Work–family research employing nationally representative samples and multiple methods of data collection is uncommon. We used data from two affiliated national surveys to examine the distribution of work–family spillover among working adults. The National Study of Daily Experiences (n= 741), an 8-day daily diary study using a subsample of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS; N= 2,130), allowed work–family spillover to be conceptualized and operationalized in different ways. Analyses testing family life course hypotheses indicated that self-reported negative and positive spillover between work and family were not randomly distributed within the labor force. Age was found to have a persistent curvilinear effect on negative spillover between work and family. The prevalence of co-occurring work and family stress reported over 8 days was comparable across nearly all the sociodemographic characteristics.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3700296.pdf

Work–Family Spillover and Daily Reports of Work and Family Stress in the Adult Labor Force†

Work–life issues have important implications at both organizational and individual levels. This paper provides a critical review of the work–life literature from 1990 onwards through the lens of diversity, with a particular focus on disparities of power induced by methodological and conceptual framings of work and life. The review seeks to answer the following questions: What are the gaps and omissions in the work–life research? How may they be overcome? To answer these questions, the review scrutinizes blind spots in the treatment of life, diversity and power in work–life research in both positivist and critical scholarship. In order to transcend the blind spots in positivist and critical work–life research, the review argues the case for an intersectional approach which captures the changing realities of family and workforce through the lens of diversity and intersectionality. The theoretical contribution is threefold: first, the review demonstrates that contemporary framing of life in the work–life literature should be expanded to cover aspects of life beyond domestic life. Second, the review explains why and how other strands of diversity than gender also manifest as salient causes of difference in experiences of the work–life interface. Third, the review reveals that social and historical context has more explanatory power in work–life dynamics than the micro-individual level of explanations. Work–life literature should capture the dynamism in these contexts. The paper also provides a set of useful recommendations to capture and operationalize methodological and theoretical changes required in the work–life literature.

/pdf/work-life-diversity-and-intersectionality-a-critical-review-5ee90yltv7.pdf

Work–Life, Diversity and Intersectionality: A Critical Review and Research Agenda

In many developed economies, changing demographics and economic conditions have given rise to increasingly competitive labour markets, where competition for good employees is strong. Consequently, strategic investments
in attracting suitably qualified and skilled employees are recommended. One such strategy is employer branding. Employer branding in the context of recruitment is the package of psychological, economic, and functional benefits
that potential employees associate with employment with a particular company. Knowledge of these perceptions can help organisations to create an attractive and competitive employer brand. Utilising information economics and signalling theory, we examine the nature and consequences of employer branding. Depth interviews reveal that job seekers evaluate: the attractiveness of employers based on any previous direct work experiences with the employer or in the sector; the clarity, credibility, and consistency of the potential employers’ brand signals; perceptions of the employers’ brand investments; and perceptions of the employers’ product or service brand portfolio.

Employer branding : strategic implications for staffrecruitment

Existing research shows that women’s employment patterns are not driven so much by gender as by motherhood, with childless people and fathers employed at substantially higher levels than mothers in most countries. We focus on the cross-national variation in the gap in employment participation and working hours between mothers and childless women. Controlling for individual- and household-level factors, we provide evidence that institutional and cultural contexts shape maternal employment. Well-paid leaves, publicly supported childcare services for very young children, and cultural support for maternal employment predict smaller differences in employment participation and working hours between mothers and childless women. Yet, extended leave, notably when unpaid, is associated with larger motherhood employment gaps.

Cultural and Institutional Factors Shaping Mothers' Employment and Working Hours in Postindustrial Countries

Germany: From Collective Voice to Co-management

The aim of this article is to explore the influence of single agents on gender equity in organizations. In our qualitative study, we focus on works councillors as equal opportunity agents in large profit organizations in Austria, because of their unique institutional position regarding organizational change in the direction of gender equity. This study is based on the concept of social positioning within the theory of structuration (Giddens 1992). We organize our empirical material along Stones’ (2005) conception of the ‘quadripartite nature of structuration’, including external and internal structures, activities and outcomes. In the discussion of reasons for the rather limited impact equal opportunity active works councillors have on gender equity, we emphasize the constitutive approach of co-determination and a liberal concept of equal opportunity policies. Accordingly, works councillors broadly accept gendered structures in organizations and mainly deal with obvious, unfair (formal) procedures or individual cases of discrimination as the outcomes of these structures. Keywords: gender equity, works councillors, social positioning, structuration theory, Austria (JEL: J00, J59, J70, J83) ----- Der Einfluss von einzelnen Akteur/innen auf betriebliche Gleichstellungspolitik – am Beispiel von gleichstellungsaktiven Betriebsrat/innen in Osterreich Zusammenfassung Zielsetzung dieses Artikels ist es, den Einfluss von Gleichstellungsakteur/ innen auf Chancengleichheit der Geschlechter in Organisationen zu untersuchen. Grundlage dafur bilden qualitative Interviews mit gleichstellungsaktiven Betriebsrat/innen in grosen privatwirtschaftlichen Unternehmen in Osterreich. Wir konzentrieren uns auf Betriebsrat/ innen, da diese Akteur/innen institutionalisierte Moglichkeiten der Forderung, Kontrolle und Initiierung von Gleichstellungsmasnahmen in Organisationen haben. Den theoretischen Rahmen bildet das Konzept der sozialen Positionierung als Teil der Strukturationstheorie von Giddens (1992). Die Daten werden anhand der vier Dimensionen der ‘quadripartite nature of structuration’ (Stones 2005) organisiert: externe Strukturen, interne Strukturen, Aktivitaten und Ergebnisse. Die Grunde fur den von uns konstatierten geringen Einfluss gleichstellungsaktiver Betriebsrat/innen auf betriebliche Chancengleichheit der Geschlechter liegen vor allem in den institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen betrieblicher Mitbestimmung sowie eines liberalen Konzepts von Gleichstellungspolitik. Betriebsrat/innen akzeptieren weitgehend vorhandene geschlechtsspezifische Strukturen in Organisationen und agieren in erster Linie bei offensichtlich diskriminierenden Verfahren oder in einzelnen Fallen von Diskriminierungen.

The Impact of Single Agents on Gender Equityin Organizations – The Case of Austrian Equal Opportunity Active Works Councillors

What role do emotions play as a job seeker eyes up a potential employer? Our contribution to research into employer attractiveness explores the role that affective states play in potential applican...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2397002219854959

The role of affective states in potential applicants’ evaluations of employer attractiveness:

(dpa) In mehreren Betrieben der Metallindustrie im Tarifbereich Nordwurttemberg/Nordbaden kam es am Wochenbeginn zu „wilden Streiks“. Wie ein Sprecher der Streikenden in einer Pressekonferenz sagte, sei ein Hauptgrund der Arbeitsniederlegung der von den Unternehmen enorm erhohte Qualifizierungsdruck auf die Beschaftigten.

Mikropolitische Perspektiven der Personalentwicklung

Die Verteilungsoption in Kollektivverträgen der österreichischen Industrie : ein erfolgreiches Instrument organisierter Dezentralisierung?

This article focuses on the reception of consequences of the current economic crisis on the system of co-determination. Co-determination in Austria is based on relatively strong legal rights; however, participation has to be seen as an immanent social process. Therefore, co-determination depends on social acceptance within organisations as well as acceptance and support by public opinion. We highlight some aspects of the interdependence between works councils and economic crisis with the theoretical framework of the theory of structuration (Giddens 1979) and focus on social positioning, knowledgeability and learning.

Manfred Auer

Papers

The Impact of Single Agents on Gender Equityin Organizations – The Case of Austrian Equal Opportunity Active Works Councillors

The role of affective states in potential applicants’ evaluations of employer attractiveness:

Mikropolitische Perspektiven der Personalentwicklung

Die Verteilungsoption in Kollektivverträgen der österreichischen Industrie : ein erfolgreiches Instrument organisierter Dezentralisierung?

Co-determination in Times of Economic Crisis: Changes in the Social Positioning of Works Councillors?