Parental-leave policy for male lawyers in Helsinki and Montreal: cultural and professional barriers to male lawyers’ use of paternity and parental leaves

Abstract

Family policies in Finland and French Canada (Québec) include fathers' rights to paternity and 2 parental leaves, which have resulted in more fathers using parental leave. And yet, this policy has a limited outreach to male-dominated professions, including the legal profession. In this article, we examine attitudes on paternity and parental leaves among male lawyers and the motives behind their decisions to use or not use them. We approach the issue from the perspective of the legal profession's professional ethos, which impacts lawyers' attitudes and practices regarding work-life balance. In our analysis, we draw on 20 Finnish and 18 Quebecois interviews with current and former male lawyers from private law practices in two urban civil-law contexts: Helsinki, Finland, and Montreal, Canada. The findings indicate that in traditionally male-dominated professions, it is not enough to provide men with a statutory right to paternity and parental leave. There is also a need for organisational solutions and peer encouragement in the work environment so that men feel comfortable taking leave.

5 The Centrality of Soft Skills in Sustaining Masculine Ideals in Lawyers’ Career Progression in Finland and Quebec

“…The case of Finnish and Canadian interviews from Quebec were chosen due to their civil law contexts, with their reputations for being legislation friendly toward work-life balance, including generous parental leaves and flexible work arrangements, as well as equality initiatives to support women lawyers' career advancement. While in both of these contexts prominent attention has been devoted to the under-representation of women in law firms, still, the use of policies for work-family reconciliation are accompanied by negative judgement about lawyers' career commitment and delayed or derailed career progress (Choroszewicz and Tremblay 2018;Tremblay 2013). Still, the policies for work-family reconciliation have a longer tradition and stronger position in Finland than in Quebec, where they have a provincial range.…”

2 Men Opting out: Disenchantment with Corporate Cultures and Career Ideals

“…All but five were fathers. Despite the rise of caring masculinities and new fatherhood (Borve and Bungum 2015), as well as legislation and initiatives that encourage men to take a more active role in the care of their children, there is relatively little support and understanding for this in organisations (Choroszewicz and Tremblay 2018;Biese and Choroszewicz 2018;Hobson et al 2011). The jobs of all the menboth those who were fathers and those who were notleft little room to nurture relationships and pursue other areas of interest.…”

The use of mobile technologies for work-to-family boundary permeability: The case of Finnish and Canadian male lawyers

“…The diversifying ideals of fatherhood are likely greatest among male professionals who face social pressure to take on more childcare responsibilities, especially in countries with non-transferable parental leave for fathers (Eydal and Rostgaard, 2014). Yet, studies suggest that even when government-mandated parental leave policies explicitly include fathers' right to both paternity and parental leave, as is the case in Finland and Quebec, there are cultural and professional barriers to male lawyers taking these leaves (Choroszewicz and Tremblay, 2018;Kay et al, 2016). There is some evidence that younger men are more interested to take paternity and parental leaves, however, the consequences of doing so include delayed or derailed career progress (Choroszewicz and Tremblay, 2018;Tremblay, 2013).…”

“…Fathers have increased their involvement in family life (Burnett et al, 2013;Ylikännö et al, 2014), however, for example in Finland and Quebec, fathers mostly take a leave at their child's birth, but do not take the second part of the parental leave that enables them to care for the child after their wife returns to work (Karu and Tremblay, 2017). The patterns among fathers in high-status professions are even less optimistic (Choroszewicz and Tremblay, 2018;Ladge et al, 2015;Tremblay, 2013). Even when policies to encourage fathers' participation in family life exist, many organisations have been resistant or slow to adapt to changing societal norms related to fatherhood (Burnett et al, 2013;Salmi and Lammi-Taskula, 2014).…”