What does this research mean for the field?

Despite state-backed pronatalist reforms in China, traditional HRD frameworks, cultural expectations, and policy gaps collectively perpetuate a motherhood penalty that results in hiring discrimination, stalled promotions, and reintegration challenges for women. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.SYNTHESIS. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how maternity leave policies and organizational structures intersect with women's career advancement through feminist human resource development and gendered organization frameworks.

August 27, 2026New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development

Navigating Motherhood and Career in China: A Feminist HRD Perspective on Maternity Leave and Workplace Realities

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Authors

YXYan XueUniversity of Minnesota MMMingyu MaTB Alliance

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Implication

Integrative literature review uncovers career penalties and bias among working mothers, highlighting the need for gender-inclusive human resource frameworks.

Key Points

To examine how maternity leave policies and organizational structures intersect with women's career advancement through feminist human resource development and gendered organization frameworks.
Conducted an integrative literature review synthesizing peer-reviewed English- and Chinese-language academic publications.
Evaluated workplace dynamics, cultural expectations, and policy implementations using Feminist Human Resource Development (FHRD) and Gendered Organization Theory (GOT) lenses.
Identified persistent workplace challenges for mothers, including discriminatory hiring practices, delayed promotions, and difficult post-leave reintegration.
Demonstrated that traditional organizational systems sustain the motherhood penalty by prioritizing uninterrupted, male-normative career trajectories.

Cite This Study

Xue et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8fe9b910c91c1e92621957 https://doi.org/10.1177/19394225261479789

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Implication

Integrative literature review uncovers career penalties and bias among working mothers, highlighting the need for gender-inclusive human resource frameworks.

Navigating Motherhood and Career in China: A Feminist HRD Perspective on Maternity Leave and Workplace Realities

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Navigating Motherhood and Career in China: A Feminist HRD Perspective on Maternity Leave and Workplace Realities

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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Also Consider