during the pandemic have been women, and about one in four female workers has contemplated quitting their job.
