Others matter when mothers return: An investigation of relational movement and its role in post-maternity leave reentry transitions
研究了产后重返职场的母亲与同事关系的变化（关系丰富或疏离），以及这些变化如何影响她们的自我效能感和自我同情，对关注女性职业发展的学者和管理者有用。
Post-maternity leave reentry, the period when mothers return to work following a maternity leave, is a profound transition in a woman's life that often sets the foundation for her work and career progression. While scholars have looked at the intraindividual aspects of this transition, the experience of reentry extends beyond the returning mother. This transition occurs in a dynamic relational and organizational system that impacts a returning mother's adjustment to work. In this study, we bring relational dynamics to the forefront of this transition as we examine how and why returning mothers' work-based relationships shift during reentry and the implications this has for returning mothers' readjustment. Drawing on qualitative data from academic mothers' retrospective accounts of their reentry transitions, our findings reveal that returning mothers experience relational movement, defined as perceived shifts in one's relational experiences. Our findings provide evidence of how relational movement plays a role in facilitating returning mothers' well-being as they readjust to work. Our theorizing of how and why relational movement occurs during reentry transitions brings to focus the complex, changing nature of women's relationships with colleagues during this time, as well as implications for women's broader workplace and career experiences. • The transition of post-maternity leave reentry entails crucial relational changes • Two patterns of relational movement occur during this transition: relational enrichment and relational detachment • Relational movement associates with returning mothers’ feelings of self-efficacy and self-compassion upon reentry