This article argues for a broader, more diverse approach to the 'life' component of the work-life balance equation. This is discussed within the context of ethnic minority women's experiences of balancing their work and personal life, contending that there are restrictions in our understanding of lives that may fall outside the standard white western model. A key aim of this work is to question existing understandings of worklife balance debates that focus almost exclusively on gender and childcare, ignoring issues around ethnicity, culture and religion. A social constructionist framework was adopted for this study, which acknowledges an interaction between structure, culture and agency. Primary data were collected in the form of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 26 minority female participants, 15 ethnic minority men, eight white women and six white men, all employed across a range of industries and occupations. Although the focus of this paper primarily lies with ethnic minority women's experiences, data from ethnic minority men, white women and men are incorporated in the analysis where appropriate or useful. The empirical data have indicated that both white and ethnic minority women struggle with balancing work and personal life demands to a greater extent than their male counterparts. However, an ethnicity or cultural dimension was apparent, as ethnic minority women often had to deal with additional cultural, community or religious demands. It is argued, nevertheless, that a deeper understanding of the diversity within groups is necessary to avoid essentializing experiences and needs. By acknowledging different forms of life, a more realistic analysis can take place which can inform organizational policy and practice.
Strategic themes within HRM imply an organisational commitment towards the full deployment of all employees in order to meet business goals and objectives. The rhetoric of equality within HRM has been challenged but these discussions have typically focused on gender issues, ignoring ethnicity, culture and religion. Individuals' social group cultures and other cultural and religious aspects have been largely absent in HR literature. By examining ethnic minority women's struggles to fit into white Western organisations, this article seeks to provide a discussion on an area where limited research has been conducted. Our emphasis is placed on organisational expectations in relation to ethnic minority women's demonstrated behaviours and appearance, the latter being expressed through dressing, hairstyles and mannerisms. The empirical data show that ethnic minority women are often required to fit into the existing culture if they want to penetrate influential networks or be given opportunities for career development and advancement. Extending the critique of others who argue that organisations must move away from the existing male‐dominant culture rather than expecting women to move towards it, we contend that management must also acknowledge and better understand religious and cultural differences instead of requiring ethnic minority women to fit into a narrow mono‐culture. The article concludes with a discussion of human resource implications for organisations engaged in diversity management.
This paper contributes to an under-researched area through investigating employers' perceptions of ethnic minority women in the Scottish labour market. Adopting a social constructionist approach which acknowledges agency and structure and incorporates insights relating to organizational and social group culture, the study highlights the influence of individual (micro), organizational (meso) and contextual (macro) factors on ethnic minority women's participation in the labour market. The paper is based on qualitative research involving Scottish employers in the public and private sectors to examine perceptions and practices related to the employment of ethnic minority women. Institutional commitment to equality issues is questioned, although individual instances of engagement with key equality issues were sometimes evident. Proactive recruitment strategies and career support for ethnic minority women and men were not in evidence, and there was low awareness of the unique position of ethnic minority women in employment and society. We argue that these findings call for a multi-level approach to advancing human resources management policy, practice and research within a wider socio-political environment in which the responsibilities and duties of public sector organizations are clarified and more support is provided for organizational promotion of equal opportunities.
Diversity management has been gaining increasing attention, mainly due to the perceived benefits it has been promising to organizations. There have been criticisms however on the manner in which diversity is advocated, presented as a few simple steps helping organizations 'do' diversity. There is a need to engage deeply with the rhetoric of diversity management and the reality of implementing diversity policies and initiatives in organizations. There is an even more urgent need for a better understanding of the methodological issues in conducting research within the diversity management arena. This paper uses recent research on ethnic minority women's career experiences and opportunities in British organizations as a framework within which to discuss methodological considerations in conducting work across gender, 'race', ethnicity and culture, focusing on questions around reflexivity, identity and difference. It was deemed important to place these discussions within a relevant historical and social context, and therefore a discussion on race relations and post-colonialism in Britain is presented. Although the research study cited is UK-based, it is argued here that there is no impediment in transferring the lessons learned to other locations and populations as the methodological issues emerging are of a universal nature. It is contended that conducting research within the diversity management field is context dependable, but the methodological process allows for elements of convergence across locations and populations.
This study focuses on key cross-cultural issues that transnational corporations (TNCs) face when formulating and implementing human resource (HR) policies and practices in their Chinese affiliates. The aim of this study is twofold. First, to investigate how Chinese employees perceive HR policies and practices that have been transferred from parent enterprises of TNCs. Second, to explore the extent to which Chinese cultural values influence these HR policies and practices. These aims are addressed through an exploratory research design using in-depth qualitative interviews with 66 participants across 21 Western wholly owned TNCs in China. The findings of this study demonstrate a variation between global HR policies and practices of TNCs and their implementation at local level. Moreover, the authors find that there are three national cultural values with Chinese characteristics, which can affect HR policies and practices within TNCs in China; these are guanxi, valuing seniority and the importance of 'human factor'. This study indicates that Chinese cultural values are far more sophisticated than the ones being conceptualized in previous literature, as these three cultural values appear to be interlinked and be embedded within the Chinese collectivist culture.
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