Do women have to choose between family and career?

Abstract: In this study we aim at analyzing how parenthood affects the performance of a CEO. We analyze the question from a gender perspective. Due to social structures in our society, we postulate that combining family with career is a greater problem for women than for men. Our study is, as far as we know, the first one in Sweden to analyze the question from a financial perspective, which we find relevant in order to challenge the social structures and the perception that women have to choose between career and family. By using OLS-regressions we find that parenthood has a small positive effect on performance. Our findings are consistent with our hypothesis that parenthood is not negatively correlated with performance and should therefore not be an obstacle for any individual striving for CEO a position, regardless of gender.