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As one of the largest women‐dominated employment niches in many national contexts, the teaching profession has been widely studied, yet the gender, work and family negotiations within this profession deserve fuller attention. The case study of South Korean teachers, one of the most highly qualified teaching workforces in the world, illuminates how particular professions create specific challenges as well as supports for work and family that can counter national patterns of women's low labour force participation. This study engages with theoretical debates regarding ‘work–family conflict' and ‘work–life balance' to develop the alternative framework of ‘work–family alignment' giving greater attention to cultural, ideological and functional dimensions within specific occupations and national contexts. However, rather than expanding opportunities for women, work–family alignment often depends on conformity to normative gender roles — both at work and within families. Nonetheless, the framework of work–family alignment can inform policy implementation by demonstrating that both functional and ideological supports are needed for workplace and state policies to be effective.

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This study investigated the endurance exercise-induced changes in lesser known adipokines (visfatin, chemerin, apelin, semaphorin 3 C) related to obesity and metabolism, and their correlations with the changes in the parameters of obesity and glucose homeostasis. Forty metabolically healthy obese young males were randomly assigned to control group (C, n = 12) or exercise group (Ex, n = 28). The subjects in Ex participated in a 8-week supervised endurance exercise training program, comprised of four sessions of treadmill running at 65-70% of VO 2max per week. Serum levels of visfatin, chemerin, apelin, and semaphorin 3 C were significantly decreased in Ex. At baseline, apelin and semaphorin 3 C appeared to be correlated with obesity measures, including body mass index, % total fat and trunk fat, and waist circumference. Exercise-induced changes in these obesity measures significantly correlated with the changes in chemerin and semaphorin 3 C. Basal chemerin, apelin and semaphorin 3 C correlated with glucose homeostasis parameters, including fasting plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and β-cell function, and quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index to different extents. Furthermore, the changes in apelin and semaphorin 3 C well predicted the improvements in glycemic parameters. We suggest that semaphorin 3 C is a novel adipokine involved in pathophysiology of obesity and metabolism, and that it is a biomarker representing an exercise-induced improvement in metabolically healthy obese young males.