scholarly journals Exploring the Challenges Faced by Working Mothers and the Perceived Factors to Retain them in the Private Education Sector

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Hasani De Ravindranath ◽  
Jugindar Singh Kartar Singh ◽  
Thilageswary Arumugam ◽  
Janitha Kularajasingam
Keyword(s):  
Private Education ◽  
Working Mothers ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Education Sector ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Basic Qualitative Study ◽  
Career Growth ◽  
Care Support

The purpose of this exploratory study was to explore the challenges faced by working mothers in the education sector and the perceived policies and strategies to retain them in their current jobs. This basic qualitative study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to collect information from five working mothers with at least one child.  Thematic analysis was done to analyse the data manually. The key challenges highlighted include work-life conflict, stereotyping, exhaustion, changing work schedule and career growth opportunities.  The working mothers also stated that the key perceived policies and strategies to retain them include child-care support, working from home and flexible work arrangements. Generally, they stated that motherhood was their key priority, and they prioritised family overwork. The study provided an understanding to organisations on the challenges faced by working mothers and what policies organisations should focus on to retain them. This study was the first of its kind, and it provided in-depth experience and views of working mothers in the education sector. This paper makes contributions to work-life integration and career theory.

Flexible Work Arrangements: A Human Resource Development Tool to Reduce Turnover

2021 ◽  
pp. 152342232098293
Author(s):  
Marvin Bontrager ◽  
M. Suzanne Clinton ◽  
Lee Tyner
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Employee Development ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Black Swan ◽  
Flexible Work Arrangements ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Development Tool

The Problem. An increasing number of organizations are experiencing concerns from employees regarding work-life balance. Organizations that have chosen to implement formal flexible work arrangements (FWAs) have experienced reluctance from their employees to participate. COVID-19 has forced the hand further toward FWAs, and created additional work life balance concerns. The Solution. FWAs present an opportunity for organizations to address work-life balance concerns, especially amid the black swan event of COVID-19. Implementing FWAs provides opportunity for organizations to reduce turnover and facilitate employee development through work life balance programs. The Stakeholders. The informal processes of FWAs should receive due attention by HRD practitioners and scholars alike.

A systematic review of work-life integration and role of flexible work arrangements

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sourabh Kumar ◽  
Sankersan Sarkar ◽  
Bhawna Chahar
Keyword(s):  
Work Life ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Flexible Work Arrangements ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Policies ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Future Research Agenda

Purpose The growing demands of work and life have shifted the concept of work-life balance to work-life integration (WLI). The success of integration depends upon the flexibility to perform the duties. This paper aims to explore the factors that affect WLI and the role of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) in the process of WLI. Design/methodology/approach Systematic literature review was used to explore the concept of WLI and FWAs. A bibliometric analysis was carried out with Bibexcel and VoSviewer. Findings This paper explained the organizational and personal factors that create the demand for WLI. The FWAs, perceived flexibility, technology and self-efficacy have important roles in WLI. The result of WLI can be enrichment or strain, depends upon how effectively the work-life domains are integrated. Originality/value This paper explores the work-life from both personal and organizational views. The findings of this paper will be useful to design the organizational policies and work arrangements that match the requirements of employees and organizations. This paper helps to develop the future research agenda of investigating the relations of WLI to performance, organizational policies and personal factors.

scholarly journals Flexible Work Arrangements and Their Impact on the Employee Performance of Egyptian Private University Employees: (A Case Study on the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport)

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Eshak ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Flexible Work Arrangements ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
The Impact

This study aimed to analyse the impact of flexible work arrangements on the employee performance of employees in private Egyptian universities in Alexandria, mediated by work-life balance (applied to the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport). institutions to retain talented people, raise the efficiency of employee performance, and thus raise the efficiency of institutional performance and competitive capabilities of organizations. The researcher used the descriptive analytical method and the questionnaire as a tool for data collection, to measure the impact of flexible work arrangements (focusing on reducing working hours, benefits provided to employees, work policies towards parenting) on the work-life balance, and the extent of the impact of all this on raising the efficiency of employees' employee performance. A stratified random sample of 423 employees was used, and the data collected was analysed using SPSS and AMOS statistical software. The findings revealed a positive relationship between flexible work arrangements (reduced working hours, benefits provided to employees, and work policies toward parenting) and employee performance, as well as a positive relationship between flexible work arrangements and work-life balance, as well as a positive relationship between work-life balance and employee performance, and the researcher recommends implementing such policies.The recommendations also include the need to review current labour laws before legislators, and update them in line with contemporary technological development and the requirement to achieve a balance between the requirements of life and work. This study also recommends the adoption of reducing working hours as one of the flexible work policies offered by organisations to employees. The study concludes that flexible work arrangements and programmes are in fact a competitive tool that organisations can use to increase loyalty, improve performance, achieve commitment and job satisfaction, which enhances the organization's productivity.

scholarly journals “Family-Friendly” Jobs and Motherhood Pay Penalties: The Impact of Flexible Work Arrangements Across the Educational Spectrum

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Fuller ◽  
C. Elizabeth Hirsh
Keyword(s):  
Work Life ◽  
Flexible Work Arrangements ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Wage Gaps ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Educational Groups ◽  
Wage Penalties ◽  
Face Time ◽  
The Impact

This article focuses on how flexible work arrangements affect motherhood wage penalties for differently situated women. While theories of work–life facilitation suggest that flexible work should ease motherhood penalties, the use of flexibility policies may also invite stigma and bias against mothers. Analyses using Canadian linked workplace–employee data test these competing perspectives by examining how temporal and spatial flexibility moderate motherhood wage penalties and how this varies by women’s education. Results show that flexible work hours typically reduce mothers’ disadvantage, especially for the university educated, and that working from home also reduces wage gaps for most educational groups. The positive effect of flexibility operates chiefly by reducing barriers to mothers’ employment in higher waged establishments, although wage gaps within establishments are also diminished in some cases. While there is relatively little evidence of a flexibility stigma, the most educated do face stronger wage penalties within establishments when they substitute paid work from home for face time at the workplace as do the least educated when they bring additional unpaid work home. Overall, results are most consistent with the work–life facilitation model. However, variability in the pattern of effects underscores the importance of looking at the intersection of mothers’ education and workplace arrangements.

Making Workplace Flexibility Work

2019 ◽  
pp. 133-160
Author(s):  
Jamie Ladge ◽  
Danna Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
Working Mothers ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Workplace Flexibility ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Integrate Work ◽  
Flexible Work Arrangement ◽  
Work Arrangement ◽  
Varied Work

Chapter 6 focuses on the topic of flexible work arrangements. Workplace flexibility is often romanticized as an answer to all the challenges working mothers face. While flexibility can be particularly helpful to working mothers as they integrate work and family, it also introduces new complexities working mothers need to consider. This chapter helps women develop a more comprehensive understanding of workplace flexibility. We start with an overview of the different types of flexibility and some of the benefits and challenges women have experienced with these varied work arrangements. We go on to introduce strategies women can put in place to take advantage of a flexible work arrangement and to ensure they are negotiating workplace flexibility in such a way that they don’t trade flexibility for compensation.

Stresses and Successes

Women's Work ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 139-158
Author(s):  
Zoe Young
Keyword(s):  
Work Life ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Flexible Work Arrangements ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Professional Work ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Part Time

This chapter explores the events and outcomes after a year of combining motherhood and professional work using part-time and flexible work arrangements for the 30 women interviewed in this study. None of the women were unequivocal about the benefits or otherwise of using flexible work arrangements as a work–life reconciliation strategy. A near universal experience was that the working pattern the women had embarked upon when they were first interviewed was not the pattern they were working a year later. All but 4 of 30 women had made further adjustments to the time, timing, or location of their paid work. What women identify as the drivers of those further adjustments reveals much about the level of support for flexible work arrangements in important jobs at the pivotal stage in careers when women's progress to the top of large organisations slows down.

Not Just a Mothers’ Problem: The Consequences of Perceived Workplace Flexibility Bias for All Workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 808-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Trimble O’Connor ◽  
Erin A. Cech
Keyword(s):  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Flexible Work ◽  
Workplace Flexibility ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Workplace Cultures ◽  
Ideal Worker Norm ◽  
Ideal Worker ◽  
The Ideal

Flexibility bias and the “ideal worker” norm pose serious disadvantages for working mothers. But, are mothers the only ones harmed by these norms? We argue that these norms can be harmful for all workers, even “ideal” ones—men without caregiving responsibilities who have never used flexible work arrangements. We investigate how working in an environment where workers perceive flexibility bias affects their job attitudes and work-life spillover. Using representative survey data of U.S. workers, we find that perceived flexibility bias reduces job satisfaction and engagement and increases turnover intentions and work-life spillover for all types of workers, even ideal workers. The effects of perceived bias on satisfaction, turnover, and spillover operate beyond experiences with family responsibilities discrimination and having colleagues who are unsupportive of work-life balance. We show that workplace cultures that harbor flexibility bias—and, by extension, that valorize ideal work—may affect the entire workforce in costly ways.

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