Returning to Work After Maternity Leave: A Cross‐National Study on Employer Support Throughout the Transition

ABSTRACT Drawing on Gendered Opportunity Structures Theory (Ely and Meyerson), this cross‐national qualitative study examines how formal policies, informal practices, and symbolic cultural narratives jointly configure employer support across three phases of the maternity transition—before leave, during leave, and after leave—in Brazil and the United States. Based on 23 in‐depth interviews with formally employed mothers (12 Brazilian and 11 American), analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis, our findings reveal that structural disadvantage compounds across the transition: the negotiation of ambiguity before leave, the paradox of digital connectivity or organizational silence during leave, and the test of structural flexibility upon return are not isolated moments but interconnected phases of an accumulating opportunity structure. The comparison between national contexts demonstrates that stronger formal protections do not guarantee supportive reintegration—Brazil's 120‐day paid mandate can paradoxically intensify professional stigmatization, whereas the absence of US federal policy transforms basic support into an advantage of progressive organizational cultures. In both contexts, the burden of navigating the transition falls disproportionately on mothers themselves, with everyday micro‐moves and small wins functioning as the primary mechanisms through which the gendered status quo is either reproduced or disrupted.