Part-time Work Arrangements Research Articles

The Effect of Childcare Use on Gender Equality in European Labor Markets

Parenthood necessarily increases the scope of unpaid work in households and tends to depress women’s employment rates relative to men’s. This paper examines the relationship between the use of full-time childcare for children under 3 years of age and employment rates for men and women with one, two, or three or more children under 6 years of age in European households. Panel data from a sample of the (then) twenty-eight European Union member states for the 2005–15 period were analyzed. The results indicate that smaller differences between employment rates of men and women with one, two, or three or more children under 6 years of age are associated with greater use of full-time childcare arrangements for children under the age of 3. HIGHLIGHTS Traditional gender roles impose a greater burden of unpaid work on women than men. Parenthood widens the gap between women's and men's employment rates. The use of childcare reduces gender inequality in the labor market. Part-time work arrangements help women combine parenthood and employment. Long leaves have a negative impact on women's employment.

Forensic science and gendered organizations: an exploratory study of crime scene examiners

ABSTRACT Crime scene examination is uniquely positioned at the nexus of policing and forensic science. Although women are under-represented in policing organizations and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, they are reportedly well-represented in certain forensic disciplines. As a forensic discipline located within policing organizations, crime scene examination offers an interesting case study for an exploration of gender in the organizational context. In this exploratory study, in-depth interviews were undertaken with five male and four female crime scene examiners (CSEs) from two Australian policing organizations. Participants provided insights on various aspects of their work. Gender differences were evident in nuanced ways in some of these aspects. Female CSEs reported the importance of rank in circumventing differential treatment by colleagues outside the crime scene team. The uptake of part-time and flexible work arrangements differed in ways that reflect broader social trends, with negative impacts on careers borne by women with caring responsibilities. The findings highlight the gendered nature of organizations. Although some important steps have been made, gender equity is yet to be achieved. The article contributes to understanding the complexity of CSEs’ role and the impacts of gendered organizations. It identifies areas in need of further research.

How well has part-time work on return from maternity leave been accepted in the workplace? Learnings from allied health professional managers in Queensland Health.

Objective The aim of this study was to explore allied health professional (AHP) managers' implementation of the right to request part-time hours on return from maternity leave in Queensland Health (QH) hospitals. Methods Qualitative data were collected via interviews with AHP managers from a cross-section of professions with variations in workforce size and gender composition. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Results Twenty-one of a potential 40 AHP managers agreed to participate in the study (response rate 53%). The main finding was that the implementation of part-time work arrangements was being driven by regulation and work was being managed without complementary changes to established workplace practices or adequate organisational support. Conclusion The use of regulatory instruments to implement part-time work in organisations without complementary work redesign, change management and organisational support suggests that there are significant barriers to this type of flexible working arrangement (FWA) becoming accepted workplace practice for AHPs in QH. A whole-of-organisation approach is needed to make FWA a reality. What is known about the topic? Research has underlined the importance of implementation and management rather than simply the adoption of FWA policies. However, there have been few reports about AHP management of part-time hours on return from maternity leave. What does this paper add? This paper provides information specifically about the management response to part-time work entitlements for AHP in QH. It indicates that managers are implementing part-time work because it is a regulatory requirement, but often without a substantive commitment to FWA complementary redesign of services or sufficient organisational support. What are the implications for practitioners? Complementary work redesign measures and resources are needed to make workplaces genuinely flexible rather than just superficially consistent with regulatory requirements.

Policewomen’s Perceptions of Gender Equity Policies and Initiatives in Australia

This paper explores policewomen’s perceptions of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) initiatives including breastfeeding rooms, part-time and flexible work arrangements, and gender quotas. Drawing on interviews with 18 Australian policewomen, our analysis reveals that while policewomen recognize that good initiatives and policies exist, when workers attempt to access them, they are often met with resistance and resentment. Policewomen express concerns about quotas, fearing that they might translate to a loss of respect and credibility for women workers. Our research aims to create a more nuanced understanding of how EEO policies are practiced within policing and considers possibilities for future policies.

The labor market in the Netherlands, 2001–2016

The Netherlands is an example of a highly institutionalized labor market that places considerable attention on equity concerns. The government and social partners (unions and industry associations) seek to adjust labor market arrangements to meet the challenges of increased international competition, stronger claims on labor market positions by women, and the growing population share of immigrants and their children. The most notable developments since 2001 are the significant rise in part-time and flexible work arrangements as well as rising inequalities.

There and Back Again The Performance Evaluation Effects of Going to and Returning from Part-Time Status

Using data from a Big 4 professional services firm, I examine the performance evaluation score penalties associated with part-time working arrangements. First, I establish that performance evaluation scores (1) suffer for employees working part-time, and (2) rebound when part-timers return to full-time status. Prior research suggests that some of this penalty is attributable to supervisors’ heuristics creating a bias against part-timers, who supervisors often assume are less committed employees. I find that these performance evaluation score penalties are minimized and rebounds are maximized when supervisors have better information about part-time workers’ quality (i.e., when part-timers work on smaller teams or have long tenures in their role), perhaps because in these settings supervisors are less likely to rely on negatively biased heuristics relating to part-time workers. I also establish the importance of performance evaluation scores to part-timers, as relative to full-timers, part-timers’ bonuses perhaps rely more on performance evaluation scores (in line with an availability bias). Together, these findings shed light on strategies that can ease work-life conflicts for employees, as well as help employers better deploy human resources and evaluate employee performance.

Flexibility trap – the effects of flexible working on the position of female professionals and managers within a corporate environment

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyse the experience of female part-time professionals with employee and managerial positions with the utilisation of flexible work arrangements in a corporate environment in the country with a full-time dominated work culture. The data represent a rare case study of the work environment in a Czech branch of one multinational company. This paper focusses on the position of female employees working part-time in professional and managerial positions. The reason for such an arrangement is their attempt to combine career and care for pre-school children. This paper evaluates the effects of flexible work policies in an environment where part-time work for female professionals is rarely available and, therefore, precious. In particular, this paper discusses conditions under which these arrangements are available and its impact on gender equality. Design/methodology/approach – The paper represents a rare case-study of an organisational environment. The seven analysed interviews derive from a larger study on the corporate environment which included 35 interviews and a series of participatory observations. In the analysis, the following questions are discussed: What is the position of employees working within flexible working arrangements in a specific corporate culture? Which aspects of flexible working arrangements affect the professional recognition and evaluation of the employees? To what extent and how do flexible working arrangements affect employee satisfaction with their working and private lives? Findings – The data reveal the diverse and often subtle forms of discrimination and exploitation of working mothers, who use the flexible working arrangement as a work-family reconciliation strategy. Female employees working with alternative working arrangements do not have equal bargaining power in comparison to other employees, regardless of whether they are professionals, and sometimes in managerial positions. At the formal level, the part-time professionals are restricted in pay and in access to the company benefits. In the informal relations within the workplace, their work lacks of sufficient recognition of colleagues and superiors. Overall, part-time work for female professionals and managers leads to an entrapment between the needs of their family and the expectations of their employer. Practical implications – The research reveals the practical limitation in introducing policies the work-life reconciliation policies. The results show the need to focus on promoting better conditions for employees working part-time. Also, it shows that managerial and highly demanding professional positions can be executed on a part-time basis if the work environment is open towards accepting this arrangement. Moreover, the findings outline the possibilities of developing workplace practices in the Czech Republic in a woman-friendly direction. Social implications – Specific legislative arrangements should be enacted, providing better protection for employees in non-standard employment. At the same time, the incentives for employers to enable part-time working arrangements should be provided. Originality/value – The amount of research on female professionals working part-time or from home is rather limited in context of the post-communist countries. The paper discusses the “double” tokenism of the women working in the leadership positions and at the same time in flexible working arrangements in the full-time working culture.

To work or not shouldn't be a question.

We are a two-scientist couple, an Austrian and a German, both with experience working in the United States. So we read with great interest the Working Life story in which Michelle Gabriele Sandrian, an American, shared her experience working as a postdoc in Austria while starting a family. (You can read it in Science at .) Sandrian was happy to start a family in a place where she and her husband could take time off to care for their new baby. Sandrian and her family had a positive experience—we're glad about that—but that doesn't mean Austria's policies are good for women's careers. In Austria—Germany is much the same—many people don't have kids. Professional women tend not to have children, and women who do have children tend not to work or to work only part time. Men who have kids often have wives who stay at home. ![Figure][1] “Professional women tend not to have children.” ILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER Austria ranks 68th in equality of economic participation and opportunity in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report , below Russia, Kazakhstan, and Brunei. In the United States, which ranks fourth, 3.2% of corporate CEOs are women–hardly impressive, but that's well above Europe's 2.4%, as reported in 2013 by the European Commission. As of 2012, when the data for the commission's report were collected, no major corporation in Austria had a woman as CEO. Not one. Why are women leaders so rare in a society with such generous family-leave policies? Austria's conservative culture is partly to blame, but the blame should be shared by the policies. For women, the Elternkarenz , which pays parents to stay home for up to 3 years in Germany and up to 2 years in Austria, is the best career killer one could imagine. And child care for young children is hard to find and usually covers only part of the day. My sister working in Germany may have to give up a career in surgery because her day care recently decided to close at 3:30 p.m. She has no alternatives. Long absences from work make women less competitive. They return to the office or the lab after a long leave to find that former colleagues have left them far behind. These policies affect all women, not just those who take long leaves. During the paid absence of a young parent, no employer may hire a permanent replacement. Because women are much more likely than men to take long parental leaves, employers have a strong incentive to hire men. Europe's equal-employment laws make such discrimination illegal, but employers discriminate anyway, as many young women in science and medicine can attest. How can the situation be improved? Women should continue to have sufficient time off, with pay, as they adjust to being mothers. But parental leaves need not last for years; Sandrian took just 5 months off before going back to work. Policies should encourage or require fathers to do their share; Norway, one of the most successful countries in Europe in terms of women's advancement, expects fathers to take off at least 10 weeks. More men taking more time off should reduce hiring bias and, as a bonus, encourage fathers to take on a greater share of the domestic burden, yielding benefits for women's careers for years to come. Most importantly, mothers need to be able to return to work sooner without having to worry about their babies, so high-quality subsidized, flexible, full-day child care needs to be more widely available for younger children. Part-time work arrangements should be available, too, but the laws should strongly encourage men to take equal advantage. If we wish to facilitate equal success for women in science, medicine, and other careers, changes in society are needed. Both women and men should demand policies that support mothers who choose to work and encourage their partners to take on their fair share of the domestic load. Time off is not the issue; we need to put policies in place that help women work. [1]: pending:yes

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Exclusive Breastfeeding among Lactating Mothers, Mizan Aman Town, Southwestern Ethiopia: Descriptive Cross Sectional Study

Background: Breast milk not only is an ideal nutrition for the infant, but also can protect against some diseases. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the best nutrition for the children during the first 6 months of life. However EBF remains a challenge. The aim of the study was to assess Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards exclusive breastfeeding among Lactating mothers in Mizan Aman town, South West Ethiopia. Methods: A Community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 350 mothers in Mizan Aman town, South West Ethiopia, in April 2015 using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire using ‘recall since birth’ method. Systematic random sampling was used to select the study participants and descriptive statistics was carried out using SPSS for windows version 20.0. Results: Three hundred and fourteen mothers with their index child less than 2 years were enrolled. Even though 93.6% of study participants had ever heard about EBF only about 34.7% were knowledgeable with recommended duration. About 89.5% of have positive attitude but only 59.3% believe that only EBF is enough for child up to 6 months and EBF on child less than six months was about 26.4%. Conclusion: In this study even though majority of mothers were knowledgeable about EBF and have positive attitude towards EBF, knowledge with recommended duration of EBF, attitude of mothers towards sufficiency of EBF and EBF for 6 months was found to be low. This study concluded poor knowledge and practice to EBF for the first six months postpartum. So that improving access to information on recommended infant feeding and fulfilling the minimum enabling conditions the WHO advocated such as paid maternity leave, part-time work arrangements, facilities for expressing and storing breast milk and breastfeeding breaks for women in paid employment is recommended.

"Examining the Relationship among Part-Time Work Arrangements, Job Satisfaction, and Work Effort"

This study investigates the relationship among preference for full-time employment, primacy of part-time employment, and work-related outcomes in a nationally representative sample of part-time college instructors. Results based on multilevel cross-classified random effects models indicate that part-time faculty who prefer full-time positions report working on average more hours per week and express greater work-related dissatisfaction than those who choose reduced work hours. Individuals whose part-time jobs are their primary jobs have less job satisfaction but work longer hours than those who treat part-time work as secondary. Finally, those who prefer full-time employment report more negative job satisfaction when the primacy of part-time their jobs is high.

Part-time work: Atypical? Precarious? Normal?

There is no consensus among scholars about whether part-time work is an alerting signal of an on-going fragmentation of the labour market and of the rise in atypical working arrangements or whether it should be defined as a normal working condition as it is already fully embedded in social and labour legislation. According to the common definition of a normal, standard working condition, part-time work should be treated as atypical work. But does that also automatically make it precarious? This article starts with an overview of developments in flexibilisation and a status-quo analysis of the part-time working arrangements in Austria as a sign of labour market flexibilisation. It continues with a contention of whether part-time work as an atypical working arrangement is automatically linked to precarious working and living conditions. Using Austria as a starting point, this article closes by approaching a crucial question for all European labour markets: What form do future part-time work arrangements need to take in order to be considered “normal” from an employee’s point of view? This article concludes with the assertion that discussions on the future of part-time work should not be driven by questions of definition. Rather, it would be more productive for further research to focus on offering scope for freedom of choice and social security for part-time employees.

Medicine an evolving profession

The number of medical practitioners in the developed world has increased but in relative terms their incomes have decreased. Published comments suggest that some doctors are dissatisfied with what they earn. However doctors are still perceived as having a high status in society. Publicly available data suggests that doctors chose to live and work in affluent suburbs where arguably the need for their skills is less than that in neighbouring deprived areas. The gender balance in medicine is also changing with more women entering the workforce and a greater acceptance of parttime working arrangements. In some countries doctors have relinquished the responsibility for emergency out of hours care in general practice and personal continuity of care is no longer on offer. The profession is also challenged by policy makers' enthusiasm for guidelines while the focus on multidisciplinary teamwork makes it more likely that patients will routinely be able to consult professionals other than medical practitioners. At the same time the internet has changed patient expectations so that health care providers will be expected to deploy information technology to satisfy patients. Medicine still has a great deal to offer. Information may be readily available on the internet, but it is not an independently sufficient, prerequisite for people to contend with the physical and psychological distress associated with disease and disability. We need to understand and promote the crucial role doctors play in society at a time of tremendous change in the attitudes to, and within, the profession.

Job Satisfaction, In-Role Behavior, and Extra-Role Efforts: A Study of Part-time College Professors

This study examines whether dimensions of part-time work arrangements (i.e., voluntariness, primacy, and stability) predict workers’ job satisfaction, in-role performance, and extra-role performanc...

The Nature And Consequences Of Part-Time Work: A Test Of Hypotheses

This study investigated hypotheses developed by Feldman (1990) regarding the impact of different types of part-time working arrangements on various attitudes, behaviors, and chosen frames of reference. Using data collected from 240 part-time workers employed by a supermarket chain, significant differences across the types of part-time work arrangements were found. For example, permanent as opposed to temporary part-time employees were more satisfied with and committed to their organizations. Further, students are more likely to consider themselves temporary and voluntary part-time employees than are non-students. Additional findings are discussed and needs for future research are noted.

A Work-Life Identity Model of Well-Being: Towards a Research Agenda Linking Quality-of-Work-Life (QWL) Programs with Quality of Life (QOL)

QWL is conceptualized in terms of the interface between employee role identities and work resources. QWL programs serve to enhance QOL by (1) providing appropriate work resources to meet the expectations of employee role identities, (2) reducing role conflict in work and non-work life, (3) enhancing multiple role identities, (4) reducing role demands, (5) reducing stress related to work and non-work role identities, and (6) increasing the value of the role identity. We describe a variety of QWL programs related to work life (decentralized organization structures, teamwork, parallel structures, ethical corporate mission and culture, the organization work schedule, etc.) and non-work life (work at home, flextime, compressed work week, part-time work arrangements, job sharing, etc.) and show how they serve to enhance QOL using the language of work-life identity. Doing so helps develop a research agenda based on the work-life identify model.

Part-time working in psychiatry in Northern Ireland

Aims and MethodTo establish the proportion of psychiatrists in Northern Ireland who currently work part-time and the proportion of those working fulltime who wish to work part-time. A postal questionnaire was forwarded to psychiatrists and repeated 30 months later.ResultsIn 2004, only 18.3% of respondents were working part-time, and 26.8% in 2006. A great majority stated their intent was to always work part-time, the most frequent reason being to achieve work–life balance.Clinical ImplicationsA significant number of staff working part-time will have implications for the staffing of the service. Policy makers must plan for the adequate provision of part-time working arrangements.

After the Baby: A Qualitative Study of Working-Time Arrangements Following Maternity Leave

ABSTRACT To date, the issue of part-time work for women returning after the baby has received little attention in the working-time research and debates. In order to address this particular aspect of the work and family conundrum, this article draws on research in two large Australian organisations and explores the various factors within each organisation that limit the ‘practical availability’ of part-time work arrangements on return from maternity leave. The analysis highlights the importance of the broader organisational and gender context as well as the influence of each organisation's working-time norms on the construction and definition of part-time hours. Both organisations are male-dominated and any specific interest female employees may have in work-family benefits sits outside the dominant workplace norms of full-time work and a long working-hours culture.

Working Families: The Transformation of the American Home

Preface Introduction by Rosanna Hertz and Nancy L. Marshall PART ONE: Changing Families 1. The Rise of the Dual-Worker Family, 1963-1997, by Linda J. Waite and Mark Nielsen 2. Gendered Careers: A Life Course Perspective, by Phyllis Moen and Shin-Kap Han3. Getting Younger While Getting Older: Family-Building at Midlife, by Lillian B. Rubin 4. Men's Family Work: Child-Centered Fathering and the Sharing of Domestic Labor, by Scott Coltrane and Michele Adams PART TWO: Changing Workplaces 5. Family-Responsive Benefits and the Two-Tiered Labor Market, by Cynthia H. Deitch and Matt L. Huffman 6. How Are Small Businesses Responding to Work and Family Issues? by Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes and Leon Litchfield 7. Part-Time Work Arrangements and the Corporation: A Dynamic Interaction, by Marcia Brumit Kropf 8. Toward a New View of Work and Family Life, by Ellen Galinsky 9. Work, Family, and Globalization: Broadening the Scope of Policy Analysis, by Harriet E. Gross PART THREE: Heartstrings and Pursestrings: Gendered Views from Within 10. Changing the Structure and Culture of Work: Work-Family Conflict, Work Flexibility, and Gender Equity in the Modern Workplace, by Kathleen Gerson and Jerry A. Jacobs 11. Workplace Policies and the Psychological Well-Being of First-Time Parents: The Case of Working-Class Families, by Heather-Lyn Haley, Maureen Perry-Jenkins, and Amy Armenia 12. Work, Family, and Gender in Medicine: How Do Dual-Earners Decide Who Should Work Less? by Lena M. Lundgren, Jennifer Fleischer-Cooperman, Robert Schneider, and Therese Fitzgerald 13. From Babysitters to Child Care Providers: The Development of a Feminist Consciousness in Family Day Care Workers, by Heather M. Fitz Gibbon PART FOUR: Children's Experiences 14. Children, Work, and Family: Some Thoughts on Mother Blame, by Anita Ilta Garey and Terry Arendell 15. The Kinderdult: The New Child Born to Conflict between Work and Family, by Diane Ehrensaft 16. Passing between the Worlds of Maid and Mistress: The Life Story of a Mexican Maid's Daughter, by Mary Romero 17. Eavesdropping Children, Adult Deals, and Cultures of Care, by Arlie Russell Hochschild 18. Pick-Up Time at Oakdale Elementary School: Work and Family from the Vantage Points of Children, by Barrie Thorne Contributors Index

Organizational Paradigms Of Reduced-Load Work: Accommodation, Elaboration, And Transformation

This study examines variation in organizational responses to part-time work arrangements among professionals and managers. Analyses of over 350 interviews generated three paradigms of differences i...

Characterizing Pharmacy Part-Time Practice

Objectives(1) To characterize pharmacists who work part-time and compare them with pharmacists who work a secondary part-time job (moonlighters) with respect to their motivations for working in a part-time job, and (2) to identify the set of characteristics that best describes pharmacists engaged in each of the part-time work arrangements under study. DesignA five-page questionnaire was mailed to 3,002 licensed pharmacists nationwide. Two follow-up surveys were sent to nonrespondents at the fifth and ninth weeks from the original mailout to ensure an adequate response rate. ResultsThe net response rate was 57% (n = 1,637). Assessment of the sample did not detect any potential nonresponse bias. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents reported working full time, 13% were moonlighters, 14% were part-timers, and 5% were part-timers in more than one job. Reasons for working part-time were analyzed for the moonlighter and part-timer subsamples. A principal components analysis revealed that both groups have distinct motivations for selecting their chosen work arrangement. ConclusionThis study provides some insight into those factors affecting pharmacists' decisions to engage in two different types of part-time work. Since pharmacists' alternative work schedules can have repercussions on the quality of pharmacy being practiced, further research on pharmacists' work arrangement choices should provide useful information for work force-related endeavors.