When men lean out: Subtle reminders of child-raising intentions and men and women's career interests

- Expecting to be primary caretakers of future children, women seek flexible careers.
- Flexible careers are often also low-paying and low-status.
- We tested if child-raising intentions cause women to seek flexible careers.
- Instead, child-raising intentions increased men's interest in flexible careers.
- Men encouraged to “lean out” may take on fewer work and more family duties.

Female-dominated occupations tend to be lower paying, but also less time-consuming and more flexible than male-dominated occupations. Women may pursue occupations with short, flexible workweeks because they expect to be primary caretakers of future children. In a pre-registered study we investigated how subtle reminders of child-raising intentions shape college students' occupational interests. We hypothesized that priming women with child-raising intentions reminds them of future caregiving responsibilities and decreases their interest in high-hour, low-flexibility (HH/LF) occupations. However, women reported less interest than men in HH/LF careers regardless of prime (intentions to raise kids versus have pets). Reminding men of child-raising intentions decreased their interest in family-unfriendly HH/LF occupations, particularly among men low in hostile sexism. The results suggest that, whereas women may link child-raising intentions to occupational pursuits regardless of whether such intentions are made salient, reminders of child-raising intentions raise the awareness of non-sexist men of their future family responsibilities.