ily” path she proposed, and controversy over the
concept of a mommy track swept across the United
States. One perspective viewed the mommy track as
creating an ideal situation, allowing women employ-
ment in rewarding professions while at the same
time providing them with time for family. The
mommy track in this view was an opportunity, per-
mitting women choice in employment. Others be-
lieved that the very concept of a mommy track de-
meaned women’s work, demonstrated a throwback
to attitudes of the 1950’s, and served as another
term for sex discrimination in the workplace. Some
feminists, in particular, sharply criticized the mommy
track, claiming it reinforced the stereotype of men as
primary familial breadwinners and perpetuated the
idea that women could not have both career and
family.Schwartz’s Perspective The criticism her article
received surprised Schwartz, and perhaps rightly so.
As the founder and president of Catalyst, a firm de-
signed to further career options for women, Schwartz
had devoted her life to advocating for women in
the corporate world. Schwartz dismissed the term
“mommy track” as useless and claimed her work was
intended to focus on ways corporations could retain
women employees and remove barriers to their pro-
ductivity. She supported flexibility in the workforce
and responsiveness to family demands to maximize
women’s potential. She believed that identifying
women as “career primary” and “career and family”
would allow corporations to protect their invest-
ments in outstanding women employees.Impact The popular media debate over the idea of
a mommy track represented one episode in a gen-
eral cultural discussion during the 1980’s over the
proper roles of women, both in the workforce and
in society at large. The debate demonstrated that
women in the 1980’s had become firmly entrenched
in the workforce: The question was no longer
whether to incorporate them into the public sphere,
but how to do so most effectively, both from the
standpoint of employers and from the standpoint of
women employees. However, the debate also dem-
onstrated the extent to which this question raised is-
sues that were still extremely sensitive in American
society, relating to the cultural expectations that all
women become mothers, that all mothers be pri-
mary caregivers, and that career and motherhood—
while combinable—were necessarily in competition
with each other in American women’s lives. These
expectations remained sources of great contention
throughout the decade.Further Reading
Castro, Janice. “Rolling Along the Mommy Track.”
Time133, no. 13 (March, 1989): 72. Addresses re-
actions to the idea of mothers choosing between
career and family through a two-tiered workforce
identifying women as mothers or achievers.
Ehrlich, E. “Is the Mommy Track a Blessing or Be-
trayal?”Business Week, no. 3105 (1989): 98-99. Pro-
vides reaction to an initialBusiness Weekarticle
proposing two career paths for women. OffersThe Eighties in America Mommy track 661
Felice N. Schwartz in January, 1990. Schwartz became associated
with the term “mommy track,” although she never used it in her ar-
ticle advocating greater flexibility for female professionals.(AP/
Wide World Photos)