Social and family responsibility or self-interest? a case study of mothers' work ethos in a hospital and an accountancy firm
Edwards, R. and Callender, Claire and Reynolds, T. (2005) Social and family responsibility or self-interest? a case study of mothers' work ethos in a hospital and an accountancy firm. Community, Work & Family 8 (3), pp. 281-300. ISSN 1366-8803.
Abstract
Mothers’ increasing labour market participation is posed as a key aspect of a growing trend towards individualization — both for ill and for good. In ‘for ill’ versions, mothers’ employment is regarded as undermining commitment to family relationships and leading to a loss of community. In ‘for good’ versions, family and community relationships become contingent upon values of equality and respect. ‘Preference theory’ modifies the individualization thesis, with a posited distinction between mothers in full-time employment with ‘work-centred’ identities and those with part-time work who want ‘adaptive’ or ‘home-centred’ identities. This paper examines such issues, drawing on qualitative case study research on mothers employed full and part time in a hospital and an accountancy firm in the UK. It considers how the variable work ethos of organizations, and the ways mothers engage with these, can interact with their engagement in family and community relationships. In particular, it suggests that employment can be as much about social obligation in a local community, and commitment and obligations to family, as about individualized self-provision and options.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | mothers' employment, individualization, preference theory, family, community, work ethos |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Depositing User: | Sarah Hall |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Jun 2017 12:59 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:33 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/19048 |
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