When Traditional Gender Roles Clash With Contemporary Expectations: A Call To Redefine Success in the Modern World

2021 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-66
Author(s):  
Jennifer Zorotovich ◽  
Meghan Dove ◽  
Beth Myers
Keyword(s):  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Advanced Degrees ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Traditional Gender Roles ◽  
Contemporary Work ◽  
Definition Of

What it means to be successful in many careers today is best captured by Slaughter (2012): <blockquote>The American definition of a successful professional is someone who can climb the ladder the furthest in the shortest time.... It is a definition well suited to the mid-20th century, an era when people had kids in their 20s, stayed in one job, retired at 67, and were dead, on average, by age 71. (p. 17)</blockquote> Contemporary patterns of work and family life look markedly different with people commonly postponing marriage and parenthood in favor of postsecondary education and career preparedness. American homes are increasingly dependent on women's incomes (Glynn, 2016) and women today are becoming mothers at a higher rate than they were 10 years ago, which is especially true for women with advanced degrees (Geiger et al., 2019). This then creates a unique intersection between work and family life that is particularly complex for working mothers. For instance, both mothers and fathers today spend more time on child care than previous generations did, but women also are tasked with figuring out how to spend more time at work; indeed, employers increasingly are requiring workers to dedicate more hours to their profession in order to advance (Dotti Sani & Treas, 2016; Geiger et al., 2019; Goldin, 2015). Although both men and women report struggles with balancing contemporary work and family life, more mothers than fathers express this difficulty (Geiger et al., 2019).

Social Norms, Choice, and Work

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christie Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
The Political ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Gendered Division Of Labor

In modern liberal democracies, the gendered division of labor is partially the result of men and women making different choices about work and family life, even if such choices stem from social norms about gender. The choices that women make relative to men’s disadvantage them in various ways: such choices lead them to earn less, enjoy less power and prestige in the labor market, be less able to participate in the political sphere on an equal basis, make them to some degree financially dependent on others, and leave them at a bargaining disadvantage and vulnerable in certain personal relationships. This chapter considers if and when the state should intervene to address women’s disadvantage and inequalities that are the result of gender specialization. It is argued that political liberals can and sometimes must intervene in the gendered division of labor when persons’ interests as free and equal citizens are frustrated.

Managerial aspiration: do gender and gender role identity make a difference in the Chinese context?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruijuan Zhang ◽  
Shaoping Qiu ◽  
Larry M. Dooley ◽  
Tamim Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Gender Role ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Role Identity ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Gender Role Identity ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Role Conflicts ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Gender

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how gender and gender role identity separately and jointly affect managerial aspirations. Design/methodology/approach The study was cross-sectional in nature. Survey data were collected from Chinese Government sectors. Two-way analysis of variance was used to test the research hypotheses. Findings The results showed that gender role identity and combination of gender and gender role identity predict management aspirations while gender alone does not affect management aspirations. Androgynous individuals self-reported higher scores of managerial aspirations. Female managers who perceive themselves as androgynous and masculine tend to possess higher management aspirations. However, when they perceive themselves to exhibit feminine traits, they are more likely to hold lower management aspirations. Moreover, male managers with androgynous and feminine traits are inclined to have higher management aspirations. Research limitations/implications Due to cross-sectional survey data, research results may be biased by common method variance. In addition, because of a convenient sample, the research results may lack generalizability. Moreover, with participants from different organizations, the percentage of men and women in the organization and participants’ role conflicts between work and family life would impact the gender role identity of individuals. Future research should control for the gender composition of the workplace and participants’ role conflicts between work and family life. Practical implications The findings can help narrow the gender gap of managerial aspirations through focusing on gender role identity in selecting managers and designing the leadership training program, ultimately resulting in diminishing disparity in top leadership positions between men and women. Originality/value This study examines how gender and gender role identity separately and jointly affects managerial aspirations in the Chinese context.

scholarly journals A Balancing Act: Working and Caring for a Child with Cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia K. Hjelmstedt ◽  
Ulla M. Forinder ◽  
Annika M. Lindahl Norberg ◽  
Emma I. M. Hovén
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Diagnosis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dual Roles ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Traditional Gender Roles ◽  
Parent Role ◽  
Long Time

AbstractParenting a child with cancer creates numerous additional care demands that may lead to increased difficulties in balancing work and family responsibilities. Still, there is limited knowledge of how parents cope with both parenthood and paid work after a child’s cancer diagnosis. The aim of the study was to explore mothers’ and fathers’ experiences of balancing the dual roles of work and parenthood following a child’s cancer diagnosis. Nine focus groups with in total 32 parents of children with cancer in Sweden were conducted. The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis. Three categories were identified: Shifts in the importance of the parent role and the work role, Influence of context and conditions on the balance of roles, and Long-term unbalance of roles. Parents expressed an increased appreciation of time spent with family, but also emphasized the importance of work to counterbalance the sometimes overwhelming parenting demands. The pre-existing financial situation, work situation, and employer behaviour were important factors influencing the parents’ ability to balance work and family. Traditional gender roles influenced how couples divided responsibilities and reflected on their experiences. Mothers and fathers were also met with different expectations, which highlights the need for the healthcare to consider their communication with caregivers. Importantly, the parents expressed how the child’s illness affected their ability to balance work and family for a long time, while the understanding and support from others had steadily declined. Enabling parents to care for their ill child without sacrificing their own career is of utmost importance, and future research should focus on identifying which factors facilitate for parents to achieve a sustainable work-life balance.

scholarly journals How Different Parental Leave Schemes Create Different Take-Up Patterns: Denmark in Nordic Comparison

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tine Rostgaard ◽  
Anders Ejrnæs
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Exceptional Case ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
European Values

The prevailing gender ideologies in the Nordic countries generally support the equal division of work and family life between men and women, including the equal sharing of parental leave. Regardless, as the exceptional case in the Nordic region, Denmark currently has no father’s quota, and this despite the strong impact such policy has effectively proven to have on gender equality in take-up of parental leave. While a quota intended for the father is instead implemented in Denmark via collective agreements, this is mainly available for fathers in more secure labour market positions. This situates Danish fathers, mothers and their children very unequally regarding parental leave entitlements, and the existing inequalities continue across gender, social class and labour market positions. This article explores to what extent institutional variables vis-à-vis cultural explanations such as gender attitudes provide an understanding of why Danish fathers take less parental leave than other Nordic fathers. We use data from the European Values Study (1990‒2017) as well as administrative data for fathers’ parental leave take-up in the same period, relative to the other Nordics and for specific education backgrounds. We conclude that Danish men and women are even more supportive of gender equality in terms of work‒family life sharing compared to other Nordic countries. This indicates that institutional conditions such as parental leave entitlement matter for leave take-up, but in the Danish case attitudes do less so. Not having a father’s quota seems to affect fathers disproportionally across the education divide, and the lower parental leave take-up among Danish men with little education is primarily ascribed to their labour market insecurity. The policy implication is clear: If we want mothers and fathers with different social backgrounds to share parental leave more equally, the policy must change—not attitudes.

Equal opportunities policies for women and men : a critical analysis of the 1998-1999 Employment Action Plans

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 502-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Séverine Lemière ◽  
Rachel Silvera
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Occupational Segregation ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sexual Discrimination ◽  
Discrimination In Employment

Equal opportunities for men and women are one of the express objectives of the employment guidelines. Apart from measures to combat sexual discrimination in employment (unemployment, earnings, occupational segregation, etc.), it is now a declared objective to introduce an integrated approach through mainstreaming, making equality cut across all the employment pillars. This article seeks to highlight the innovative measures taken in this field and the advances as compared to 1998, but also to show where ground has been lost and where the various European plans are silent. The article falls into two main parts. We begin by looking at Guidelines 20 and 21, which are characterised by the importance they give to reconciling work and family life through specific new measures affecting the labour market. We then describe in detail the different approaches developed by the European countries to the concept of mainstreaming and draw up a typology of them, which will be something original since it does not entirely follow the traditional divides (between northern and southern countries, etc.).

Review of Work and Family Life.

1988 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 270-271
Author(s):  
Kelly Piner
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family

Integrating Work and Family Life: “Should I Call You Dr. Mommy?”

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine J. Kaslow ◽  
Melanie J. Bliss
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family

Changing patterns of migration to Australia's Northern Territory: Evidence of new forms of escalator migration to frontier regions?

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Martel ◽  
Andrew Taylor ◽  
Dean Carson
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Career Advancement ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
New Perspective

Building on Fielding’s idea of escalator regions as places where young people migrate (often temporarily) to get rapid career advancement, this paper proposes a new perspective on 'escalator migration' as it applies to frontier or remote regions in particular. Life events, their timing and iterations have changed in the thirty years since Fielding first coined the term ‘escalator region’, with delayed adulthood, multiple career working lives, population ageing and different dynamics between men and women in the work and family sphere. The object of this paper is to examine recent migration trends to Australia's Northern Territory for evidence of new or emerging 'escalator migrants'.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL STATUS OF THE CAPITAL OF UKRAINE - THE HERO CITY OF KYIV AS A GUARANTEE OF THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS OF UKRAINE AND THE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITY OF THE CITY

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleksii Chepov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
City Councils ◽  
The Social ◽  
District Management ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

The qualitative and clear definition of the legal regime of the capital of Ukraine, the hero city of Kyiv, is influenced by its legislative enshrinement, however, it should be noted that discussions are ongoing and one of the reasons for the unclear legal status of the capital is the ambiguity of current legislation in this area. Separation of the functions of the city of Kyiv, which are carried out to ensure the rights of citizens of Ukraine and the functions that guarantee the rights of the territorial community of the city of Kyiv. In the modern world, in legal doctrine and practice, the capital is understood as the capital of the country, which at the legislative level received this status and, accordingly, is the administrative and political center of the state, which houses the main state bodies and diplomatic missions of other states. It is the identification of the boundaries of the relationship between the competencies of state administrations and local self-government, in practice, often raises questions about their delimitation and ways of regulatory solution. Peculiarities of local self-government in Kyiv city districts are defined in the provisions of the Law on the Capital, which reveal the norms of the Constitution in these legal relations, according to which the issue of organizing district management in cities belongs to city councils. Likewise, it is unregulated by law to lose the particularity of the legal status of the territory of the city. It should be emphasized that the subject of administrative-legal relations is not a certain administrative-territorial entity, but the social group is designated - the territorial community of the city of Kiev, kiyani. Thus, the provisions on the city of Kyiv partially ignore the potential of the territorial community.

A Study on the Impact of Family-friendly Certification on Financial Performance of SMEs: Focusing on the Manufacturing Industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Ok-Hee Park ◽  
Kwan-sik Na ◽  
Seok-Kee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Background/Objectives: The purpose of the paper is to examine how family-friendly certificates introduced to pursue the compatibility of work and family life affect the financial performance of small and medium-sized manufacturers, and to provide useful information to companies considering the introduction of this system in the future.

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