Cultural Schemas, Social Class, and the Flexibility Stigma

Abstract

First comes love, then comes marriage, then come flex-time and a baby carriage." -Statement of a supervisor, Velez v. Novartis lawsuit (Wilson, 2010)

Behaviour-based Work-Family Conflict among Hungarian Manager Fathers

“…Thus, a sense of risk and economic insecurity affect agency to make a claim for a better work-life balance (Hobson et al, 2011) and can still legitimize the absence of the father from the family domain, which explains why behaviour-based conflict is the least frequent among the conflict types. This also confirms the finding (Williams et al, 2013;Ladge et al, 2014) that fathers are seen as more trustworthy employees than men without children, since due to their responsibilities as breadwinners they will not risk losing their jobs.…”

“…In this interpretation being a good father, unlike being a good mother, is not seen as culturally incompatible with being a good employee. It is rather the contrary, where being a good provider is seen as an integral part of being a good father (Williams et al, 2013). This is not the case however, in those situations where not the traditional breadwinner model is followed.…”

“…While the ideal employee expects men to focus primarily on their work neglecting the care responsibilities, the ideal of involved fathering expects fathers to take an active role in their child's nurturing and care. These contrary expectations might help us to understand why men now report greater levels of work-family conflict than before (Williams et al, 2013;Kvande, 2009).…”

“…Working long hours is seen as a 'heroic activity', as a manly test of physical endurance. The successful enactment of this masculinity involves displaying one's exhaustion, physically and verbally, in order to convey the depth of one's commitment, stamina and virility (Williams et al, 2013).…”

“…This is not the case however, in those situations where not the traditional breadwinner model is followed. The man as the breadwinner ideal is contested by the ideal of the involved father, who is committed to care and family responsibilities (Williams et al, 2013). The rise of the nurturing father ideal is not something to be understood in the frame of the ideal employee, since the expectations towards men are different.…”