The study Parenthood wage gaps in multinational enterprises was carried out together with Khadija van der Straaten (ABS PhD graduate, now at Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Niccolò Pisani (formerly ABS, now at IMD Business School, Switzerland). The researchers analysed the disparities in pay and progression for men and women working in subsidiaries (companies owned and controlled by multinationals) of MNEs (multinational enterprises) compared to domestic firms (companies operating within a single country). The study looked at employees both before and after they became parents. Using data taken from the WageIndicator surveys, they compared the wages of more than 36,000 fathers, mothers, and employees without children across 57 countries.

'Overvaluation of masculine traits'

Kolk and her colleagues found that men benefitted financially from parenthood in all types of firms, but mostly so in MNEs. The study revealed a wage penalty for mothers across the board, as the negative effect for them was comparable across multinational subsidiaries and domestic firms.

The results challenge commonly held assumptions about the causes and cures of gender pay inequity related to women’s characteristics and life patterns. Motherhood in itself is not the cause. Because of this, existing policies designed to help redress the balance between male and female workers are not always helpful. For example, offering flexibility in working hours, whilst useful for many, does not fully address the core issue of gender parity. What is also needed are measures to redress the overvaluation of masculine traits, especially related to fatherhood. These traits seem to be more prominent in MNEs’ corporate culture.