Browsing by Author "Fiani, Nathalie J."

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    Attitudes, Beliefs and Expectations Towards Maternal Employment and Non-parental Care among Female University Students
    (2011) Fiani, Nathalie J.
    The purpose of the current study was to investigate the attitudes and expectations of female Lebanese college students (N = 145) in regard to maternal employment, exclusivity of maternal care, and non-parental childcare. Beliefs about the costs and benefits of maternal employment were measured by the Beliefs about the Consequences of Maternal Employment scale (BACMEC). The Exclusive Maternal Care scale determined the extent to which the participants believe that only a mother is best suited to care for her child, whereas the Home/Employment Orientation scale evaluated the woman's preference for staying home versus her desire to return to work. Additional variables were explored in order to identify the subjects' preferences and perceived future plans in relation to maternal work history, the type and timing of non-parental care arrangements, work resumption, and the major factors influencing such decisions. The study indicated a significant relationship between early maternal work history, beliefs in the benefits of maternal work, and work resumption. Moreover, beliefs in the costs of maternal work were significantly associated to the attitudes toward the exclusivity of maternal care, which in turn yielded a significant relation to participants' home/employment orientation. The correlation between subjects' home/career inclinations and preferred age of the child to be placed in childcare and for mother to resume work also proved significant.