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In search of family-friendly careers? Professional strategies, work conditions and gender differences in work-family conflict

Bibliographic Data

ID2172425
AuthorsAnne Grönlund (0000-0002-7680-334X, Umeå University), Ida Öun (0000-0002-8414-8381, Umeå University)
Year2018
Volume21
Issue1
Pages87-105
Publication date2018-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCommunity Work & Family (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1366-8803 • E-ISSN: 1469-3615
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13668803.2017.1375460
OpenAlexW2777773864
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited56

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether women in a dual-earner context acquire family-friendly jobs as a strategy to keep work–family conflict down. The analysis is based on a survey of newly graduated highly educated men and women in five occupations in Sweden (n ≈ 2400). The sample was stratified by occupation and gender to minimize the influence of factors other than gender. The results show that women are more family-oriented, but also more career-oriented than men in their professional strategies. In their jobs, women have less control over work and schedules than men but a similar level of work demands. However, women face lower requirements for employer flexibility (e.g. frequent over time) and this is related to their professional strategies. Finally, women report a higher level of work–family conflict than men in the same occupation, but this gender difference becomes non-significant when accounting for women's lower level of control. In sum, women in this sample clearly aim for both family and career and do not acquire family-friendly jobs, but aim to avoid 'family-unfriendly' requirements for constant availability. To some extent, this enables them to limit their work–family conflict but due to their lower control over work, women still experience more conflict than men in the same occupation

Family conflict · Family-friendly · Sociology · Work (physics · Work–family conflict · Engineering · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Work-Family Balance Challenges · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works18
Citations per year3
Citation span2020 - 2026 (7)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 17
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