scholarly journals Managing Motherhood in the Australian Construction Industry: Work-family Balance, Parental Leave and Part-time Work

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Lingard ◽  
Jasmine Lin
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Flexible Work Schedules ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Part Time Work

A survey of women in the Australian construction industrywas undertaken to examine women's work experiencesin construction. Questionnaires were distributed to threehundred women in construction occupations and 109completed and usable questionnaires were returned.Women were found to be seriously under-represented insite-based roles. Site/project engineers worked longer hoursthan other occupational groups and expressed significantlygreater work-family conflict. Lack of flexibility and theinability to balance work and family were common themesin the qualitative comments made by many respondents.Even when women indicated that part time work options andmaternity entitlements were provided by their organizations,many expressed a reluctance to use them and perceivedcareer penalty associated with this usage. It is concludedthat more flexible work schedules and the implementationof family-friendly policies may encourage more women intosite-based roles in construction. The paper concludes thatthe rigid work practices presently in place act as a subtleform of discrimination. The provision of such policies willonly be effective if cultural and attitudinal change is alsoachieved.

scholarly journals Work–Family Interference: Nurses in Norway and Finland

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bente Abrahamsen ◽  
Kari Anne Holte ◽  
Marjukka Laine
Keyword(s):  
Work And Family ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Work Schedules ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Work Hour ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Family Harmony ◽  
Job Rewards ◽  
Part Time Work

Abstract The aim of the study is to investigate the level of work–family inter-ference (WFI) for part-time nurses in Norway and Finland. Part-time work is usually cited as a desirable way in which to facilitate work and family harmony. However, the opportunity to work part-time in professions may be associated with greater difficulties and challenges than commonly presumed. Part-time professionals are often stigmatized as being less committed to work and report fewer job rewards than colleagues in full-time positions. This study challenges the notion of the desir-able consequences of work hour flexibility concerning the integration of work and family. Part-time nurses in Norway and Finland report an equal level or even higher levels of interference than nurses in full-time positions. A disproportional distri-bution of inconvenient work schedules appears to be a central explanation for the results reported by Norwegian nurses, but to a lesser degree by Finnish nurses.

Afstemming van beroepsloopbanen op gezinsverantwoordelijkheden

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilse Laurijssen ◽  
Ignace Glorieux ◽  
Suzana Koelet
Keyword(s):  
Family Formation ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Career Trajectories ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Labour Market Activity ◽  
Part Time Work

Reconciling career trajectories with family responsibilities Reconciling career trajectories with family responsibilities In this article we examine how – following family formation – women adjust their professional careers. Lowering the hours of labour market activity (i.e. part-time work) is one way of reconciling work with family responsibilities. An alternative strategy consists of finding a job that can be combined with family life more easily. Which jobs offer better opportunities to positive role-combination (i.e. work and family facilitation) depends on job quality, that we define using the job demands – job control model of Karasek. Using the longitudinal SONAR-dataset on the transition from school to work in Flanders, Belgium, we analyse how career trajectories of young women change following family formation. Our results suggest that women with children try to improve their work-family balance by changing the kind of jobs they work in, not that they anticipate to the later combination by choosing less demanding jobs. Improvement in work strain is mostly realized when women start working part-time. Part-time work as a reconciliation strategy, however, seems mostly needed in jobs that offer few opportunities to successful combination.

Flexible Use of the Father’s Quota: Problems and Possibilities

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-66
Author(s):  
Berit Brandth ◽  
Elin Kvande
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Primary Caregivers ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Flexible Work Arrangements ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
Work Family

Research on work-family balance has seen flexible work arrangements as a key solution for reconciling work and family, but it has given contradictory results regarding fathers. This chapter focuses on flexible parental leave use for fathers in Norway. It is based on interviews with 20 fathers who have used the father’s quota flexibly either as part-time combined with part-time leave or as piecemeal leave. The study describes the motives for using flexible leave and the consequences of the two types of flexibility for fathers’ caregiving. Flexibility provides them with a menu of choices, which affects their caregiving differently. Findings show that part-time leave allows work to invade care, produces a double stress and promotes halfway fathering. It tends to confirm fathers as secondary caregivers instead of empowering them as primary caregivers.

Balancing the Spheres of Life During Professional Economic Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 886-900
Author(s):  
O. A. Zolotina ◽  
M. A. Serpukhova
Keyword(s):  
Professional Education ◽  
Master's Degree ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Economic Education ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
State University ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Master’S Degree ◽  
Work Family

Aim. The presented study aims to determine the key employment parameters that allow bachelor’s and master’s degree students to combine work with professional education in the optimal way and help people enrolled on further professional education to maintain a balance between work and family functions.Tasks. The authors analyze surveys of bachelor’s and master’s degree undergraduates and graduates of continuing professional education (CPE) programs of the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU).Methods. This study uses general logical methods: dialectical, logical, comparative, and systems analysis; methods of sociological research, including public surveys.Results. The authors identify major employment characteristics that help working students maintain high academic performance and positively affect the work-family balance of older people receiving further professional education.Conclusions. Increased flexibility of the labor market in the form of more part-time job offers could make a significant contribution to maintaining and improving the quality of training of students who combine work and studies, which is especially relevant for bachelor’s degree students. Diversifying the available forms of employment can positively affect the decision to gain intitial professional experience while studying at the university. Due to the development of remote employment, the forms of occupation available to students need to be further studied in detail.

scholarly journals Family-Friendly Policy and Work-Family Conflict Mitigation: The Role of Work-Family Boundary Negotiation

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Hooi-Ching Khor ◽  
Azura Abdullah Effendi
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Family Conflict ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Human Resource Policy ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Negotiation Style ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Conflict Mitigation

Family-friendly policy is impossible to fit all working individuals. The circumstance has been revealed in work-family literature which relationship between the policy use and the work-family conflict mitigation has been found inconsistent. Little focus is given in the past studies to ensure the human resource policy is truly useful in meeting individuals’ needs. Work, family or both work and family life could be important to individuals. The distinctive life centrality requires individuals to negotiate with the significant others who have influence on their work and family life arrangements to access and use the preferred and needed family-friendly policy. Boundary management practices seem to be useful for working individuals to reduce work-family conflict. This conceptual paper aims to propose work-family boundary negotiation to buffer the relationship of family-friendly policy use and work-family conflict. Boundary theory is the underlying theory embedded to explain the phenomena. Boundary negotiation style that could be employed for accessing the policy and managing work-family boundary effectively is identified. Future directions and implications for research on negotiation in dealing with work-family issue are discussed.

The Gendered Discourse of Work-Family Balance in the Oil and Gas Industry

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine L. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
Gendered Discourse ◽  
Work Family

U.S. corporations have been slow to adopt family-friendly workplace accommodations, despite decades of research demonstrating their value. Some hope that the millennial generation will spur corporate change because, compared with older generations of workers, young people purportedly strive for more balanced lifestyles and gender equality in their relationships. This study examines the experiences of early career scientists and engineers employed by a major oil and gas corporation that has not implemented family-friendly accommodations, asking whether these highly trained workers seek work-family balance and whether they parlay these desires into requests for accommodation from their employer. Interviews reveal a gendered discourse of work-family balance at this firm: mothers and prospective mothers describe intense work-family conflict, but they blame themselves and not their employer. A number of men, in contrast, express satisfaction with their work-family balance, yet their narratives reveal that their achievement of balance depends on a traditional gender division of labor in the home. Some men and women seek alternative forms of balance that do not involve family; if thwarted from pursuing this goal, they are inclined to exit the company. These discourses of balance reflect neoliberal assumptions, reproduce gender inequality, and suggest the need for an alternative to the voluntary approach to promoting work-family policies.

Family-friendly support programs and work family conflict among Indonesian higher education employees

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 726-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Wulida Afrianty ◽  
John Burgess ◽  
Theodora Issa
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Family Conflict ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Support Programs ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of family-friendly programs at the workplace in the Indonesian higher education sector. The focus is the impact that these programs have on employees’ work family conflict. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of academic and non-academic staff from 30 higher education institutions across Indonesia participated in the research. A total of 159 completed questionnaires from 109 academic and 50 from non-academic staff are reported and statistically analysed using SPSS. Findings – Work and family experiences in Indonesia do not positively align with the findings reported in most academic literature pertaining to western societies where the use of family-friendly programs (i.e. flexible work options, specialized leave options and dependent care support) leads to a reduction in employees’ work family conflict. In fact, some of the programs were found to have the opposite effect in the Indonesian context. Research limitations/implications – The design of family-friendly support has to take into account the context in which the policies will operates; these policies are not transferable across countries in terms of their effectiveness. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies that has examined the operation and effectiveness of family-friendly support programs in an Indonesian context.

scholarly journals Understanding the causes and consequences of work-family conflict

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 770-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toyin Ajibade Adisa ◽  
Ellis L.C. Osabutey ◽  
Gbolahan Gbadamosi
Keyword(s):  
Family Conflict ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Pressure ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Work Family ◽  
University Lecturers

Purpose – An important theme for a twenty-first century employee is a desire for work and family balance which is devoid of conflict. Drawing on detailed empirical research, the purpose of this paper is to examine the multi-faceted causes and consequences of work-family conflict (WFC) in a non-Western context (Nigeria). Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses qualitative data gleaned from the semi-structured interviews of 88 employees (44 university lecturers and 44 medical doctors) in cities in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Findings – The findings showed that work pressure, heavy familial duties, poor infrastructural facilities, and a lack of suitable and practicable work-family balance policies are the main causes of WFC in Nigeria. Juvenile delinquencies, broken marriages/families, and an unhappy workforce are among the grave consequences of WFC among Nigerian employees. Originality/value – This paper suggests that the availability of basic infrastructural facilities, more governmental support, practicable work-family policies, inter alia, will reduce the level of WFC for Nigerian employees and will also results in positive spill-over from the work domain to the family domain and vice-versa.

scholarly journals Beyond Work-Family Balance: Are Family-Friendly Organizations More Attractive?

2010 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Bourhis ◽  
Redouane Mekkaoui
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Reputation ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Flexible Scheduling ◽  
Organizational Attractiveness ◽  
Role Integration ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Work Family ◽  
High Level

In a context of labour shortage, organizations face immense pressures to attract the best employees, and therefore deploy great efforts to increase their organizational attractiveness. In order to appeal to working women or younger workers, some organizations have implemented policies designed to balance work and family. Yet, the effect of such family-friendly practices (FFPs) on organizational attractiveness has seldom been investigated; this study endeavours to fill this gap. The literature review led us to posit that organizations that have implemented FFPs are more attractive to applicants (H1). However, this main effect may be moderated by desire for segmentation (H2). Role segmentation refers to the separation of personal and professional roles, while role integration designates the blurring of boundaries between roles. For example, individuals with a high level of desire for segmentation may be more attracted to companies that offer segmentation strategies (e.g., flexible scheduling) than to companies that offer integration practices (e.g., telecommuting). Finally, the effect of corporate reputation is also tested (H3). Using a policy-capturing research design, we tested the distinct effect of four FFPs (on-site child care; generous personal leaves; flexible scheduling; teleworking) on applicant attraction as well as the effects of organizational reputation and candidates’ desire for segmentation. Our results indicate that FFPs do have a main effect on attractiveness. More specifically, the two scenarios that received the highest scores on attractiveness were personal leaves and flexible scheduling. Contrary to expectations, we did not find a significant “Desire for segmentation x Family-friendly practices” interaction. However, the results reveal a significant three-way interaction, which indicates that the anticipated Desire for segmentation x Family-friendly practices is significant for some values of the reputation variable. As expected, corporate reputation does have a significant main effect on attractiveness. The implications of this study are discussed in conclusion.

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