Abstract
We investigated the relationship between knowledge about the demonstrated benefits of breastfeeding and individual support for breastfeeding accommodation in the workplace. We tested our hypotheses by asking participants to respond to vignettes that described the factors a Director of Human Resources had to consider in responding to the needs of a breastfeeding employee. We found that participants had a low level of knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding for child, mother, and organization. Participants with children reported stronger support for accommodation, and the level of knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding mediated this effect. The results showed that participants in executive level positions, and who had no children, were the least supportive of accommodation. There were no occupational differences in responses to the support measure.
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Acknowledgement
This research was supported in part by grants from the Middlesex-London Breastfeeding Committee of the Middlesex-London Health Unit in London, Ontario, and from the Richard Ivey School of Business MBA 1996 Faculty Fellowship, awarded to the first author.
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Seijts, G.H., Yip, J. The Effect of Knowledge Accumulation on Support for Workplace Accommodation. J Bus Psychol 22, 311–321 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-008-9071-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-008-9071-3