NEWS & INSIGHT
WORKING FROM HOME LEAVES ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT ON GENDER EQUALITY SCHOOL : Durham University Business School COUNTRY : UK
Since its rapid rise during the time of the pandemic, the practice of working from home has increasingly been put forward as a means of combatting gender inequality in the workplace. However, new research questions if working from home affects men and women in the same way. In a study conducted by Menghan Shen, an MSc in information management student at the University of Sheffield, together with associate professor of information systems at Durham University Business School Efpraxia Zamani, it was discovered that women experience a blur between the boundaries of their professional and personal lives more regularly than men. Specifically, as a result of placing a high value on being present for their families, women were found to be more likely to juggle family responsibilities while working than men, leading to frequent disruptions during work hours, higher levels of stress and reduced productivity. Conversely, men were more likely to manage to achieve a distinct separation between their work and family time and were much less willing to disrupt their work schedules to address family needs.
Despite the findings’ implications, the researchers emphasised that working from home is not inherently detrimental to women. “The greater flexibility that working from home provides has empowered women to bridge much of the gender gap in the workplace,” countered Zamani. “However, our findings show that there’s still a need for more shared responsibilities in the family home if we are to achieve true equality in both work and family life, as women are currently taking on a similar burden in work, but a greater burden at home.” The researchers believe that remote workers should be given adequate support and access to tools and systems that can help them manage their own boundaries. They also highlight the potential of enabling flexible working patterns so that those working at home can accommodate the demands of work and family life effectively. EB
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Ambition | OCTOBER 2024 | 11
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