Overwork and the Persistence of Gender Segregation in Occupations

an article by Youngjoo Cha (Indiana University, USA) published in Gender & Society Volume 27 Number 2 (April 2013)

Abstract

This study investigates whether the increasingly common trend of working long hours (“overwork”) perpetuates gender segregation in occupations.

While overwork is an expected norm in many male-dominated occupations, women, especially mothers, are structurally less able to meet this expectation because their time is subject to family demands more than is men’s time.

This study investigates whether the conflicting time demands of work and family increase attrition rates of mothers in male-dominated occupations, thereby reinforcing occupational segregation.

Using longitudinal data drawn from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, I show that mothers are more likely to leave male-dominated occupations when they work 50 hours or more per week, but the same effect is not found for men or childless women.

Results also show that overworking mothers are more likely to exit the labor force entirely, and this pattern is specific to male-dominated occupations. These findings demonstrate that the norm of overwork in male-dominated workplaces and the gender beliefs operating in the family combine to reinforce gender segregation of the labor market.

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The Plight of the Alpha Female

an article by Kay S. Hymowitz, a contributing editor of City Journal, the William E. Simon Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and the author of Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys published in CITY Journal Volume 22 Number 4 (Autumn 2012)

Women remain scarce in the most élite positions.
And it’s by choice.


BETTMANN/CORBIS/AP IMAGES
For women, work and family commitments have long been in tension.

Full article (HTML)
http://www.city-journal.org/2012/22_4_alpha-female.html

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Should Women Care Less? Intrinsic Motivation and Gender Inequality

an article by Nancy Folbre (University of Massachusetts Amherst) published in British Journal of Industrial Relations Volume 50 Issue 4 (December 2012)

Abstract

Gendered values, norms and preferences shape the intrinsic motivation to provide care for others.

This article situates an analysis of this motivation within the broader literature on gender inequality, explaining why it has costly consequences for women in both the home and the labour market, even as it provides considerable personal satisfaction and social benefit.

Further movement towards gender equality may depend on the success of political and cultural efforts to ‘de-gender’ normative obligations to care.

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Working from home: do formal or informal telework arrangements provide better work–family outcomes?

an article by Carolyn Troup (Griffith University, Queensland, Australia) and Judy Rose (University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Australia) published in Community, Work & Family Volume 15 Issue 4 (November 2012)

Abstract

Telework arrangements include a suite of options that workplaces provide to meet the growing demand for greater work flexibility and as a strategy to promote work-family balance.

However, there has been minimal research comparing formal versus informal telework arrangements, and how they might support employees to manage the competing demands of work and family life.

In this paper, we examine how formal and informal telework arrangements impact on public sector employees’ job satisfaction, time spent on childcare, and satisfaction with the distribution of childcare tasks. We use survey data from public service employees who had access to telework entitlements in Queensland, Australia (n=856).

Our analyses showed that formal and informal telework arrangements provide different outcomes to employed women and men with children, particularly in the areas of job satisfaction and satisfaction with the distribution of childcare tasks. These distinctions suggest that it is important for workplaces to consider how the type of telework arrangement offered can affect how successfully and equitably work-family outcomes are achieved.

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The effect of work arrangements on perception of work-family balance

an article by Karen A. Duncan and Rachael N. Pettigrew (University of Manitoba, Canada) published in Community, Work & Family Volume 15 Issue 4 (November 2012)

Abstract

This research used a nationally representative sample of women and men in dual-earner families with children from the 1998 and 2005 time-use cycles of Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey.

The work extends knowledge on the effect of the use of three work arrangements: flexible schedules, shift work and self-employment, on respondents’ reported satisfaction with their work-family balance.

Results of regression analysis indicated that work arrangements strongly affected work-family balance and did so differently for women and men. For women, some control over the work schedule significantly improved the perception of balance. For men, both self-employment and shift work were negatively related to reported work-family balance.

The results support a flexible approach by policy-makers and employers in formulating workplace policies that assist employees in achieving satisfaction with the balance between their family and work responsibilities. 

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Schedule flexibility in hourly jobs: unanticipated consequences and promising directions

Susan J. Lambert and Julia R. Henly (University of Chicago, USA) and Anna Haley-Lock (University of Wisconsin, USA) published in Community, Work & Family Volume 15 Issue 3 (2012)

Abstract

This article considers the challenge of extending conventional models of flexibility to hourly jobs that are often structured quite differently than the salaried, professional positions for which flexibility options were originally designed.

We argue that the assumptions of job rigidity and overwork motivating existing flexibility options may not be broadly applicable across jobs in the US labor market.

We focus specifically on two types of flexibility: (1) working reduced hours and (2) varying work timing.

We first review central aspects of the US business and policy contexts that inspire our concerns, and then draw on original analyses from US census data and several examples from our comparative case-study research to explain how conventional flexibility options do not always map well onto hourly jobs, and in certain instances may disadvantage workers by undermining their ability to earn an adequate living.

We conclude with a discussion of alternative approaches to implementing flexibility in hourly jobs when hours are scarce and fluctuating rather than long and rigid.

Hazel’s comment:
The authors were looking specifically at the US labour market but it would seem to me that the conclusions would translate well to the UK labour market.
Extending flexibility is not always a good idea.

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When work keeps us apart: a thematic analysis of the experience of business travellers

an article by Helen Nicholas (HCNPsychology, Frome, Somerset) and Almuth McDowall (School of Psychology, University of Surrey), Community, Work & Family Volume 15 Issue 3 (2012)

Abstract

Whilst business travel is deemed important for organisational success and economic outcomes, little is known about the actual process of business travelling from the perspective of individuals who undertake such travel on a regular basis.

Thus the current qualitative study examined how business travellers (three women and eight men) attempt to find a balance between work and family, by focusing on how time together and time apart are experienced.

The results can be interpreted and framed within work/family border theory in that business travellers’ borders are less defined and less permeable, thus requiring them to border-cross more frequently. This necessitates a process of negotiation with key border-keepers (their spouse/partner).

Business travellers also undertake compensatory behaviours to make up their time away from family. In order to find a work/family balance, they go through a process of adapting, negotiating and tailoring their lives around their work commitments to alleviate work–life conflict.

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Time for work, commuting, and parenting? Commuting parents' involvement with their children

an article by Jennifer M. StGeorge and Richard J. Fletcher (University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia) published in Community, Work & Family Volume 15 Issue 3 (2012 )

Abstract

For most Australian parents, there is continuing tension between work and family commitments. This tension is exacerbated by the need not only to have sufficient time available to children in the family but also for that time to be characterised by nurturance and guidance.

This article reports on a qualitative study that explored how 21 part-time or full-time working parents, who also commute 10–15 hours a week to work, manage both the quantity and quality of their time with their young children (0–5 years).

The study revealed the difficult conditions of commuting and the importance of social support to parents’ well-being, as well as a significant pattern of parent-child interaction which we have described as ‘attentive parenting’.

Parents felt these activities contributed to the parent–child bond and their children’s well-being in spite of an acknowledged lack of interactive time.

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‘You have to choose your childcare to fit your work’: Childcare decision-making among low-income working families

an article by Heather Sandstrom and Ajay Chaudry (Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population, Urban Institute, Washington, DC) Journal of Children and Poverty Volume 18 Issue 2 (2012)

Abstract

Regardless of their economic background, most working parents face the task of arranging childcare at some point. The decision-making process they experience is often complex, and this complexity is intensified for particular groups of families with limited financial and social resources.

In this paper, we present findings from a three-year qualitative study of the childcare choices of low-income working families, many of whom were immigrants, had limited English proficiency, were parents of children with special needs, or represented some combination of these factors.

The study explored families’ current care arrangements, their reasons for selecting a particular form of childcare, and the characteristics of their ideal arrangements. Data were coded to identify themes in parental preferences, decision factors, and the barriers families faced in accessing their preferred care arrangements.

Most significantly, the parents studied described their preferences for an environment where their children could learn and be in the presence of caring and trustworthy caregivers. About a third of the families said they preferred relatives as caregivers, and selected relatives to provide childcare. Other parents selected care according to cost, location, and availability of the provider; they described the challenges of locating affordable, high-quality care that met their nonstandard schedules.

These findings have important implications for childcare policy.

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Daily management of work and family goals in employed parents

an article by Christiane A. Hoppmann (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and Petra L. Klumb (University of Fribourg, Switzerland) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 81 Issue 2 (October 2012)

Abstract

This study uses one-week time-sampling information from 104 employed parents with pre-school children to examine the association between daily workloads, control strategies, and goal progress.

In addition, it examines relationships between work- and family-goal progress and important stress indices such as positive/negative affect and cortisol levels.

Multilevel models indicate that family-specific control strategies fostered daily family-goal progress whereas work-specific control strategies were unrelated to daily work-goal progress.

Furthermore, employed parents who successfully pursued their work and family goals as part of their daily life routines reported concurrent higher positive and lower negative affect.

Only family-goal progress was associated with reduced cortisol secretion whereas work-goal progress was not.

Our findings illustrate the usefulness of examining the dynamic interplay between daily workloads, control strategies, goal progress, and stress in the daily lives of employed parents and suggest that the underlying mechanisms may be domain-specific.

Highlights

► We examine control strategies, daily goal pursuits, and health in employed parents.
► Control strategies foster daily family-goal pursuits but not work-goal pursuits.
► Successfully pursuing work- and family-goals is associated with better affect quality.
► Family-goal pursuits are also associated with reduced cortisol whereas work-goal pursuits are not.
► Findings illustrate the domain-specificity of control- goal pursuit-health links.

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Conceptualizing Work, Family and Community: A Socio-Ecological Systems Model, Taking Account of Power, Time, Space and Life Stage

an article by Barbara Pocock, Philippa Williams and Natalie Skinner (Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia) published in British Journal of Industrial Relations Volume 50 Issue 3 (September 2012)

Abstract

A large body of empirical research now exists about ‘work and family’, much of it in agreement on critical issues.

However, it is under-conceptualized, it over-researches professional and managerial workers and it under-attends the larger terrain of work, family and community.

This contribution argues the case for a stronger analytical framework around work, family and community and the ways in which they intersect, drawing on concepts commonly used in the field of employment relations.

The article utilizes a body of empirical research about work, family and community in Australia to develop Voydanoff’s ecological systems model of work, home and community, arguing that it is vital to unpack the ‘black box’ of ‘work’ in a multi-layered way, to give appropriate weight to various sources of power, and to avoid an individualistic approach to the reconciliation of work, home and community life by locating analysis in a larger social and political context.

The contribution proposes a ‘socio-ecological systems’ model of work, home and community that delineates the four issues of power, time, space and life stage.

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The fourth work-life balance employee survey

A research study by Sarah Tipping, Jenny Chanfreau, Jane Perry and Clare Tait (NATCEN) published by BIS (Department for Business Innovation & Skills) in its Employment Relations Research Series

About the study

The Work-Life Balance Study (WLBS) is a major study conducted on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

First carried out in 2000, the 2011 study is the fourth in the series of these surveys that provide facts and figures about people's experience of employment – in particular the use and awareness of work-life balance practices.

We found:

• Employees, on the whole, were aware of their right to work flexibly.
• This was particularly true of parents and parents of young children.
• Those working flexibly were more likely to work longer hours.

Read further findings

Read the full report

Potential policy impact

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will use the findings of the research to track changes in employment practices and in attitudes over time, and to assess the impact of new legislation and employers’ flexible working practices on different groups of the population.

Method

Interviews for this study are conducted by telephone and last around 20 minutes. The telephone numbers have been obtained through a method called random digit dialling where telephone numbers are randomly selected from all possible telephone numbers in Great Britain. Once a number has been selected we cannot select another one instead.

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What's Preventing Women From Having a Career and Family?

via Big Think by Orion Jones
Article written by guest writer Rin Mitchell

Women all over the world are faced with the decision on whether to pursue a career or have a family. It is believed that it is the societal and economical issues that make it hard for women to do both at the same time – and not because women can’t handle it.

Read More

Hazel’s comment: 
And the answer is? 
I actually don’t know what the answer is, I do, however, know that trying to shoehorn girls into traditionally male-dominated areas does not work?
Provide girls with the opportunity to be mechanics, engineers and scientists etc of course just as you present boys with the opportunity to be care workers and primary school teachers.
The older I get the more I realise that nature is a powerful force over nurture.

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Trait mindfulness and work–family balance among working parents: The mediating effects of vitality and sleep quality

an article by Tammy D. Allen and Kaitlin M. Kiburz (The University of South Florida, Department of Psychology, USA) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 80 Issue 2 (April 2012)

Abstract

The present study investigates the relationship between trait mindfulness and work–family balance among a sample of working parents.

Sleep quality and vitality are tested as mediators of this relationship.

Results indicate that those with greater mindfulness report greater work–family balance, better sleep quality, and greater vitality. As expected, the relationship between mindfulness and work–family balance was mediated by sleep quality and vitality. Results support the usefulness of further examination of the benefits of mindfulness in the work–family context.

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Relationship between work interference with family and parent-child interactive behavior: Can guilt help?

an article by Eunae Cho and Tammy D. Allen (University of South Florida, USA) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 80 Issue 2 (April 2012)

Abstract

Despite its theoretical and practical importance, behavioural consequences of work–family conflict that reside in the family domain rarely have been examined. Based on two studies, the current research investigated the relationship of work-interference-with-family (WIF) with parent-child interactive behavior (i.e., educational, recreational, and passive activities) using survey data from employed parents.

Furthermore, the moderating role of trait guilt on the focal relationships was examined.

Results were generally consistent across the two studies and supported the hypotheses: both time- and strain-based WIF were negatively associated with educational and recreational activities; trait guilt moderated these relationships such that the relationships were weaker for parents higher on trait guilt than for those lower on trait guilt.

By examining a family domain behavioral outcome of WIF and the constructive rather than dysfunctional role of guilt, the current research makes an important and novel contribution to the literature.

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The family-relatedness of work decisions: …

A framework and agenda for theory and research

 an article by Jeffrey H. Greenhaus (Drexel University, USA) and Gary N. Powell (University of Connecticut, USA) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 80 Issue 2 (April 2012)

Abstract

Due to global trends such as the increased labour force participation of women, the growing presence of dual-earner couples and single parents in the labour force, and changing values regarding the importance of life balance, individuals’ work decisions are being increasingly influenced by family considerations. However, the “family-relatedness” of work decisions, or the extent to which family situations are considered in these decisions, has not been systematically examined.

We propose a framework to examine the family-relatedness of work decisions and a broad agenda for future theory and research to test and extend the framework.

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Work-Family Role Blurring and Work-Family Conflict: The Moderating Influence of Job Resources and Job Demands

Paul Glavin and Scott Schieman (University of Toronto, Ontario) published in Work and Occupations (February 2012)

Abstract

Using border theory and the job demands resources model, we examine the work antecedents of work-family role blurring and its consequences for work-to-family conflict in a national sample of U.S. workers. Job predictors of role blurring include jobs with more authority, excessive work pressures, schedule control, and decision-making latitude. Role blurring is associated with higher levels of work-to-family conflict, though the strength of this association is contingent on workers’ access and exposure to certain job resources and job demands. Specifically, the association is stronger among workers reporting excessive pressures, and weaker among those with decision-making latitude and some schedule control.

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Parental Leave and Mothers’ Careers: The Relative Importance of Job Protection and Cash Benefits

a University of Zurich Working Paper (no 42) by Rafael Lalive (University of Lausanne and CEPR), Analía Schlosser (Tel Aviv University), Andreas Steinhauer (University of Zurich) and Josef Zweimüller (University of Zurich and CEPR) published October 2011

Abstract

Parental leave regulations in most OECD countries have two key policy instruments: job protection and cash benefits. This paper studies how mothers’ return to work behavior and labour market outcomes are affected by alternative mixes of these key policy parameters. Exploiting a series of major parental leave policy changes in Austria, we find that longer cash benefits lead to a significant delay in return to work and that the magnitude of this effect depends on the relative length of job protection and cash benefits. However, despite their impact on time on leave, we do not find a significant effect on mothers’ labor market outcomes in the medium run, neither of benefit duration nor of job-protection duration. To understand the relative importance (and interaction) of the two policy instruments in shaping mothers’ return to work behaviour, we set up a non-stationary job search model in which cash benefits and job protection determine decisions of when to return to work and whether or not to return to the pre-birth employer. Despite its lean structure, the model does surprisingly well in matching empirically observed return to work profiles. The simulation of alternative counterfactual regimes shows that a policy that combines both job protection and benefits payments succeeds to induce mothers to spend some time with the child after birth without jeopardizing their medium run labor market attachment.
Full text (PDF 51pp)

Hazel’s comment:
That link direct in to the PDF took some finding!!

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Designing effective interventions for working parents:

a web-based survey of parents in the UK workforce

 an article by Matthew R. Sanders, Divna M. Haslam and Helen M. Stallman (University of Queensland, Brisbane), Rachel Calam (University of Manchester) and Clare Southwell (Community, London) published in Journal of Children's Services Volume 6 Number 3 (2011)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine working parents’ experiences and attitudes and to determine if these differ according to gender. Three areas were investigated:

• level of reported difficulties in parenting and balancing work and family; 
• parental perceptions about the workplace as a context for the delivery of parenting support; and
• employee preferences for intervention features.

Design/methodology/approach
In total, 721 employed parents in the UK were recruited via their organisation and completed a web-based survey.
Findings
A total of 41 percent of parents reported their children had significant behaviour problems and 85 percent stated that worksite parenting interventions should be made available. A clear preference was found for evidence-based interventions delivered by trained practitioners. The vast majority of men (86 percent) and women (90 percent) reported they would attend a workplace parenting intervention if one were available.
Originality/value
The need to tailor programmes to the needs of parents is increasingly accepted. This paper analyses the potential for tailoring an evidence-based programme for parents in the workplace. It suggests that the provision of workplace parenting programmes may benefit the organisation and the individual and increase parental access to services.

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Opting In Between …

Strategies Used by Professional Women With Children to Balance Work and Family

an article by Elisa J Grant-Vallone (California State University San Marcos) and Ellen A Ensher (Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 38 Number 4 (August 2011)

Abstract

Professional women with children are inundated with conflicting messages about how to manage their careers and personal lives and whether they should “opt in” or “opt out” of the workforce. Using in-depth interviews with 23 professional women, this study focused on the career choices that women make after having children. The authors found that many mothers neither opt in nor opt out but successfully function in between these two choices, or opt “in between”, by working flexible hours, by working part-time, and/or by being involved with home-based entrepreneurial endeavours. Using the boundaryless career typology of knowing why, knowing how, and knowing whom, the authors summarise the key strategies that mothers use to opt in between. The interviewees were clear about why they were working, managed their careers by finding the right organisational fit, did not focus on guilt or perfectionism, and maintained excellent networks of friends, bosses, colleagues, and day care providers

Hazel’s comment:
The researchers must have found 23 exceptional women!

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