Challenging the Femininity Stigma of Flexible Work: Gender and Effort in Part-Time Employment

Abstract Flexible work arrangements are stigmatized as feminine, and employees who use them – particularly women – experience workplace bias. This paper tests the assumption that non-traditional work arrangements signal reduced effort among women, compared with men. Drawing on Social Role Theory, Self-Determination Theory, and flexibility stigma research, I argue that because women face comparatively less breadwinner pressure than men, women (compared with men) construe employment through a less instrumental lens, predicting stronger work effort, especially in part-time roles. Two representative samples support this pattern. Study 1, using panel data consisting of U.S. adults finds that employment status interacts with gender to predict work effort, such that men exhibit lower work effort in part-time (vs. full-time) roles, while women's work effort remains high across both. Study 2, using a nationally representative sample spanning 20 countries, demonstrates that women's weaker instrumental orientation toward work helps partially explain their stronger work effort in part-time roles. Implications for performance management and flexible work policies are discussed.