`Are You Going Home Already?'

Abstract

Drawing on Weberian theory of social closure, this article explores how the long hours culture fostered in so many British organizations may act as a means of social closure to exclude women managers from senior positions. The research, conducted in eight different divisions of two UK companies, an airline and a merchant bank, shows that access to the resource of time is vital to be a successful manager. Women are less likely to have equal access to time because of the gendered division of domestic labour, and indeed men's time is often made available to them by their partners at home. At a time when women can offer almost everything that men can in terms of ability, skills and experience, time becomes the differentiating feature which makes men more likely to achieve promotion. The research shows the convergence of patriarchal and organizational desires/interests.

Family-Supportive Organizational Culture and Fathers' Experiences of Work-family Conflict in Sweden

“…In accordance with Thompson et al ., (1999), the final aspect of family‐supportive organizational culture at the co‐worker level that we examined was time norms. Working long hours has sometimes become a workplace norm where it is seen as a sign of commitment and productivity (Brannen and Lewis, 2000; Lewis, 2001; Rutherford, 2001).…”

Measuring Wellness Through Interdisciplinary Community Development

“…These include the individualization of society (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003;Reidpath, 2003;Jensen, 1998), the rise in dual income households making time short for volunteer and other civic activities (c.f., Schor, 1991;Campbell & Charlesworth, 2004), the decrease in the number of extended families living in close geographic proximity, and an increase in working hours in many sectors of the economy (Rutherford, 2001). These social changes are characteristic of most western countries, including Australia.…”

School Principals’ Opinions on the Meaning and Sources of Workload

“…Different factors may affect workload of employees. Uncertain expectations of managers (House and Rizzo, 1972), an extremely busy time at work (Rutherford, 2001), work behaviour standards at the workplace (Adams, Lugsden, Chase, Arber and Bond, 2000), inadequate numbers of employees and setting unrealistic targets (Rowley and Purcell, 2001), pressures stressing employees (Hsieh, 2004), and interventions in organizations (Fong, 2004) are among the reasons that increase workload. In addition, individuals' undermined sense of autonomy (Ahuja, Chudoba, Kacmar, McKnight and George, 2007) and absence of supportive cultural characteristics of organizations can lead to high perceived workload (Duxbury, Lyons and Higgins, 2008).…”