The Same, Only Different: Doing Management in the Intersection between Work and Private Life for Men and Women in Small-scale Enterprises

Abstract

The aim of this article is to elucidate how male and female managers of small-scale enterprises in Norway and Sweden relate to and experience the intersection between work and private life. A qualitative content analysis was adopted to explore interviews with 18 managers. The analysis resulted in three primary categories: conflict as a part of the deal, using management to construct balance, and management identity contributing to enrichment. A key theme that emerged was doing management. Both men and women reproduced masculine values in describing their management identities and in explaining how they enacted management. This clear identification was used to legitimate conflict, construct balance and explain the interaction between work and private life as enriching. How the managers enacted gender emerged primarily in how they related to family responsibilities and their feelings of guilt in relation to home and children.

A Theoretical Development of the Gender Embodiment of Enrichment: A Study of Gender Norms in Enrichment and Factors Related to Enrichment in a Sample of the Swedish Working Population

“…A part-time contract often implies less income and more domestic work and care of children, which are factors that strengthen feminine capital (Huppatz, 2009 ). Thus, as in the study of the Scandinavian managers (Hagqvist et al, 2020 ), women seem to benefit from adhering to masculine capital. The two last factors concern the domestic domain, having a partner and children at home.…”

“…Women often find themselves balancing between being the main career and being equal (in terms of participation in the work life), which seems to have a negative effect on their well-being (Hagqvist, 2016 ). In a qualitative study of Scandinavian managers, the authors found that female interviewees strongly identified with the masculine norm as the good worker while they also emphasized the importance of support from family and friends to uphold this role as a good worker (Hagqvist et al, 2020 ). To find broader support for the phenomenon of the embodiment of enrichment, this study should be replicated in other countries and settings.…”

“…Women who distinguish themselves from feminine-appropriate behaviors and adapt to the masculine culture in management or in paid work in general, risk losing their obligatory attributes of femininity (Huppatz, 2009 ). This attempt to alienate from feminine-appropriate behaviors and to adapt to the masculine culture has been seen among workers with career ambitions as well as leaders and managers (Kvande and Rasmussen, 1994 ; Hagqvist et al, 2020 ). This seems, in turn, to have had implications for how enrichment is constructed and experienced by male and female managers (Hagqvist et al, 2020 ).…”

“…This attempt to alienate from feminine-appropriate behaviors and to adapt to the masculine culture has been seen among workers with career ambitions as well as leaders and managers (Kvande and Rasmussen, 1994 ; Hagqvist et al, 2020 ). This seems, in turn, to have had implications for how enrichment is constructed and experienced by male and female managers (Hagqvist et al, 2020 ). Management positions are therefore important to include in this study.…”

Occupational safety and health challenges in small-scale enterprises

“…Common reasons for these conditions include a lack of financial resources, the manager’s limited interest in OSH issues, an absence of employee representation, insufficient OSH inspections and limited support from occupational health services and other human resource consultants 9 , 10 , 11 ) . Another obstacle for OSH investments in SSEs can be that the manager, who is often the owner, has great work demands, many work tasks, long and irregular working hours, and difficulties in balancing their work and private life 12 , 13 ) . The complex work situation of SSE managers can result in insufficient knowledge about OSH regulations and about how to implement structured OSH management systems 9 , 14 , 15 ) .…”