1 INTRODUCTION

In the early 1970s, after social movements in search of their rights, women began to exercise professions outside the home, entering the labor market and conquering professional spaces until then occupied only by the male public (OLIVEIRA et al., 2015). As a result, they became participants in the different sectors of the economy, and 44,8% of women of working age are present in the Brazilian labor market (IBGE, 2018).

With the increase in their participation in the labor market, women are increasingly professionally involved, and it is common to postpone motherhood, choosing to have children when they feel safer or less threatened in relation to their career (LOUREIRO; COSTA; FREITAS, 2012). However, when motherhood arrives, they need to divide their time between their profession and their child, starting to perform a greater number of tasks (LINDO et al., 2007). It is estimated that, in Brazil, women devote 18,1 hours a week to caring for people and/or household chores (IBGE, 2018).

The perception of women about motherhood deserves to be studied, as it has been shown to interfere in women's work (BRUSCHINI, 2007). Furthermore, the working career presents itself in different ways for men and women (FRAGA; ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, 2020; SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2005). Careers are developed outside and within organizations and are constituted both by the actions of individuals and by the environment in which they are inserted. In the case of women, there are prejudices and discriminations that block their ascension and reveal themselves as career labyrinths (FRAGA; ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, 2020), making women must put greater effort than men to be able to ascend organizationally (GRISCI et al., 2015).

The career models that form the basis of many Human Resources Management ( HRM practices were created through studies of male careers and do not adapt to the complexity of female careers (SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008). In addition, there are practices that reinforce gender differences and male dominance (FRAGA; ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, 2020). In this context, we question: what is the perception of women living in a city in the northern region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul about their career after motherhood?

Current studies show that motherhood has been researched in relation to the inverse association between advanced maternal age and cognitive ability (GOISIS; SCHNEIDER; MYRKYLÄ, 2017), to the balance between personal and professional life (LINDO et al., 2007), to the postponement of maternity (BARBOSA; ROCHA-COUTINHO, 2007), to career interruption in maternity (CERIBELI; SILVA, 2017), to the burden of caring for the children(CARVALHO NETO; TANURE; ANDRADE, 2010). In international studies, many discussions are about gender inequalities (GUPTA, 2017; HECKLER, 2019; KESKIN, 2017; LIM; LEE, 2019; RINGBLOM; JOHANSSON, 2020) and barriers faced by women (CASSIDY; BURGIN; WASONGA, 2021; HELLER; GABALDON, 2018; MACKINNON, 2021; SWAIL; MARLOW, 2018) – themes that are associated with gender studies. This research analyzes the perception of women’s careers after motherhood, identifying the types of careers they adopt in their professional trajectory while facing the challenges posed by motherhood.

This study aims to contribute to the knowledge of the possibilities and challenges that arise for professionals who become mothers and the career perspectives when they must divide their time into double shifts. Understanding the alternatives for the female career in the face of contemporary, social and labor market changes, enables companies to develop HRM policies and practices aimed at women’s needs, as current career models have been developed to meet the needs of men (SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008). Companies can reduce, in the work environment, gender differences arising from motherhood, because, although some organizations claim to have policies aimed at women, these policies are often superficial and do not correspond to the needs of female employees (SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008).

2 CAREER

The term career used to define professional life trajectory can be approached from different perspectives. Bendassoli (2009) proposes a more contemporary concept and observes that careers can be understood as a process of individualization, going beyond the simple fact of occupying a position to encompass a life project associated with an organization or a professional category. It is noted, therefore, that the career can be analyzed from a perspective (BASTOS, 1997; DUTRA, 2007) and individual perspective (BENDASSOLI, 2009).

According to the organizational perspective, the career can be divided into two models: traditional and contemporary (CHANLAT, 1995). The first refers to a predominantly male society, marked by a certain stability and hierarchy, with linear and vertical career progression (BALASSIANO; VENTURA; FONTES FILHO, 2004; CHANLAT, 1995). It considers the organization as the main responsible for the management of employees' careers. (BALASSIANO; VENTURA; FONTES FILHO, 2004).

The contemporary model emerged in the 1970s, resulting from social changes, such as the entry of women into the labor market, higher levels of education, flexibility of work, globalization of the economy. It is characterized by variety of genres, instability, discontinuity, horizontality(CHANLAT, 1995; TONELLI, 2009). Career management becomes the responsibility of the individual and not the organization (SANT’ANNA; KILIMNIK, 2009; DUTRA, 2007).

This career model allows flexibility, encourages entrepreneurship and creativity for innovative solutions (TONELLI, 2009), it requires more skills and requires emotional development to manage growing organizational complexity (TONELLI, 2009). In this context, different types of contemporary careers emerge, such as the protean (HALL, 2002), the borderless (LACOMBE; CHU, 2005) and self-management (FONTANELLE, 2005).

The self-management career emerged because of employment flexibility, new forms of work based on knowledge management, from short-term perspectives, from ideas of autonomy, self-knowledge and ‘psychological success’ (FONTANELLE, 2005). ‘psychological successes’ denotes that the individual seeks to understand the meaning of work and find satisfaction in what he/she does (FONTANELLE, 2005). A career based on self-management aims to develop self-knowledge, with each professional being responsible for understanding the work that arouses their greatest interest and identifying what skills they must conduct it (FONTENELLE, 2005).

Hall (2002) formulates the idea of a protean career, understanding that, during their professional life, the individual develops the ability to adapt to changes, facing new challenges and continuously learning (HALL, 2002). The protean career conceives a flexible individual, capable of managing the present and future of their work, assuming successes and failures(HALL, 2002). It can be understood as a metaphor for the self-management career (FONTENELLE, 2005).

Another type of career is borderless, which considers that the development between organization and individual is an independent relationship, people are responsible for developing the knowledge and skills necessary for professional advancement (LACOMBE; CHU, 2005). It comprises several scenarios such as: the career that crosses boundaries between organizations; the one that extracts validity or negotiability outside the current employer; the one that is supported by relationship networks or information that are outside the organization; the one where the person chooses to spend time dedicating themselves to the family or recycling themselves (LACOMBE; CHU, 2005).

Individuals need to plan a career without borders and develop it, being necessary to invest in skills such as know-how (the knowledge, the technique), the know-why (the motivations for performing work) and the know-whom (the relationship network) (LACOMBE; CHU, 2005). It can be analyzed by the involvement of different levels of physical and psychological mobility (SULLIVAN; ARTHUR, 2006). Psychological mobility corresponds to the individual's interest in working across organizational boundaries, acquiring new experiences. Physical mobility reflects the degree of interest in moving between organizations(BRISCOE; HALL; DEMUTH, 2006).

Women are more inclined to psychological mobility than physical mobility, as they are more influenced by family issues in career decision making (FRAGA; ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, 2020). However, this inclination often happens not by choice, but because of the patriarchal norms of society that have shaped the woman's identity as responsible for the care of the home and children (FRAGA; ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, 2020). These norms limit women’s opportunities and mobility (FRAGA; ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, 2020).

In general, careers were developed with the needs of male employees in mind, not adapting to the needs of women(SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008). It is therefore important to know and understand the main obstacles faced by women in their careers, to improve the conditions of equality. The main barriers for women are, in most cases, related to family responsibilities (EAGLY; CARLI, 2007), as motherhood directly affects her career advancement, resulting in her devaluation and denial of opportunities (MCINTOSH et al., 2012). It is noteworthy that issues related to maternity and career cannot be examined in isolation (MCINTOSH et al., 2012).

3 MOTHERHOOD

The structuring of the traditional family nucleus has been undergoing constant changes, reflecting on the social roles played by women. The search for a salaried job - culturally associated with men– led women to combine the demands of reproductive work with those of productive work (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007). Even with the growing participation of men in household activities, women continue to have greater responsibility for raising children, causing inequality in the exercise of domestic tasks (ROCHA-COUTINHO, 2004; BRUSCHINI, 2007). Many women believe that society's pressure to care for their children falls only on the mother, which leads to a reduction in the workload outside the home and the abandonment of taking advantage of opportunities (HRYNIRWICZ; VIANNA, 2018).

This context is related to the configurations of the sexual division of labor, by which it is understood that men’s work is ‘worth’ more than that of women’s (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007), being held responsible for non-productive activities. This perception ends up impacting the career after motherhood. Research has shown that Norwegian academia has ‘blind spots’ that reveal gender biases, especially involving mothers. Respondents describe that the ‘star researcher’ academic career includes long working days, research as a lifestyle, many articles published in internationally recognized journals and international mobility (THUN, 2020). These criteria of excellence are more difficult to achieve for some academics than for others, being more difficult for women with children, suggesting that the man without family responsibilities is the model of the excellent academic (THUN, 2020). The same study demonstrates that academia adopts a regime of inequality in relation to women who are mothers, however, in the Norwegian context, the gender equality discourse hides the disadvantages, which results in gender blindness (THUN, 2020).

The return to work of women who became mothers is facilitated by factors such as the division of domestic activities with the partner and work practices favorable to the family (EAGLY; CARLI, 2007; HENNEKAM et al., 2019). However, family-friendly policies should also be offered to men, as, when restricted to women, they can lead mothers to be absent from work more often, reproducing the prejudice that, because they are mothers, they are less career oriented (HENNEKAM et al., 2019). Due to the demands with the care of their children, mothers tend to receive less than women who are not, with an average salary difference of 3.6% to 3.8%(CUKROWSKA-TORZEWSKA; MATYSIAK, 2020). The wage gap is associated with interruptions at work related to children, as this is understood to lead to the loss of human capital (CUKROWSKA-TORZEWSKA; MATYSIAK, 2020).

A study of nurses indicates that motherhood has a detrimental effect on nurses’ career progression. The degree of restriction is directly related to the age of the children: the younger the child, the greater the negative impact (MCINTOSH et al., 2012). The possibility of career progression for women is further reduced if they have more children or work part-time, but men’s careers are not negatively affected by an interruption (MCINTOSH et al., 2012). Studies carried out in Brazil agree with these findings, showing that motherhood has a negative impact on women's work, when the children are young (BRUSCHINI, 2007). Therefore, some women choose to postpone motherhood, having children after the age of 30 (CARVALHO NETO; TANURE; ANDRADE, 2010), and others give up having children and family (SCHLICKMANN; PIZARRO, 2013).

The surveys show that, in gender relations, the labor market has migrated from a traditional model – the man is responsible for the productive work and the woman is responsible for the housework –for a conciliatory model – men continue to be responsible for productive work and women must reconcile the demands of productive work with domestic tasks – (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007). The logic of the conciliatory model is that it is up to the woman, who sought to leave home to perform productive work, reconcile the demands of her responsibilities. The problem with both models is that they define women's place in society as dependent on men’s wage labor, since it is difficult to reconcile professional and domestic activities. To be equal to men, in the labor market, women tend to delegate their domestic activities to third parties (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007).

Motherhood is not the only way for women to feel emotionally fulfilled, as their professional career can assume a central role in people’s lives (FIORIN; OLIVEIRA; DIAS, 2014). The career placed first in women’s lives leads to understanding motherhood as an obstacle to their professional fulfillment (SOLÉ; PARELLA, 2004). Currently, the expectation of reconciling roles is striking among professionals who experience the experience of motherhood, but this does not always occur smoothly (OLIVEIRA et al., 2011). The relationship between motherhood and work requires dealing with the multiplicity of roles, which can become a source of anxiety (OLIVEIRA et al., 2011).

The overvaluation of the career generates fear of being absent for the baby or of resorting, too much, to the outsourcing of childcare (BELTRAME; DONELLI, 2012). Due to the accumulation of domestic and professional activities, women’s physical and emotional health is at risk of deteriorating (SPINDOLA; SANTOS, 2003). Women often “feel that they are not performing well the roles of the domestic sphere, nor satisfactorily developing the professional side” (AMARAL, 2012, p. 18). Muitas vinculam a incapacidade de conciliar vida profissional e pessoal à ideia de fracasso (CARVALHO; CARVALHO; SANTOS, 2002).

When the time to return to work comes, it is observed that “the separation of the mother and her baby with the return to work is, without a doubt, a crucial occasion for all who need to find a way to reconcile the role of mother and professional” (SPINDOLA; SANTOS, 2003, p. 594). Upon reaching the end of maternity leave and the consequent re-entry into the labor market, women are unable to dedicate themselves equally to these two spaces, whether for fear of being excessively absent from their baby; either for not knowing how to dose the presence/absence with the child, as the ideal mother should do; either for not being able to make unexpected work trips, work overtime or take chores home (BELTRAME; DONELLI, 2012).

4 METHODOLOGICAL PROCEDURES

To analyze the perception of women about their career after motherhood, we developed qualitative exploratory research, aiming to understand the problem more deeply (GIL, 2008). Qualitative research aims to analyze the phenomena, collecting testimonies that become relevant data (DEMO, 2000). This type of research allows us to describe, in detail, the phenomena as they are situated and incorporated in local contexts (JOHNSON; ONWUEGBUZIE, 2004), enabling a better understanding of the environment in which the case occurs, and should be analyzed from an integrated perspective.

Data were collected through interviews based on a semi-structured script, based on the theoretical framework, based on four blocks of questions: interviewee's profile; career; maternity; organizational career in maternity. The interviews were conducted with fifteen women, residing in a city in the northern region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, who work in private companies; have been with the current company for at least three years; are on maternity leave or have returned less than a year ago. To select the interviewees, no other additional criteria such as age, education and income were used.

Length of time with the company was considered a selection criterion, as this allows respondents to already have a perception about career expectations in the organization. We only interview female employees of private companies because self-employed workers do not enjoy the same prerogatives of maternity leave as public servants and because they have stability. The period of up to one year after maternity leave was limited, as it is understood that the first year of a child’s life is the most difficult for reconciling maternity and work.

The interviewees are between 21 and 41 years old; are married, single, or divorced; have one or two children; they have incomplete high school to complete postgraduate education; work from three to fifteen years in the current company (Table 1).

The initial choice of the interviewees was due to the ease of access, according to Gil (2008), in this option the researcher selects the people he/she has access to. Next, the snowball technique was used, asking people who had already participated in the research to indicate future interviewees. In qualitative research, the determination of who will be interviewed, how many subjects will need to be interviewed and how often each person will need to be interviewed cannot be defined in advance. The researcher, without apprehension of statistical determination, has the autonomy to increase or decrease the number of study participants and, when necessary, deepen the interview with the researched (GODOI; MATTOS, 2006). In this type of study, the empirical saturation criterion is the most used (GASKELL, 2002), when the researcher finds that the addition of data and information no longer alters the understanding of the phenomenon studied (THIRY-CHERQUES, 2009). When data starts to repeat itself and relevant information no longer appears, it is a sign that there is no longer a need to interview other people, that is, the field of study itself shows how many people need to be interviewed.

The researchers in the present study got in touch with people who matched the desired profile and presented them with the objective and importance of the study. After accepting participation, we scheduled dates for the interviews, which were carried out individually, in a reserved and convenient place, chosen by the interviewees (eight interviews took place in the interviewees’ homes; six, in the workplace; one interview, in a restaurant). Before starting the interviews, the respondents were informed about the confidentiality of the information and signed a consent form to use the data exclusively in scientific research.

All interviews were recorded and later transcribed. For data analysis, the content analysis technique was used, which consists of discovering the core meanings that make up a communication (BARDIN, 2009). We established two categories (Table 2) a priori: career and motherhood, which resulted in the final category ‘career in motherhood’.

5 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

This section contains the analysis of the results, based on the intermediate categories: ‘career’ which addresses the interviewees’ understanding of careers; and ‘motherhood’ which examines their perception of motherhood. Finally, these analyzes resulted in the final category ‘career and motherhood’ which deals with the challenges to reconciling both activities.

5.1 Career

Although the interviewees were not clear about the concept of career disseminated in the literature, most presented a definition that meets Chanlat’s explanation (1995, p. 69): “occupation, a profession that has stages, a progression”. Therefore, the interviewees express their perception of a career as professional growth, as reported by I12: “your growth in the professional area, how did you start and how it improves over time, in terms of dreams, goals and even financial”. Most interviewees see careers in the traditional way, in which progression is linear and vertical (CHANLAT, 1995). I1 highlights that if the company sees the person’s commitment, it provides opportunities for growth: “if you want to grow, the company will also see your performance, it will also give you opportunities to grow. Company and employee have to work together to be able to move up”.

The career time of the interviewees in their current organizations varies from three to fifteen years, and their professional trajectories are quite different. Some refer to their organizational ascension, over time, due to growth opportunities, but many of them emphasize that, in the current company, there is no way to grow: “there is no way to grow much there. You go in doing one thing and die doing pretty much the same thing. Growth? I think it’s unlikely” (I2).

The testimonies show that organizational ascension is related to formal knowledge, proven through certificates: “inside it is difficult. Like, if you don't have an education, and they refer to higher level, then it's difficult” (I3). I5 highlights: “the problem is i don't have a college degree. They require higher education and it is a good thing to have the education. But I think even yes, there is a way to grow here”. These lines show that the individual needs to seek formal knowledge and improvement (TONELLI, 2009), because the new scenario, while allowing for some flexibility, still requires academic skills.

The testimonies show how the interviewees perceive a career as related to vertical growth in the organization, from the traditional career perspective(BALASSIANO; VENTURA; FONTES FILHO, 2004; CHANLAT, 1995). I10 note that career development can be linked to other forms of achievement and not just hierarchical advancement: “in terms of knowledge, yes, I will only add knowledge, that yes, I will always be acquiring. Now, stop being an assistant, no. I will not become a manager, a supervisor, no” (I10).

The concept of a career has evolved over time. It went from the traditional model, in which the organization was primarily responsible for managing the career of its employees (BALASSIANO; VENTURA; FONTES FILHO, 2004), to the modern model, in which, in a context of social changes and the inclusion of women in the labor market (CHANLAT, 1995), career planning and management are the responsibility of the individual and not the organization (DUTRA, 2007; SANT’ANNA; KILIMNIK, 2009). I9 discusses the maturation of this concept:

I see the career with a concept that it is very broad, it is not something static, it is dynamic, which involves several possibilities of physical mobility, psychological mobility, and which also has a construction that the career, today, it is something much more of the individual and no longer the traditional model that companies were responsible for their careers. So, today, whoever manages to have good career management is the person who manages to worry, who manages to adapt to the career, anyway, a much broader concept than understood as just education and work.

According to reports on professional trajectories, some interviewees are immersed in contemporary careers, for example, the protean, in which the individual develops the ability to adapt to changes during professional life, facing new challenges and continuously learning(HALL, 2002). I13’s speech shows that, in her trajectory at the company, she had to adapt to changes, taking on different responsibilities, which demonstrates her professional adaptability:

Here I joined this volunteer project where I was part as an external psychologist. I did my workload, which was very little, it was two hours a week. From then on, the coordinator of the Psychology course invited me to be a psychologist at the Clinic-School of the course, which opened in 2004. Then I spent six years at the Clinic-School, and I started to get interested in the academic issue. And then I looked for the master's, in short, I needed the master's to enter and I became more interested in theresearch area. In 2010, I left this Campus and went to Frederico’s Campus, taught there for two years and then came back here, which has to do with motherhood as well. I came back here, I was alone here and I started my doctorate, in 2015.

In the concept of a career without borders, people go beyond the organization’s borders. Physical mobility is the interest in moving between employers and psychological mobility, the interest in working beyond the organization’s borders (ARTHUR; ROSSEAU, 1996). I9’s speech shows her trajectory at a certain point in her professional life and the reconciliation between different careers:

And then, an opportunity arose to start with a discipline with an emergency contract at the university, I asked for a reduction in the workload at this company and then I was working fewer hours, in the consultancy format. A very large company, with 2,500 employees and I was a consultant in just one area, in the HRM area and I was linked to the university. As I knew, since my undergraduate studies, that my intention was to work at the academy, I ended up asking to leave this company. I ended up staying with the university and consulting, I was working like this for ten years. And then I went to the doctorate (I9).

The reports of a large part of the interviewees reveal the understanding of a traditional career, however, by exposing their trajectories, they develop careers with a more contemporary conception, as they are always reinventing and developing themselves as professionals (LACOMBE; CHU, 2005; TONELLI, 2009).

5.2 Motherhood

Several reasons lead a woman to want to be a mother. I11 clearly demonstrates the desire to become a mother: “I always wanted to be a mother (...) I wanted to be able to take advantage of my physical condition to have a good pregnancy. But it was also due to the phase of the relationship that we are living”. I10 explains that she would like to have a child to keep her company at night, while her husband studies, so as not to feel alone: “I wished to have company, not to be alone at night. So, I used to say: ‘I have to have a baby to occupy me at night, I need it’, and even in the sense of not leaving it for much later”.

IBGE data (2016) indicate an increase in the rate of women who have their first child between 30 and 39 years old, showing that motherhood is being postponed (LOUREIRO; COSTA; FREITAS, 2012). This is corroborated by the present research, in which ten interviewees were mothers after the age of 30. The reasons that lead to the postponement of motherhood are varied. Most women choose to wait because they want to have a more stable financial situation, and their own house, to provide greater comfort for the family, as reported by I4: “what weighed a lot was the financial issue, we wanted to build our house first. The house we were in was small, it was not suitable for having children, so we planned more in the financial sense and to prepare a place for them”.

The professional career plays an important role in people’s lives, making them even postpone the conception of a child (FIORIN; OLIVEIRA; DIAS, 2014). When asked if their career influenced their decision, most respondents said that it did not. However, when analyzing their speeches, it appears that the wait for a more adequate financial situation, the search for a good job and the permanence in it denote the concern with the career. I4 makes this understanding clear when she states: “because of work, I waited a little, so I wouldn’t get pregnant as soon as I started work”.

Some women choose to complete their studies and only later have children, which clearly demonstrates their concern with their careers. The labor market still finds it difficult to provide equal opportunities for both genders. Some studies show that women need to try harder (GRISCI et al., 2015)to get job opportunities, therefore they seek to better qualify themselves to obtain greater prominence. Career can occupy the first place in women’s lives, leading to understanding motherhood as an obstacle to professional fulfillment (SOLÉ; PARELLA, 2004). It can also be a reason for postponing motherhood (BARBOSA; ROCHA-COUTINHO, 2007). This concern was more evident in the speeches of the interviewees inserted in an academic career, as shown by the reports of I7 and I9:

First, I wanted to do my master’s, my doctorate. So, I finished my studies and then I wanted to get a job, and I got the job, took the exam, passed. After that, we bought a house and after a year of living in that house, we had a child. I planned everything before, first the job with the specializations, I went to live abroad, my husband too, then, when we did everything we wanted, we went back home and then we thought, what now? Now, wecould have a child, that’s missing (I7).In fact, my schedule was for when I had established my career. So, I was already at university, it had been some time, I had already passed the exam, I already had a good workload, I already had some consultancies. I was well established both in the relationship and in my professional life, I understood that it was time. I always wanted to have a child at an early age, but my required that I was settled (I9).

Women engaged in professional advancement do not want to interrupt their careers to have children, however, when postponing motherhood occurs, the ideal conditions may never arrive (BARBOSA; ROCHA-COUTINHO, 2007). I13 makes this situation clear by saying: “I think a bit is to do with the career, because we always hope that it will reach the top and it never does. So, we think: a little more, a little more, maybe I'll do the doctorate and I ended up not doing it”

Even with the increased participation of men in household activities, women continue to have the greatest responsibility for raising children, spending many hours a week taking care of the house(IBGE, 2018; ROCHA-COUTINHO, 2004; LINDO et al., 2007; HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007; BRUSCHINI, 2007). This direction is not a woman’s choice, but it derives from a context influenced by the patriarchal norms of society that made it responsible for the care of the home and children(HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007; FRAGA; ROCHA-DE-OLIVEIRA, 2020), coherent with the perspective of a conciliatory model on the responsibilities related to productive and reproductive activities in gender relations (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007). Therefore, women have less time to dedicate to work outside the home, however many promotions in companies are associated with more working hours (SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008; HRYNIEWICZ; VIANNA, 2018).

When asked about household activities and the care of the children, most interviewees consider the husband a person who ‘helps’ and not a person with whom they share these tasks. Fathers are more present at night or on weekends, with greater involvement and responsibilities of mothers, as if they also didn’t have work outside the house to do. I4 reports: “my husband helps at night, which is when he is and on the weekend”. Two interviewees emphasize that the care of the home and the child are more under their responsibility, due to the parents’ occupations: “at night, it’s just me at first. On the weekend, there is the father, but household things are practically mine, now I do give the father a nudge sometimes, when it’s holidays time, he needs to help a little more” (I10). When it comes to the likely outsourcing of baby care (BELTRAME; DONELLI, 2012), especially with the return to work, the need for help is evidenced, showing the possibility of a model of delegation of domestic activities (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007). There is balance in leaving children in the care of grandparents, nannies or daycare. Mothers reveal that there has been a big change in their lives. They highlight the lack of time to take care of themselves, due to the priority given to babies; mention the lack of time to bond with their husbands; they point out the change in their circle of friendship, as they start to relate to people who also have children. I1’s report illustrates this context: “I have less time for myself, we are depending on the children. We always prioritize the children. We leave married life aside, but everything works out”.

I9 corroborates the same perception when saying: “there was a lot I imagined, but as stated by an author who I forgot who is: ‘I was an excellent mother, until I became one’. It is very easy to talk about the condition of the other, about education, about relationships, the expectation of reality is very different”. This is because there are changes in the routine of women who become mothers, as I3 explains: “and our routine is not the same. Before, you thought about us, now you must think about them first. And everything, everything changes. Our lunch hours, the times to do something at home, as much as you stay at home constantly, is a radical change in our lives”.

The results show that the interviewees had a clear desire to become mothers, but most decided to postpone motherhood until after 30 years of age. The delay came because of the desire for financial stability, the desire to complete studies, of career involvement. Another element identified that affects motherhood is the burden of raising children, since, in the perception of the interviewees, the greatest responsibility falls on women, signaling that society still maintains a model of reconciliation in relation to domestic activities (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007).

5.3 Career and Motherhood

of co-workers. According to I2, “they reacted in a good way. In no time, I felt bad because of the pregnancy whether they would react badly, quite the opposite”. All interviewees managed to be absent for routine consultations and examinations, but they always acted with common sense, looking to schedule these appointments at times that do not influence their work so much: “the company understands, but we also try to make an appointment after hours, or if not, make an appointment later in the day, then go out for an appointment, leave an hour before work ends, or, schedule for the start of work and arrive an hour late” (I4).

As for there being a distinction of attributions between women with or without children, most realize that, in their companies, there is no such distinction, not influencing whether the female worker is a mother or not. This happens because most companies do not have HRM policies and practices aimed at women (SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008), especially after motherhood, aiming at better family balance (HENNEKAM et al., 2019). The exception was found in I7’s testimony, which explains receiving support from the company, such as when being excused from accompanying students’ trips, a commitment she had before.

When asked about the existence, within the company, of policies in favor of pregnant women or mothers, all explain that there is nothing on it, however they are emphatic about the wish that maternity leave be granted until the baby is six months old: “I think a six-month leave to a university that has courses in the health area, well, I think they could embrace this idea” (I13).

The interviewees emphasize the government program ‘empresa cidadã’ (The citizen company), which allows companies to deduct from their income tax the two salaries paid in the extension of maternity leave: “this issue of the benefit that already exists, but that only the citizen companies that have it, I see that it is essential for maternity leave. The Ministry of Health recommends that you exclusively breastfeed until six months. How do you exclusively breastfeed if you’re only at home for four?” (I4). A bill is currently in Congress to grant maternity leave for six months to female employees under the labor regime.

The companies’ decision to develop policies to support women in this momentof their lives must also involve men. The elaboration of policies exclusively for women can lead to the false idea that women are being privileged. It is important to develop HRM policies and practices aimed at family balance (EAGLY; CARLI, 2007; HENNEKAM et al., 2019) and allow men the availability to exercise paternity, breaking stereotypes such as that childcare is only the mother’s responsibility. This includes reviewing paternity leave, which is currently eight days, and in the government's ‘Citizen Company’ program, is 20 days. Other practices that can enable family balance are time banking, telecommuting and home office (EAGLY; CARLI, 2007).

Currently, the expectation of reconciling roles is remarkable among professionals who experience motherhood, a situation that does not always occur smoothly (OLIVEIRA et al., 2011), especially on the return to work (SPINDOLA; SANTOS, 2003). I8 reports the apprehension of leaving the child in the care of others: “at work, you are there, but you are always a little apprehensive if something is going to happen, no matter how much we trust the school it is never like we are taking care of them”.

When women return to work, they cannot, at least initially, dedicate themselves equally to both spaces, reporting lack of time, attention, and tiredness. This context provokes anxiety, as I6 states: “at work, we end up more tired, especially when the baby is sick, so she doesn’t sleep much at night. Then, I arrive falling asleep, almost sleeping whilst sitting up”. I7 corroborates this perception, because of the lack of time to dedicate to work with the intensity as before: “at work, I am feeling it a lot because that time I used to have, that was left over for me to do the research, to read an article, to translate an article, to correct an article of a student that I needed for yesterday, this time I no longer have”. This line shows the gender blindness in academia, shown by Thun (2020), by exposing that universities demand long working hours for the professor to be outstanding in the career, implying the false idea of gender equality.

One of the interviewees (I4) emphasized the positive side of taking time off work, by valuing its absence: “for example, in the company, I had been asking for someone to help. We were able to handle the work, even saying we were overloaded, we were taking it all in. From the moment I left, they saw that they needed to have this person. And within a month that I was on the report, they hired the person. It was something that I saw that was positive because it values the absence, because while you are there providing all the needs, the problems don’t show up for management”.

Before motherhood, women are “totally focused on work” (I10). Women engaged in professional advancement do not interrupt their careers to have children, because they need to dedicate themselves almost entirely to their work activities(BARBOSA; ROCHA-COUTINHO, 2007). However, according to some reports, when they opt for motherhood, they leave their careers in the background. One of the barriers women face in career advancement is therefore, related to motherhood and housework (EAGLY; CARLI, 2007), since women with children receive fewer growth opportunities in companies (MCINTOSH et al., 2012).

Those interviewees who have already returned to work were unanimous in saying that one of the main challenges arising from motherhood is the lack of time available for them to perform work tasks as before. Beltrame and Donelli (2012) emphasize that, at the end of the maternity leave and the consequent re-entry into the labor market, women are not able to dedicate themselves to work as they used to, as I7 reports: “my career is very similar, but my time has changed. I work more in the early hours of the morning, I do more things by e-mail, the panels I participate in, I don’t go, it’s by Skype, before I used to go, I think I had more time, today, I have less time”. I9 corroborates this perception:

Career before motherhood we produce much more. I see both in the first pregnancy, as well as in the second, that the giving and delivery is much greater. You don’t have a schedule,you don’t have as much worry as you have now with children. After you have a baby, I see that for two years your career tends to stabilize, you can’t make such a big delivery, such dedication, I don’t even mean in terms of engagement because you are stillengaged, but in terms of dedication you are much more limited, either by schedules, by possibilities, so it limits you (I9).

The interviewees, however, continue to perceive work as a source of pleasure and social recognition (AMARAL, 2012): “it is a personal satisfaction, but it is allied to the professional. I’m very satisfied, very happy” (I9). It is noteworthy, however, that not all respondents demonstrated having, after motherhood, the same satisfaction resulting from work. Some declared themselves very dissatisfied, such as I15: “I'm looking forward to gaining my professional satisfaction after them because now I'm still on standby because the baby is still very young”.I10 exposes her dissatisfaction: “I felt I lost a bit of rhythm, but overall, it hasn’t changed. Of course, before I got pregnant, my goal that I had there at the beginning of a career plan, I gave up on it”. I7 also shows her difficulty in reconciling career and motherhood: “today I am not satisfied with my career. It bothers me that I don't have time to do what I would like to do, which is what I want to do”.

Not having time to carry out work tasks is one of the factors that most bother women in relation to their career after motherhood, showing that the conciliatory model of the gender division of labor (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007) does not allow equality between women and men in the labor market. The interviewees show the need and desire to stay with their children, but they also want to continue to dedicate themselves to their work. However, one cannot think of personal and professional life separately, there must be consonance and try to reconcile expectations and challenges of the two dimensions.

In this context, contemporary career concepts end up making more sense for women who are mothers than the traditional concept. Barriers, difficulties, lack of time and lack of possibilities for ascension, in an environment marked by gender inequality, lead women to redefine their conception of career to find satisfaction in what they do. Motherhood is both an obstacle and a possibility of changing perspectives in relation to the professional career.

6 Final Considerations

Women face several barriers and obstacles to continuing their careers after motherhood, it is important to recognize the challenges faced by women in their professional development. This study analyzed the perception of career after motherhood, of women who work in private companies in a city in the northern region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The results show that most interviewees perceive career as organizational ascent, however, when they approach their own trajectory, they report a career without borders and protean (HALL, 2002; LACOMBE; CHU, 2005).

About motherhood, we observed aspects that appear, simultaneously, as pleasurable and challenging, possible creators of the dichotomy between feelings and responsibilities. The interviews in this study, without exception, speak of the radical change in their lives as they become mothers. Although they report extreme tiredness with the baby's arrival - because they are the main caregivers for the baby (ROCHA-COUTINHO, 2004; LINDO et al., 2007; HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007; BRUSCHINI, 2007; IBGE, 2018) –, most feel more complete and more emotionally fulfilled.

When analyzing career and motherhood, it appears that the role of women as professionals and mothers generates conflicts, not only because of concerns about the baby in their absence, but also because of the excess of activities accumulated in the exercise of these two functions (BELTRAME; DONELLI, 2012; SPINDOLA; SANTOS, 2003). The dilemma between career and maternity becomes common, as reconciling both roles proved to be challenging for those who returned to the labor market after maternity leave (OLIVEIRA et al., 2011). Many interviewees reported lack of time as one of the biggest obstacles of motherhood in relation to career. They reveal that, after motherhood, taking work home, as they did before; staying in the organization beyond the stipulated time; showing up at the company on unforeseen days generate frustration and anxieties.

Despite all the achievements made by women, there is still a lot to achieve. The organizations do not have adequate policies for this new stage in the life of the woman who wants to be a mother, making her personal and professional life more difficult(SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008). Even educational institutions, which offer courses such as nursing and psychology, which recognize the importance of the mother’s presence with the baby up to six months, do not provide extended leave. The interviewees were unanimous in saying that they would like maternity leave to be granted until the baby is six months old, even those who expressed the desire to return to work.

The present study showed that contemporary career prospects do not yet address the needs of women (SULLIVAN; MAINIERO, 2008), implying gender inequality in the labor market. Even protean, borderless and self-managed careers, which allow adjustments according to the person’s demand, still need to be deepened to meet the needs of women, as they still carry the bias of male needs, without deepening gender relations.

The main empirical contribution of this study is the recognition of the need to create more effective public and organizational policies, as women, when becoming mothers, play an important role in society, so companies should be facilitators of this process, providing better engagement between career and motherhood. Policies that allow for family balance become urgent in the business environment, to reduce women’s domestic workload and, consequently, allow them to be more present in organizations after maternity. This context would enact a model of complementarity in the gender division of labor (HIRATA; KERGOAT, 2007), enabling women to have more hours available to dedicate themselves to their professional careers.

For future studies, we suggest the analysis of organizational policies and practices aimed at gender equality, considering, mainly, motherhood and family balance. Analyze women’s careers, considering social markers such as color and ethnicity, as well as financial income, is an important issue to be addressed for society to mature its perception of the gender division of labor.

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