Tensions between work and home: job quality and working conditions in the institutional contexts of Germany and Spain

Good jobs can generate capabilities that allow employees to avoid tensions between work and family/home. Following the conceptual framework of Amartya Sen, we examine how job-related demands and resources are related to the level of interference, as well as satisfaction with managing work and home in Spanish and German employees, using three different large-scale European surveys: European Quality of Life Survey and two waves of the European Social Survey. We find that long working hours systematically increase tensions between work and home, as do time pressure, job-related stress, and working hard. Job control or autonomy at work, which is hypothesized to expand individuals' capabilities and agency, tends to increase work–home interference rather than alleviate it. Family responsibilities and household demands do not seem relevant to the tensions employees experience at the work–home interface. This also holds true for women, which is a surprising result in view of the “double burden” hypothesis. Employed mothers in Germany and Spain are a select group of women, as combining employment with raising children in conservative–corporatist and conservative–familialist states may be particularly problematic. Thus while the institutional contexts of Germany and Spain curtail women's ability to reconcile employment and parenthood, the mothers (and fathers) who are employed do not experience significantly higher levels of work–family/home tensions than nonparents.     

Social policies related to parenthood and capabilities of Slovenian parents

We apply Sen's capability approach to evaluate the capabilities of Slovenian parents to reconcile paid work and family in the context of the transition to a market economy. We examine how different levels of capabilities together affect the work–life balance (WLB) of employed parents. We combine both quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches. The results of our quantitative and qualitative research show that increased precariousness of employment and intensification of work create gaps between the legal and normative possibilities for successful reconciliation strategies and actual use of such arrangements in Slovenia. The existing social policies and the acceptance of gender equality in the sphere of paid work enhance capabilities for reconciliation of paid work and parenthood, whereas the intensification of working lives, the dominance of paid work over other parts of life, and the acceptance of gender inequalities in parental and household responsibilities limit parents’ capabilities to achieve WLB.     

Networking towards (in)equality: Women entrepreneurs in technology

Deploying a multidimensional framework focusing on individual, organizational and societal factors, we investigate gendering practices through which women entrepreneurs become disadvantaged in the technology sector. Through qualitative fieldwork, we focus on women entrepreneurs' experiences networking to access valuable entrepreneurial resources and examine the role of technology incubators and accelerators in facilitating this access. These organizations have the potential to mitigate gender inequities by adopting gender‐aware practices such as increasing access to networks and resources that might otherwise be unreachable for women technology entrepreneurs. Focusing simultaneously on the complex intersections of networking, organizational practices at incubators and accelerators, and institutionalized gender norms in society, we outline how different gendering practices work separately and in tandem to marginalize women technology entrepreneurs. We observe that these organizations engage in ‘gender neutral’ recruitment practices and promote transactional networking which result in the replication rather than eradication of gender inequality. Moreover, organizational attempts to address ‘gender issues’ as they relate to technology entrepreneurs re‐inscribe rather than disrupt societal gender norms. Our research offers new insights for understanding the interrelated individual, organizational and societal factors contributing to gender inequality in technology entrepreneurship and provokes discussion on the possibilities for social change.     

Who Gets to ‘Work Hard,Play Hard’? Gendering the Work–Life Balance Rhetoric in Canadian Tech Companies

This article is based on an exploratory study of the implicit gender norms in work–life balance (WLB) rhetoric in ten Canadian information and communication technologies (ICT) organizations. Interviews with human resources (HR) managers and preliminary company website analysis revealed a masculinist and heterosexist bias in the implementation of WLB practices, legitimized by the gender composition of the workforce and the demanding yet inherently rewarding nature of the ICT sector. Participants deliberately separated care (read: childcare) from WLB (read: flexible hours and working from home), reproducing the assumption that an ‘ordinary’ worker is a man with a female partner who assumes primary responsibility for the reproductive realm. The study concludes with: (i) recommendations to increase HR's role in providing functional support for WLB practices and (ii) three future directions for research. This article contributes to a general call in feminist scholarship to apply a gendered lens to WLB practices.     

Cultural Responses to Changing Gender Patterns of Migration in Georgia

In this paper, we explore how individual women cope with the tensions between economic forces encouraging temporary labour migration and cultural norms tying “proper” women to their homes and families. Combining in‐depth interviews with returned migrant women in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi with secondary migration data for the region, we illustrate the recent increases in Georgian women’s participation in international labour migration. Deteriorating economic conditions in Georgia leave women with few local opportunities to financially support their families, while institutional changes have altered the accessibility and attractiveness of international destinations, leading to increasing motivations and opportunities for women’s migration. Focusing on the contradictions between growing female migration and persistent adherence to cultural norms stigmatizing migration in Georgia, we explore the cognitive strategies migrant women employ in an attempt to balance internalized perceptions of acceptable gendered behaviour with their migration choices. Two key pathways of adaptation emerge: framing migration as a necessity rather than a choice and stressing the unique and individually exceptional nature of their own migration experience. We posit that these strategies may serve to limit the norm‐challenging nature of women’s migration in Georgia. Although migration is often described as an empowering experience for women, if women migrants work to present their migration in a way that fits within the bounds of traditional gender norms, these norms may be strengthened rather than challenged.     

Young people looking forward: Imagined future and normative tensions in urban Norway

We explore the meaning-making practices of ‘little personal stories’ and ‘big societal stories’ in the imagined futures of 12- and 13-year-olds within Norway, known for its egalitarian ideals and welfare society. Using the concept ‘prospective narratives’, we explore these practices through the students' narrative world-making. The narratives connect the imagined future with gender and class variations related to larger social norms in the arenas of work and family. They demonstrate embodied and positioned cultural knowledge of the present, reflecting tensions between dominant social norms—‘big stories’—in terms of child-centred parenting, active work-life and egalitarian ideals across gender and class.     

Does gender matter? Policies,norms and the gender gap in work-to-home and home-to-work conflict across Europe

This article examines gender differences in work-to-home conflict (WHC) and home-to-work conflict (HWC) in 10 European countries and considers to what extent such differences can be linked to the institutional/societal context. This study combines the conventional demand-resource approach and an institutional framework on work–family reconciliation policies and gender norms by using data from the European Social Survey. The analyses reveal that work and home demands affect men's and women's perceived conflict somewhat differently, and that the two conflict dimensions are gender asymmetrical and linked to patterns that result from men's and women's traditional home and work spheres. This cross-country comparative analysis shows greater gender gap in perceived conflict in countries with weaker policy support for work–family reconciliation and more traditional gender norms suggesting that individuals' perceptions of WHC and HWC are institutionally embedded.     

Expanding the joys of cooking: How class shapes the emotional experience of family foodwork

The emotional experience of foodwork is often considered along a continuum, where pleasure exists in opposition to labor, and where inequalities restrict pleasure. Analyzing qualitative interviews, recall conversations and cooking observations with 34 primary cooks in families, this article explores how diverse parents experience pleasure through family foodwork. Doing so reveals five conditions facilitating pleasure: time, choice, aesthetic freedom, connection, and appreciation. It then analyzes how access to these conditions is shaped by class inequalities, while being attentive to intersections with gender and race/ethnicity. This analysis reveals how socio-economic inequalities fashion negative emotional relationships to foodwork by imposing disproportionate stressors on low-income home cooks, but do not necessarily predict cooking pleasure. Through examining intersections between the sensory and material aspects of foodwork, this article furthers theoretical understanding into how foodwork reinforces gendered, racialized, and classed oppression, while simultaneously identifying how agency and empowerment operate through cooking pleasure for low-income groups.     

Having It All? Women in High Commitment Careers and Work–Life Balance in Norway

The question if, or how, women can 'have it all' — high commitment career, partner and children — is regularly debated in popular media internationally. Drawing on qualitative research, this article examines work–life balance (WLB) for women in high commitment careers as politicians and non‐executive directors on corporate boards in Norway. Norway is lauded as one of the most gender equal countries in the world and in theory at least it is therefore a highly enabling environment for women to combine career and family. The article considers the WLB challenges women politicians and directors encounter and what types of WLB support — national, workplace and household level — are important for them in order to mitigate the potential strain caused by work–family conflict. This article's contribution is in highlighting the competing and sometimes contradictory policies, practices and discourses at multiple levels that surround WLB and the gendered social expectations of women in Norway who apparently 'have it all'.     

Lesbian and bisexual women in Cuba: family,rights, and policy

This article draws on interviews with 17 self-identified lesbian and bisexual women living in Havana, Cuba, focusing on state support for their family relationships. It examines some of the tensions and contradictions between international and national policy, and societal norms, some of which support LGBT people, and some of which do not. In many ways, Cuba is progressive and has actively protected women’s rights. However, non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming women appear to have been somewhat overlooked in the gains of the Revolution, as there are few specific policies protecting their rights. The key policy points participants raised were the need for same-sex marriage and the lack of assisted reproduction for those in same-sex relationships. Nonetheless, Cuba’s traditional non-nuclear family forms also provide some social space for LGBT parents and queer families.     

Gender Equality as Institutional Work: The Case of the Church of Sweden

Institutional theory predicts that organizations respond to external changes in their environment to be able to safeguard their long‐term viability. One of the most significant institutional changes in the last century has been the entry of women into both labour markets and professions; however, an extensive literature reports that gender inequality and various forms of sexism still structure and influence the everyday work of organizations. Drawing on the recent literature on institutional work, the article reports on a study of how the Church of Sweden has managed to relatively successfully institutionalize female ministers as legitimate and widely respected members of the professional category of ministers ordained by the Church. Female ministers believe they are, by and large, respected in the Church, but suggest that gender remains an issue as women are at times expected to embody certain interests and have to answer some questions that their male colleagues may have been spared. The findings describe institutional work as an ongoing process with no fixed end‐point, stressing agency as the distributed and collective capacity to question established beliefs and norms.     

Beauty Work: Individual and Institutional Rewards, the Reproduction of Gender, and Questions of Agency

Physical attractiveness is associated with a number of positive outcomes, including employment benefits such as hiring, wages, and promotion, and is correlated with social and personal rewards such as work satisfaction, positive perceptions of others, and higher self-esteem. As a result, individuals perform various forms of beauty work, thus reproducing and strengthening a social system that privileges youth and attractiveness. In this article, we explore the beauty work practices that people perform. We begin with an examination of the cultural context in which beauty work occurs, including the individual, social, and institutional rewards accompanying physical attractiveness, and then review the practices themselves. Because these rewards and practices contribute in part to the reproduction of social relations and norms, we then turn to the gender dimensions of beauty work, along with its unique racial embodiment. Throughout, we raise the issue of individual agency in beauty work. Finally, we conclude with suggestions for future research.     

Institutional Pluralism,Organizations, and Actors: A Review

The institutional logics perspective holds the promise of delivering where neo‐institutionalist theory has disappointed – the ability to address key societal problems such as inequality, social discrimination, and economic insecurity – a promise that, as of yet, has been unrealized. In this review, I provide an overview of the body of work within the institutional logics perspective that addresses the co‐existence of multiple institutional logics influencing identities, values, cognitive frameworks, and practices – institutional pluralism. I demonstrate how pluralism diverges from conventional neo‐institutionalist theory in its view of institutional fields as heterogeneous spaces. I then review the implications for organizations and social actors responding to multiple logics in the institutional environment. In the discussion section, I argue that the study of pluralism, in acknowledging human agency, politics, and collective mobilization, opens the door for creative resolutions to societal problems hitherto overlooked in neo‐institutional theory. Despite the promise, I address key research areas that remain unresolved or under‐addressed in the institutional pluralism perspective.     

Navigating norms and structures: young mothers’ pathways to economic independence

Understanding the complex relationships between childcare, education and work is crucial to acknowledging how young mothers express agency in their pathways to economic independence. Instead of considering them as a policy target group at risk for multiple reasons, this research reverses the perspective by focusing on young mothers’ agency in school and paid employment. The study is set in the Netherlands, where economic independence has become a focal point of social policy and practice, especially for young people. It explores how young mothers navigate norms and structures of education and employment, drawing on 18 months of participant observation and 41 semi-structured interviews with young mothers. Notions of ‘everyday’ and ‘bounded’ agency are used in analysing structural limitations (e.g. irregular working hours in ‘women’s jobs’, a lack of maternity leave at school) and norms (e.g. completing higher education and finding a good job versus being primary caretakers, enjoying children and being role models). School and workplace structures reinforce contradictory discourses of motherhood and economic independence. Young mothers exhibit agency in considering their options around job security, work experience, wages, student loans and spending time with children. In doing so, they navigate structural and normative collisions of economic independence and mothering.     

On agency and empowerment in a #MeToo world

In the midst of the #MeToo movement sweeping across different societies, what opportunities and challenges exist for changing extant gender structures and systems that have allowed for sexual harassment and assault to take shape? Such a discussion provokes questions around what kinds of feminisms, both as philosophical traditions and as a set of praxis/practices, enable societal and organizational change. This article focuses explicitly on different notions of agency deriving from various feminist traditions to underscore possibilities for engaging in such change. Borrowing from intersectional, decolonial, postcolonial and transnational feminist perspectives, I suggest that a collectivist approach to agency is necessary for gender system change. I coin collective feminism as a way to conceptualize agency that only becomes possible through the work of many and then discuss this mode of feminism in relation to empowerment and social change toward gender equality.     

Women's agency in living apart together: constraint,strategy and vulnerability

Recent research suggests that women can use living apart together (LAT) for a reflexive and strategic undoing of the gendered norms of cohabitation. In this article we examine this assertion empirically, using a representative survey from Britain in 2011 and follow‐up interviews. First, we find little gender differentiation in practices, expectations, or attitudes about LAT, or reasons for LAT. This does not fit in with ideas of undoing gender. Secondly, in examining how women talk about LAT in relation to gender, we distinguish three groups of ‘constrained’, ‘strategic’ and ‘vulnerable’ female interviewees. All valued the extra space and time that LAT could bring, many welcomed some release from traditional divisions of labour, and some were glad to escape unpleasant situations created by partnership with men. However, for the constrained and vulnerable groups LAT was second best, and any relaxation of gendered norms was seen as incidental and inconsequential to their major aim, or ideal, of the ‘proper family’ with cohabitation and marriage. Rather, their agency in achieving this was limited by more powerful agents, or was a reaction to perceived vulnerability. While the strategic group showed more purposeful behaviour in avoiding male authority, agency remained relational and bonded. Overall we find that women, at least in Britain, seldom use LAT to purposefully or reflexively undo gender. Equally, LAT sometimes involves a reaffirmation of gendered norms. LAT is a multi‐faceted adaption to circumstances where new autonomies can at the same time incorporate old subordinations, and new arrangements can herald conventional family forms.     

Staying with People Who Slap Us Around: Gender,Juggling Responsibilities and Violence in Paid (and Unpaid) Care Work

Little is actually known about women's occupational health, let alone how men and women may experience similar jobs and health risks differently. Drawing on data from a larger study of social service workers, this article examines four areas where gender is pivotal to the new ways of organizing caring labour, including the expansion of unpaid work and the use of personal resources to subsidize agency resources; gender‐neutral violence; gender‐specific violence and the juggling of home and work responsibilities. Collective assumptions and expectations about how men and women should perform care work result in men's partial insulation from the more intense forms of exploitation, stress and violence. This article looks at health risks, not merely as compensable occupational health concerns, but as avoidable products of forms of work organization that draw on notions of the endlessly stretchable capacity of women to provide care work in any context, including a context of violence. Indeed, the logic of women's elastic caring appear crucial to the survival of some agencies and the gender order in these workplaces.     

Career Development and Gender Pay Disparities in State Employment in Greece

Much existing western‐based literature on gender argues that deregulated institutional mechanisms have a detrimental impact on gender segregation and pay differentials. However, there is little empirical evidence to confirm the opposite in highly regulated systems such as those in Greece, even though there are strong reasons to suggest that it may be quite different here because of the unusual gender division of labour and endemic patriarchal norms. An apt example of this is national state employment in which centrally determined work processes reflect societal discriminatory structures. This article examines the impact of institutions on career development and its potential effects on gender pay disparities in state employment in Greece. It attempts to achieve this by exploring the extent to which rule‐based systems may overturn gender bias in one public organization in Greece. The study suggests that exogenous parameters may shape centrally imposed institutional frameworks both in terms of facilitating and hindering career progression and thus pay.     

The business of becoming a professional sociologist: Unpacking the informal training of graduate school

While one can be labeled a sociologist in name by fulfilling formal institutional requirements, that is only part of the necessary work involved in graduate training. What is also required is mastering the informal professional culture associated with academic sociology. In this paper, we offer practical advice about informal norms in graduate school—norms we know now that we wish we’d known then. Our reflections upon our own experiences in graduate school are guided by our common research and teaching interests in informal organizational culture. What is the potential salience of informal norms, such as particularistic relations with faculty and graduate students, ceremonial versus actual practices regarding research and teaching, and emotional labor around one’s work, for better understanding the professional socialization of graduate study in sociology? Our emphasis here is to offer advice on how to navigate the graduate school realities these norms present. We also believe that sociologists should turn a more focused eye on the profession, one in which the presence of such norms is readily acknowledged and more formally considered for the benefit of teaching graduate students.