Jennifer Tomlinson

Women's work-life balance trajectories in the UK: reformulating choice and constraint in transitions through part-time work across the life-course

ABSTRACT This paper examines the apparently paradoxical notion that women ‘choose’ part-time work when it is consistently documented as being less preferential in employment terms, conditions and prospects when compared to full-time work. Forming a dialogue with Hakims (2000) preference theory, it is proposed here that four dimensions—care networks; employment status; the UK welfare policy context; and work-life balance preferences—shape womens likelihood of making transitions to part-time work following maternity. Data presented here reveal that factors in the first three dimensions often override and undermine the carrying out of preferences in womens decision-making about reconciling work and family life. Furthermore, the intersections of these different dimensions result in women making ‘strategic’, ‘reactive’ or ‘compromised choice’ transitions, which have consequences for the maintenance of careers and labour market prospects. It is proposed that the different combinations of these three types of transitions form work-balance trajectories, which can more adequately capture diversity in womens attempts to reconcile work and family life.

Employment regulation, welfare and gender regimes: a comparative analysis of women's working-time patterns and work–life balance in the UK and the US

The US and UK are associated with a neoliberal agenda in both economic policy and social welfare provision. As Fleetwood has shown (this issue) central to neoliberalism are the discourses and practices of flexible working and work–life balance (WLB). In the current policy climate increasing flexibility, which is set alongside the rhetoric of improving WLB for women and men, is often positioned as advantageous by the government for employers, employees and families. Part-time work is often situated as central in achieving WLB, and this is illustrated in government policy in both the UK on the right to request flexible working (DTI, 2003) and likewise in the US. Indeed, the US Federal Government’s Human Resource agency, the Office of Personnel Management, claims that part-time work provides an ‘attractive alternative’ to facilitate WLB which ‘enable[s] employees to continue their engagement with work, contribute to the family income and progress in their careers’ while looking after ‘loved-ones’ (OPM, 2006). While it is recognized that both men and women face WLB issues, this paper focuses on women since in reality it is still women who retain the major responsibilities for care (Daly and Lewis, 2000) and are much more likely to work part-time. However, the way flexibility and working-time patterns are carried out by women, is markedly different in the US and the UK, motivating two questions. First, how can we explain why the two neoliberal regimes, both pursuing flexible working practices, generate very different patterns of working-time activity, particularly the take up and use of part-time work among employed mothers? Second, what are the consequences of these different patterns: that is, how do these different patterns of working activity create differences in the experience of WLB or, indeed, imbalance? Hence, the focus on WLB here lies primarily with women’s attempts to reconcile work and family life. The aim of this paper is to develop an integrated theoretical framework that emphasizes the relevance of three systems of socio-economic relations in relation to women’s experiences of WLB, namely: welfare-state regimes; varieties of capitalism

Structure, agency and career strategies of white women and black and minority ethnic individuals in the legal profession

The legal profession in England and Wales is becoming more diverse. However, while white women and black and minority ethnic (BME) individuals now enter the profession in larger numbers, inequalities remain. This article explores the career strategies of 68 white women and BME legal professionals to understand more about their experiences in the profession. Archer’s work on structure and agency informs the analysis, as does Emirbayer and Mische’s (1998) ‘temporally embedded’ conceptualization of agency as having past, current and future elements. We identify six career strategies, which relate to different career points. They are assimilation, compromise, playing the game, reforming the system, location/relocation and withdrawal. We find that five of the six strategies tend to reproduce rather than transform opportunity structures in the legal profession. The overall picture is one of structural reproduction (rather than transformation) of traditional organizational structure and practice. The theoretical frame and empirical data analysis presented in this article accounts for the rarity of structural reform and goes some way towards explaining why, even in contexts populated by highly skilled, knowledgeable agents and where organizations appear committed to equal opportunities, old opportunity structures and inequalities often endure.

Female part-time managers: networks and career mobility

The promotional prospects, career mobility and networking experiences of 16 female part-time managers are explored in this article. It attempts to explain the labour market position of female part-time managers, comparing their employment experiences, career progression and networking while working full and part-time. The majority had successful career histories while full-time but these careers stalled once a transition to part-time work was made. Many voiced frustration with their employment prospects in terms of mobility and promotion, which were limited given the perceived lack of quality jobs at managerial level in the external labour market. There was recognition that networking had made an important contribution to career progression but for most women, the transition into part-time employment meant that opportunities to network decreased due to time constraints.

Female part‐time managers: Work‐life balance, aspirations and career mobility

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the employment trajectories, aspirations, work‐life balance and career mobility of women working as part‐time managers.Design/methodology/approach – In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 16 female part‐time managers and four of their line managers in public and private‐sector organizations. Interviews explored womens career trajectories before and after the transition to part‐time work and focused on career mobility, aspirations and work‐life balance.Findings – The part‐time managers in this sample held varied careers while working full‐time but careers stalled once a transition to part‐time work was made. The majority were career focused, worked intensively and felt frustrated with their lack of mobility and career progression while working part‐time. The majority worked in excess of their contracted hours and did not experience an appropriate reallocation of work when they reduced hours.Practical implications – This paper is of value ...

Perceptions and negotiations of the “business case” for flexible careers and the integration of part‐time work

Looks at the extent to which employers recognise and act on “business case” incentives for implementing working‐time flexibility for those wishing to develop career paths. Focuses, in particular, on womens flexibility following maternity and their ability to access part‐time management positions through accommodating a reduction in working hours, or the integration and promotion of women working part‐time to managerial status. The research was generated through 62 qualitative interviews with mothers currently working in the hospitality industry and a further ten interviews with male and female managers of these women. Findings reveal that while managers are aware of the benefits of retaining highly qualified women managers, these informal practices are not universally accessible. There is little evidence that managers recognise a “business case” for the integration of part‐time workers into higher occupational grades, despite the recent regulation of part‐time work in the UK.

Organisational approaches to flexible working

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to, first, explore flexible working as an important but under‐researched dimension of equality and diversity (ED a means of impr...

Reflections on work and employment into the 21st century: between equal rights, force decides

In this introductory article, the editors of Work, Employment and Society reflect on the journal’s body of published work and present the main contributions of the 25-year anniversary issue. As a journal of record WES is now well established and offers extensive conceptual insights into, and empirical analysis of, contemporary trends and experiences of work, employment and unemployment. Yet academic scholarship should also aspire to comment, critique and counter; four themes are elaborated, with reference to the issue’s contributions, to illustrate this: labour market change; work in the service sector; post-Fordism, disconnection and financialization; and moral economy and counter movements.

Gender equality and the state: a review of objectives, policies and progress in the European Union

This article aims to map recent developments in the areas of gender equality and gender mainstreaming within the European Union (EU). It begins with coverage of feminist debates in the 1990s on the role of the EU in making progress in the area of gender equality across member states. It then looks at developments in the European employment strategy (EES) and Lisbon Strategy. Following this, the article analyses the extent to which the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) and objectives on gender equality have resulted in a convergence or divergence in policy frameworks and outcomes across member states. This article focuses on three sets of state responses to EU gender objectives in UK and Sweden, each crucial in terms of gender equality. These are the employment rates of men and women, childcare provisions and reconciliation of work and private life, and the gender pay gap. Despite seeming pressure through soft regulation for a convergence of gender equality across EU27, major points of divergence still exists based on historical legacies of welfare state provision and gender politics, within specific nation states.

Flexible careers across the life course: Advancing theory, research and practice:

This introductory article sets out a framework for conceptualizing flexible careers. We focus on the conditions, including the institutional arrangements and the organizational policies and practices, that can support individuals to construct flexible and sustainable careers across the life course. We ask: What are flexible careers? Who are the (multiple) actors determining flexible careers? How do institutions and organizational settings impact upon and shape the career decisions and agency of individuals across the life course? We begin our review by providing a critique of career theory, notably the boundaryless and protean career concepts, which are overly agentic. In contrast, we stress the importance of institutions, notably education and training systems, welfare regimes, worker voice, working-time and leave regulations and retirement systems alongside individual agency. We also emphasize the importance of various organizational actors in determining flexible careers, particularly in relation to flexible work policies, organizational practices, culture and managerial agency. Finally we argue for the importance of a life course framing taking into account key transition points and life stages, which vary in sequence and significance, in the analysis of flexible careers. In concluding remarks, we urge researchers to use and refine our model to the concept of flexible careers conceptually and empirically.