Work-Life Balance for Women in Stem Leadership

Abstract

For women in leadership, managing work and life obligations is essential, especially when leading in male dominated occupations such as STEM. This study examined social support and work-family integration/blurring to determine how women in leadership perceived these dynamics. By surveying STEM women leaders, this research explored work-life strategies and support resources used by women leaders to balance their work and non-work domains and promote their roles as leaders. Women leaders indicated difficulty delineating between work and personal roles and recognized informational and emotional support as most significant to their roles as leaders. Findings also indicated that most support came from spouses/significant others, female co-workers, and mentors outside the organization, respectively. These sources provided the support needed to maintain and progress in their roles as women leaders.

Barriers and Assistance for Female Leaders in Academic STEM in the US

“…These data suggest that supportive people are at the heart of what women need to stay in STEM and to advance to leadership positions. This is consistent with work by Brue [44] and Nalls [45].…”

Barriers and Assistance for Female Leaders in Academic STEM in the US

“…Sponsorship and advocacy help progression in the field [38]. A useful meta-analysis of literature is provided by Blackburn [39].…”

Academic-Family Integration: How Do Men and Women in Distance Education and Residential Doctoral Programs Integrate Their Degree and Family?

“…Management of boundaries (also called borders in some theoretical work) shapes how family and work responsibilities are managed and how relationships are formed. Integration and segmentation represent the two ends of a continuum that individuals use to integrate work and family (Brue, 2019;Clark, 2000;Nippert-Eng, 1996). The degree of interaction, including physical, temporal, and psychological dimensions, between family and work depends upon the boundaries or borders that individuals set to create a desired work-family balance, "satisfaction and good functioning at home and work, with a minimum role conflict" (Clark, 2000, p. 751).…”

“…They noted that the degree of segmentation or integration is a personal choice and influences personal satisfaction with the degree and family domains. WF researchers have noted that continued investigation to understand the complex interaction between boundary setting and its effects on life, family, and work performance is needed (Brue, 2019;Methot & LePine, 2016). Brue (2019) noted that this area of research remains underdeveloped, and the area of academicfamily research is even more underdeveloped (Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2019; Sallee, 2016).…”