We already knew that breastfeeding can be a touchy issue with lawsuits, Facebook feuds and subway rallies (also toys)but now a new study has come along which suggests that although breastfeeding may be economical and healthy, the social and workplace costs can be potentially great to mothers. According to the study breastfeeding mothers are viewed by potential employers as being "significantly less competent in general, in math and work specifically."
In previous studies breastfeeding mothers have said they felt judged by others, but this claims to be the first study to see if observers do in fact hold a bias. And it seems they do! This new study found that, at least in controlled experiments, participants were less likely to hire a woman for a hypothetical job position once they learned she was producing milk for her offspring.
One of the study's authors guesses that the lower opinion of lactating workers is because observers often see the women as objects. "Incompetence comes because, when you think about an object, you don’t think of an object as something that’s intelligent or smart or thinking."
Interesting! However there is one important thing about this study in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin we want to point out before you start making sure not to mention little Holden at your next job interview: The three studies used in the paper were done with college students, not with actual office workers. And college kids, we can all agree, have notoriously skewered perspectives when it comes to grown up things things like lactation. Luckily, the authors of the current study are now doing further research on the topic with actual lactating ladies (presumably in real world scenarios).
