“Story time is my duty”: Expatriate academic fathers' experiences of balancing their work and home lives

Abstract

An academic's life is acknowledged to be the one with constant pressure to publish, as well as fulfilling teaching and other tasks. Much has been written about the academic mother's experience, where professional gain is often reported to be at personal expense. Academic fathers' experiences are less explored, and usually situated within their own home countries. This article presents a qualitative narrative research of male faculty parents working in the United Arab Emirates in the Arabian Gulf. The ways in which the academic fathers “perform” fatherhood, strive to find balance in their lives, and create space for the necessary work of academic research are explored. The findings indicate that where work pressures are experienced, their home support systems (namely spousal support, but also paid domestic help) compensated for this in a way which does not appear to incur self‐sacrifice or career impact. The academic fathers generally reported feeling supported and validated by their organizations and host country.

Expatriate academics: what have we known for four decades? A systematic literature review

“…In studies conducted in the UAE, the majority of women considered that their lives as academic mothers are made easier by residing in this country (Dickson, 2019). Similarly, academic fathers generally reported experiencing support from their host universities in the UAE (Dickson and Dickson, 2021).…”

Organizing male infertility: Masculinities and fertility treatment

“…Focusing back on OS, other research has studied male bonding in the workplace (Hawkins, 2015); the creation of male‐only networks (van den Brink & Benschop, 2014); the enactment of heroism and the distancing from women at work (Kelan, 2018); on how men reframe privilege in female‐dominated occupations (Schwiter et al., 2021); and on how expatriate academic fathers experience work‐life balance (Dickson & Dickson, 2021). Organization Studies has further focused on parenthood, fatherhood, and paternity within organizational culture and practices (Burnett et al., 2013; Gatrell et al., 2021; Murgia & Poggio, 2013); on the emotional toll of fathers embracing postfeminist masculinities (Gruson‐Wood et al., 2021); and on organizational discourses relating to family oriented male identities including the invisibility of the bodies of fathers in organizations (Kangas et al., 2019).…”

“…Focusing back on OS, other research has studied male bonding in the workplace (Hawkins, 2015); the creation of male-only networks (van den Brink & Benschop, 2014); the enactment of heroism and the distancing from women at work (Kelan, 2018); on how men reframe privilege in female-dominated occupations (Schwiter et al, 2021); and on how expatriate academic fathers experience work-life balance (Dickson & Dickson, 2021).…”