The trouble with ‘work–life balance’ in neoliberal academia: a systematic and critical review

Rosa, Rodrigo Rey

doi:10.1080/09589236.2021.1933926

Cited by 61 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 111 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Kachchaf et al's (2015) study on the intersectionality of race/ethnic and gender identities showed that women of color in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics experienced greater obstacles and struggles in meeting the ideal worker expectation (see also Wolf-Wendel & Ward, 2015). Findings from these studies not only offer evidence of gender and racial inequity, but also reflect the long-existing structural issues in the "winner-take-all" and "greed-driven" academia (Rosa, 2021). Even though the majority of the higher education institutions have implemented policies and programs to ensure gender and racial equity, scholars like Huppatz et al (2019) remain skeptical about such men-driven gender-neutral initiatives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex‐based, gender‐based, or race‐based differences impact the career advancement of faculty members and their mental health (Zambrana et al., 2021 ), stress level (Smith & Calasanti, 2005 ; Stanley, 2006 ), social relationship (Fritsch, 2015 ), job satisfaction, family life (McCutcheon & Morrison, 2016 ; Thun, 2020 ), and work–life balance (Denson et al., 2018 ; Rosa, 2021 ). Extant literature reported that female faculty are often affected by care‐giving, and domestic responsibilities (Misra et al., 2012 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Are we failing female and racialized academics? A Canadian national survey examining the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on tenure and tenure‐track faculty

Davis

Butterfield

et al. 2022

Gender Work & Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic caused the abrupt curtailment of on‐campus research activities that amplified impacts experienced by female and racialized faculty. In this mixed‐method study, we systematically and strategically unpack the impact of the shift of academic work environments to remote settings on tenured and tenure‐track faculty in Canada. Our quantitative analysis demonstrated that female and racialized faculty experienced higher levels of stress, social isolation and lower well‐being. Fewer women faculty felt support for health and wellness. Our qualitative data highlighted substantial gender inequities reported by female faculty such as increased caregiving burden that affected their research productivity. The most pronounced impacts were felt among pre‐tenured female faculty. The present study urges university administration to take further action to support female and racialized faculty through substantial organizational change and reform. Given the disproportionate toll that female and racialized faculty experienced, we suggest a novel approach that include three dimensions of change: (1) establishing quantitative metrics to assess and evaluate pandemic‐induced impact on research productivity, health and well‐being, (2) coordinating collaborative responses with faculty unions across the nation to mitigate systemic inequities, and (3) strategically implementing a storytelling approach to amplify the experiences of marginalized populations such as women or racialized faculty and include those experiences as part of recommendations for change.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are we failing female and racialized academics? A Canadian national survey examining the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on tenure and tenure‐track faculty

Davis

Butterfield

et al. 2022

Gender Work & Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Young mothers' social status is often devalued at their workplaces because their gendered role of the primary caretaker is usually associated with lower ability and lesser general competence in paid work (Manchester et al 2013, Ridgeway -Correll 2004, Perna 2001, which is inconsistent with the ideal worker type (Rosa 2021, Acker 2006. Even childless women are also often discriminated by employers who expect women to become a mother once (Knights -Richards 2003, Moss-Racusin et al 2012.…”

Section: Gendered Life Coursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, women's WLB is particularly jeopardised by recent neoliberal changes that restructured and downsized higher education institutions (Rosa 2021).…”

Section: Work-family Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is widely proved that flexible working arrangements (FWA) also play a vital role in women's WLB (Chungvan der Lippe 2020). Flexibility and autonomy are intrinsic motivators in academic work (Bellamy et al 2003), especially if work can be completed regardless of time and space (Rosa 2021, Grant et al 2013. FWA include working time autonomy (large freedom of schedule control), flexitime (a narrower term, where core hours constrain schedule control)…”

Section: Constraining and Facilitating Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

PHD and Childbearing? - Work-life Balance of Female PHD Students in the Field of Engineering

Paksi¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

- The goal of the present research was to explore the work-life balance (WLB) of young female engineers during their PhD studies. Obstacles to WLB in high-status occupations can be magnified in the male-dominated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, where women are significantly underrepresented. While women and different societal actors invest significant capitals into women’s education – and also an insufficient supply of high-skilled labour force –, women often are dissuaded from a career in science, particularly after obtaining PhD; not only in the USA and the EU member states but even in the more gender-equal Nordic countries. I propose in this dissertation that young women researchers in STEM fields face severe work-life balance-related obstacles even as early as their PhD education due to the intersection of their gender, age, parental status, nationality, and also the characteristics of their strongly male-dominated, knowledge-intensive occupation, particularly if it involves laboratory work with hazardous substances. - The research is embedded into a dual theoretical framework. While WLB theories help to understand the relationship of school, work and family life, the life course approach highlights how the critical intersection of individual and academic life courses affects WLB, especially the timing of childbearing. The research is based on a qualitative research design; 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female PhD students in engineering in Hungary. Two main research questions and three sub-questions were raised: 1) What dilemmas do female PhD engineering students face when trying to create a WLB? 2) Which strategies do female PhD engineering students (want to) apply to achieve WLB? --What main factors do female PhD engineering students identify that constrain and /or facilitate their WLB? -- How do studying and working in engineering influence the WLB of female PhD students? -- How do institutional and normative contexts shape the family plans of female PhD students in engineering, especially their timing of motherhood? - Results show that -- The vast majority of female PhD students in this sample were engaged in multiple roles: education, work, private and family life, which severely challenged their WLB. Their main concerns and dilemmas were when to integrate motherhood into an academic career and how to balance their life. -- PhD students were socialising in the greedy organisations of both the productivity-based neoliberal academia and the private sector. They carried heavy workloads and were further pressured by the knowledge intensity of engineering profession. Women, particularly mothers, were also solely responsible for caring and household tasks at home; therefore, they failed to follow the dominant male engineer career model – long working days without days off, even at the weekends –, which was associated with the image of the “ideal, good researcher” and a successful career. -- Interviewees frequently encountered time- and strain-based work-to-family conflicts: time-squeeze, tiredness, exhaustion, stress, strain, bad mood, insomnia and negative spillovers. They sought support from their families but lacked well-developed coping strategies. They rather used different practices to facilitate their WLB with greater or lesser success: adequate scheduling, segmentation of life domains, and communication of the boundaries between work and private life. Flexible working arrangements seemed to be a double-edged sword: it enhanced and hindered their WLB at the same time. -- The vast majority of the PhD students perceived different labour market-based uncertainties – extremely short fixed-term contracts, low income and gender-based discrimination, particularly that of mothers –, which resulted in an imbalance of work and family life. -- The inflexibility and health hazards of laboratory work particularly hindered the timing of childbearing during their academic career. -- Engineer women reported a bunch of negative experiences from their male-dominated learning and working environments that hindered their WLB and family plans: the masculine view of science, devaluation of their knowledge, unfair and humiliating treatment, isolation. Assimilation strategy was more often applied than those of humour and sensitisation. -- These women more than once delayed motherhood. Their most significant dilemma was based on the tension between the defining social norms, their biological clock and the perceived feasibility of their family plans. Women could not call any ideal period for childbearing in their profession; therefore, they named the period of dissertation writing the “least bad option”. - Research findings highlight the Hungarian case, nuance international research findings and offer intervention points to stakeholders. Results can enhance the WLB of young researchers and may contribute to the elimination of barriers to women’s professional advancement and to the increase of the proportion of women in STEM fields.

show abstract

Work and Stress

Barnard,

Arnold,

Munir

et al. 2024

Women Doing Leadership in Higher Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The trouble with ‘work–life balance’ in neoliberal academia: a systematic and critical review

Cited by 61 publications

References 111 publications

Are we failing female and racialized academics? A Canadian national survey examining the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on tenure and tenure‐track faculty

Are we failing female and racialized academics? A Canadian national survey examining the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on tenure and tenure‐track faculty

PHD and Childbearing? - Work-life Balance of Female PHD Students in the Field of Engineering

Work and Stress

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About