Arena Jr, D. F., Volpone, S. D., & Jones, K. P. (2022). (Overcoming) Maternity Bias in the Workplace: A Systematic Review. Journal of Management, 01492063221086243.

Maternity, a period of transition beginning with prenatal bodily changesand progressing through postnatal lactation, is experienced by up to 66% ofworking women. Over the past several decades, research on maternity in theworkplace has grown exponentially to reveal salient maternity biases thatplague women as they navigate their employee and motherhood identities. Withthe aim of providing information that aids scholars and practitioners inbetter understanding the experiences of working mothers, we conducted asystematic review of 239 papers on maternity bias (i.e., formal,interpersonal, and internalized). Our interdisciplinary review discussesthese three forms of bias and how they might present across different careerstages for working mothers. Additionally, we review the antecedents that maydrive maternity bias and the outcomes that result for working mothers whoperceive or anticipate bias at work. Finally, we discuss areas of previousresearch aimed at overcoming maternity bias from the perspective of workingmothers, their colleagues, and their organization. We conclude by discussingthe trends brought to light in our review, the collective strengths andweaknesses of commonly adopted theoretical perspectives of the researchreviewed, implications for combating maternity bias for women and theirorganizations, and recommendations for future research. Our model ofmaternity bias comprehensively reviews past work to provide insights into thebias that working mothers endure at work but also provides a path forward, asbetter understanding these biases empower organizations, coworkers, andemployees to remediate maternity bias.