A Case Reflection on the Cross-Organizational Promotion Process of Professional Women in the Motherhood Penalty: From the Perspective of Actors and Their Rationality

This paper examines the cross-organizational promotion process of professional women facing the motherhood penalty through the case analysis of Xiao Fang, a rural female teacher. Despite the dual pressures of family and career, Xiao Fang successfully overcame workplace gender bias and the motherhood penalty by establishing strong workplace networks and leveraging "discretionary space" for cross-organizational career development. From the perspective of actors and their rationality, the study analyzes how Xiao Fang used discourse and action to deal with conflicts with superiors and exclusion by colleagues, and how she achieved promotion within a professional institution that is legally compliant but implicitly punitive to motherhood. The findings provide insights into the challenges and coping strategies of professional women in the dilemma of motherhood.