Women's Work : How Mothers Manage Flexible Working in Careers and Family Life

Drawing on over 100 hours of narrative interview data, this book goes inside women’s work and family lives in a year of working flexibly. It reveals why professional women under the glass ceiling make the work-life choices they do and what factors influence their opportunities for advancement. Every-day examples reveal what women do to make their lives work. The private labors involved in going part-time, job-sharing, and working from home are brought to life with vivid personal testimonies. Young detailed insight into the gains and the losses that women experience through their negotiations of time and responsibilities in workplaces and in the family. Taking a feminist sociological perspective, this timely book argues that there is an opportunity to make work, work better for professional women and their families and offers unique insights from women’s lived experiences about how to do it. Shortlisted for the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 2019. What's it really like to be a mother with a career working flexibly? Drawing on over 100 hours of interview data, this book is the first to go inside women's work and family lives in a year of working flexibly. The private labours of going part-time, job sharing, and home working are brought to life with vivid personal stories. Taking a sociological and feminist perspective, it explores contemporary motherhood, work-life balance, emotional work in families, couples and housework, maternity transitions, interactions with employers, work design and workplace cultures, and employment policies. It concludes that there is an opportunity to make employment and family life work better together and offers unique insights from women's lived experiences on how to do it.|Shortlisted for the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 2019. What's it really like to be a mother with a career working flexibly? Drawing on over 100 hours of interview data, this book is the first to go inside women's work and family lives in a year of working flexibly. The private labours of going part-time, job sharing, and home working are brought to life with vivid personal stories. Taking a sociological and feminist perspective, it explores contemporary motherhood, work-life balance, emotional work in families, couples and housework, maternity transitions, interactions with employers, work design and workplace cultures, and employment policies. It concludes that there is an opportunity to make employment and family life work better together and offers unique insights from women's lived experiences on how to do it. WOMEN’S WORK Contents Preface 1. Women in the Middle Emma’s story Modern motherhood Time and work–life balance Maternal employment Flexible working policy and practice Introducing women in the middle Structure of this book 2. Choosing Flexibility Chapter themes Anna’s choice Dynamics of choice, preference and agency Conclusions 3. Seeking Balance Chapter themes Seeking balance Narrating intentions Resolving work–life conflict Protecting careers Expanding careers Conclusions 4. Compromised Choices Chapter themes Workplace negotiations Negotiating at home Conclusions 5. Doing Flexibility Chapter themes Converting a full-time job into a part-time job Working more Working from home Managing home–work boundaries (Job)-sharing the load Conclusions 6. Feeling Flexibility Chapter themes Quiet responsibility Extended emotional labour Feeling unwelcome at work Tired bodies and charged emotions Conclusions 7. Stresses and Successes Chapter themes Work intensity Fine tuning Stagnant roles Opting out Domestic discontent Practices of resistance Conclusions 8. Making Motherhood, Careers and Flexibility Work Motherhood, careers and balance Choosing part-time and flexible work Doing part-time and flexible work The transformational potential of flexible working Implications for policy and practice Implications for gender equality Closing remarks Appendices Appendix 1: Women’s characteristics and circumstances Appendix 2: Note on methodology Bibliography Index What's it really like to be a mother with a career working flexibly? Drawing on over 100 hours of interview data, this text is the first to go inside women's work and family lives in a year of working flexibly. The private labours of going part-time, job sharing, and home working are brought to life with vivid personal stories. Taking a sociological and feminist perspective, the text explores contemporary motherhood, work-life balance, emotional work in families, couples and housework, maternity transitions, interactions with employers, work design and workplace cultures, and employment policies. It concludes that there is an opportunity to make employment and family life work better together and offers unique insights from women's lived experiences on how to do it This Book Is The First To Go Inside Women's Work And Family Lives In A Year Of Working Flexibly. The Private Labours Of Going Part-time, Job Sharing, And Home Working Are Brought To Life With Vivid Personal Stories, Concluding That There Is An Opportunity To Make Employment And Family Life Work Better Together. Zoe Young. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 189-213) And Index. This publication explores contemporary motherhood, work-life balance, emotional work in families, couples and housework, maternity transitions, interactions with employers, work design and workplace cultures, and employment policies. Based on interviews