An exploratory study was made of 19 women who were gainfully employed while parenting their first infants who were enrolled in two day care centers providing excellent care. Emphasis was placed on understanding variations in mothers' perceptions of choices and conflicts associated with the dual role of worker and parent. Interview questions elicited information from mothers concerning considerations, choices, conflicts, and feelings associated with the dual role. Raters categorized mothers' responses according to stages of moral development proposed by Gilligan (1982). Analysis addressed commonalities and differences among the respondents. Findings suggested that participants could be grouped according to the orientations suggested by Gilligan's paradigm of moral development. Similarities seemed to exist in the reports of conflicts related to the dual role provided by women at different developmental stages. They consistently placed emphasis on the need for high quality day care. Differences were found in mothers' preferences for employment arrangements. The extent to which respondents felt that they had choices about their employment arrangements appeared to be related to feelings of conflict in their dual roles. (RH)