Gender, Religion, and Employment: How LDS Working Women Navigate Familial Conflict Concerning Their Paid Work

ABSTRACT Employment practices in America demonstrate one area in which gender theory provides a framework for understanding women’s economic behaviors and their families’ responses to their employment status. Religion has often functioned as a determinant of gender roles and employment practices. The present study explored the intersection of gender, religion, and female employment by focusing on a population with high levels of religiosity, women who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), also known as Mormons. While highly educated, LDS women are less likely to work due to religiously prescribed gender roles. This study specifically examined how LDS women navigate familial conflict concerning their paid work. An online survey solicited detailed responses from 215 LDS women. The author used a grounded theory methodology to analyze the data and develop a model for understanding how LDS women and their families navigate conflict concerning a woman’s paid work. The resulting theory describes the influence of religion on decision-making processes and management of conflict regarding women’s paid work. Most importantly, the study reveals the powerful role of religion in determining beliefs about gender roles and its influence on women’s fight for equality within faith communities and within families.