Abstract
Objective: This paper pursues the question as to how extended flexible working possibilities in the labor market are legitimized among employers and employees and whether they have potential to mitigate inequalities.
 Background: Persistent and increasing gendered inequalities in Austria are reflected in the unequal division of unpaid family work in parental couples and in men’s stable full-time employment while women increasingly work part-time. In recent years, employers have expanded flexible working possibilities for all employees, regardless of their gender, also in leading positions and especially for those with family responsibilities.
 Method: We conducted six focus groups and 16 semi-structured interviews with employers (n=30) and employees (n=25) from 29 contrasting companies across Austria. An in-depth reconstructive analysis facilitated our exploration of collective notions and concepts associated with flexible work and career opportunities.
 Results: The respondents constructed part-time and flexible work as a new norm strongly connected to women with (potential) children. At the same time, employers and employees legitimized that these women must be protected from penalties resulting from the ideal worker norm still in force and must be variously supported by employers. However, men – the partners of women they could support by making use of these options and taking over childcare – are not constructed as a target group.
 Conclusion: In a cultural context such as Austria, family-friendly flexible working opportunities perpetuate rather than level gendered inequalities, as men’s need for those opportunities do not emerge in the constructions. The lack thereof is neither explicitly addressed nor challenged.
Highlights
The unequal division of paid work and care work between women and men is evident across many European countries, albeit to different extents
The growing labor market participation of women in Austria over the past decades has changed the unequal division of labor among couples
Pronounced gender inequalities persist in the private sphere, e.g., regarding time use and adjustments in paid work, as well as in the labor market, e.g., increasing differences in part-time employment
Summary
The unequal division of paid work and (unpaid) care work between women and men is evident across many European countries, albeit to different extents. Studies on gendered time investment in paid work (and, family work) and the impact of cultural norms at workplaces in German-speaking countries have concentrated on specific companies’ cultures. It is not yet clear whether and how these constructions come into being in the working sphere as collective knowledge, how they may be relevant to employers’ strategies in the ways they support their employees and – vice versa – to the ways in which employees organize their working hours. Despite new norms and manifold options of working for both genders, our results unfold markedly the mechanisms that are perpetuating persisting gendered inequalities in paid and family work rather than enabling change towards a more equal division of labor
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