Sustainability in Combining Career and Care: Challenging Normative Beliefs about Parenting

Abstract

In this introduction to the special issue on “Sustainability in Combining Career and Care,” we argue that demographic developments such as ageing populations demand attention to the long‐term consequences of using family friendly arrangements. In order to create and support sustainability in combining career and care, we address normative beliefs about parenting, behavior or “choices” in combining work and family, and outcomes for individual careers, couples, and children. We provide an integrative framework for combining career and care, thereby incorporating the individual, organizational, and societal level of the work–family interface. In this first paper, the eight empirical contributions to this special issue are introduced, the collective message being that normative beliefs about parenting need to be challenged in order to create change and promote sustainability for working parents.

Workload, Work‐to‐Family Conflict, and Health: Gender Differences and the Influence of Private Life Context

“…However, with respect to the final aspect, it should be noted that nuclear families are more common than extended families in Belgium, partly due to highly developed institutional care for the elderly (Anttonen & Sipilä, 1996), resulting in a relatively limited amount of time spent on caring for elderly relatives compared to children (Parent‐Thirion, Macías, Hurley, & Vermeylen, 2007). Furthermore, while the choices parents make in combining careers and caring are argued to play a significant role, these “choices” themselves might be influenced by normative beliefs about parenting (Van Engen et al, 2012). Overall, we believe that this study takes an important first step by investigating the effects of private life context and considering three important variables simultaneously.…”

“…This spillover is defined as work‐to‐family conflict where work negatively affects the family life of an employee (Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992a; 1992b). Work‐to‐family conflict is an important issue in the context of the sustainability of careers and caring (Van Engen, Vinkenburg, & Dikkers, 2012), and constitutes the focal point of this article.…”

“…Private life context is also expected to indirectly affect the level of work‐to‐family conflict through descriptive and injunctive norms (Eagly & Karau, 2002) held by individuals themselves, or by others in the work environment, on what a good parent—and especially a good mother—is or should be like (Heilman & Okimoto, 2008; Okimoto & Heilman, 2012; van Engen, Dikkers, Vinkenburg, & de Rooy, 2009; Van Engen et al, 2012). These norms can be expected to increase the level of conflict when one's private life context fails to match the prescribed role.…”

“…In terms of gender differences, one could expect the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and health to be stronger for women than for men since—according to identity theory—work‐to‐family conflict impedes achieving a positive family identity (Frone, Russell, & Barnes, 1996). According to traditional gender roles (Eagly & Karau, 2002; Frone et al, 1996) and normative beliefs about parenting (Van Engen et al, 2012), family identity is more highly valued by women. Women are expected, based on existing descriptive and injunctive norms, to value family over work.…”

Gender or Occupational Status: What Counts More for Well-Being at Work?

“…As the role congruity theory of prejudice underlines, the social context affects the level of work-family conflict through descriptive and injunctive norms (Eagly & Karau, 2002). Such norms, held by individuals themselves, or by others in the work environment, prescribe what a good parent-and especially a good mother-is or should be like and thus intensify the conflict when individuals fail to match the prescribed roles (Heilman & Okimoto, 2008;Okimoto & Heilman, 2012;Rollero & Fedi, 2014;Van Engen, Vinkenburg, & Dikkers 2012).…”