11 Worklife
(Langellier and Peterson 2006) Somebody’s got to pick eggs - family storytelling
traditional allocation by generation and gender.
Children don’t typically question their tasks. But family stroytelling “can be understood as a struggle over meanings and material resources for family, work, and nation.”
using (Giddens 1984) Structuration Theory. Having a policy doesn’t mean it will be enacted or practiced.
Work-Family Policy Implementation: Supervisors discourage employees to take work-family benefits
Coworker Communication: people who don’t use these policies feel unjust (i.e., more work for them). Coworkers reinforce or undermine work-family policy implementation. Employees feel resentment for those who take the leaves (there is a sense of preferential treatment, perception of inequity).
Meritocracy plays a big role in the inequity perception.
understand work and life “as a struggle through which control and resistance are accomplished as various meanings of work are negotiated.”
This study see work/life issues under the dialectical view of control and resistance (where it might not be an individual deviance, but unobtrusive act) at Swedish organization.
2 types of “goods”:
-
well-being
is an end in itself
is a means to an organizational end: instrumental way to achieve delivering
delivering
“balance” is not the solution as well-being is considered a means to an organizational end, which is parallel to delivering.
(DEnbeau, Villamil, and Helens-Hart 2015)
Women caught in between the Western and non-Western cultures in the context of work life.
Feminine-typed careers (e.g., nursing, teaching, social work) offer lower wages, little room for growth, and long working hours
Equity-Difference Tension:
- Women’s interpretation of religion (e.g., Muslim) to overcome their identity role.
- Solution: Reframing Gender Difference as Gender Complementary: Women and men help each other in work-life.
Modernity-tradition Tension:
- Traditional maternal roles: should not sacrifice work for mother role
- Patriarchal family norms: women still honor the patriarchal role by choosing approved role set by her father.
- Solution: Professional and familial success: you are not successful if you can’t share it with your family.
Individual-Collective Tension:
- Women in the group try to change gender norms
- They aren’t sure if they should adhere to cultural gender norms
- Solution: cultural pride was interpreted as the reason for women to work to change collective gender norms.
(Banghart, Etter, and Stohl 2018)
Boundaries can exist among:
- private/personal
- work/professional
- public/political
However, these boundaries can be permeable or rigid
Increased formal social media policies (SMPs) - “when, where and how employees should engage with and communicate through social media.” (Vaast and Kaganer 2013)
Boundary logics “embody the implicit and explicit organizational assumptions about the permeability or rigidity of boundaries between personal and organizational domains.”
Companies can also use
- evasive boundary logic: ambiguity of boundaries serve to provide a wide range of interpretation. Hence, different employees have different definition of boundaries.
- distinct boundary logic: how employees should conduct their social presence, where all boundaries are rigid, and segmentable.
- invasive boundary logic: integration approach to boundary, boundaries are permeable (e.g., any messages on social media can reflect back on the company).
- contradictory boundary logic: permeable and rigid at the same time.
Companies with general and unspecified directives can confuse and infringe upon employee rights.