The use of mobile technologies for work-to-family boundary permeability: The case of Finnish and Canadian male lawyers

Abstract

This article explores work–family interface and the use of mobile technologies (MTs) among male lawyers in Quebec (French Canada) and Finland – two civil law contexts with reputations for legislation friendly toward work–family balance. Drawing on 34 interviews with male lawyers and combining two theoretical lenses, shifting ideals of fatherhood and work–family boundary theory, our study shows how men’s preferences for work–family boundary management relate to diversifying models of fatherhood and family. In Finland, male lawyers more readily embrace family responsibilities and they strive to set firm boundaries to curtail work spilling over into family life. Yet, the cultural and professional norm of men as breadwinners remains strong, especially for Canadian male lawyers whose spouses more often assume primary responsibility for childcare. Our study offers qualitative markers of boundary management styles and strategies (spatial, temporal, and psychological) of male professionals – as struggling segmentors, struggling integrators, and integrators. We observe that senior male lawyers, living in more traditional family models, frequently model integrating behaviours, such as around-the-clock availability via MTs. This modeling establishes expectations of what represents a committed professional worthy of promotion. These practices play an important role in sustaining and reproducing gender inequalities in organisations that employ professionals.

Communicating across the borders: managing work-life boundaries through communication in various domains

“…The investigation of boundary management from this perspective is also based on the idea that organizational and societal contexts shape individuals' experiences and enactments of work as a part of everyday life (Wieland, 2011). Although there is a scarcity of studies focusing on the social construction of work-life boundaries specifically in Finnish organizations, a study by Choroszewicz and Kay (2020) shows how Finnish culture shapes employees' boundary management practices, interpretations, and actions. In addition, their study illustrates how boundary management practices, such as availability expectations, are constructed in the workplace.…”

“…In addition, their study illustrates how boundary management practices, such as availability expectations, are constructed in the workplace. For example, employees who wanted to climb career ladders were required to be available at all hours via mobile technology to demonstrate their commitment to the firm, clients, and senior partners (Choroszewicz & Kay, 2020). Overall, the increasing use of communication technology is blurring the boundaries between work and life, making the need for boundary negotiations even more obvious.…”

The Transformation of Work in the COVID-19 Era

“…Recent research has spotlighted work-to-family boundary permeability, to curtail work spilling over into family life (Choroszewicz and Kay, 2020). As suggested by the research of Shumate and Fulk (2004), recently included among studies that can inform research on COVID and WFH, "communication is needed to create boundaries between work and home, and how it can help […] overcome conflicting expectations" (Unsworth, 2020: 2).…”

Social Media, Work and Nonwork Interface: A Qualitative Inquiry

“…Duxbury, Higgins, Smart, and Stevenson (2014) divided smartphone users into three groups: segmentors, who only used smartphones during work hours; integrators, who used their smartphones for work and nonwork activities with no space limitations; and struggling segmentors, who did not prefer to use smartphones during nonwork time, but felt they were expected to do so by their organizations. Choroszewicz and Kay (2019) built upon this work by studying mobile technology use among male lawyers and identified three boundary management styles-struggling segmentors, struggling integrators, and integrators-that was associated with varying models of fatherhood and family. Some scholars have studied the ICT users' communicative boundary management that involves handling expectations of other people in the work or family domain (Caporael & Xie, 2003;Derks, van Duin, Tims, & Bakker, 2015;Gadeyne, Verbruggen, Delanoeije, & De Cooman, 2018;Hislop & Axtell, 2011).…”

“…These studies can be divided into two categories. One group of studies considered ICTs as boundary‐influencing features (Siegert & Löwstedt, 2019) and reported ICTs’ effects on individual preferences for managing their work‐nonwork boundary (e.g., Choroszewicz & Kay, 2019; Park, Liu, & Headrick, 2020). A second group examined the correlational or predictive relationship between technological tool use and the work‐nonwork interface (i.e.…”