33 research outputs found
Working it out: balancing work and care after the birth of a first child
No full textWomen in contemporary western economies have more options and more pressures to combine work with family responsibilities in the early years of motherhood. This chapter examines how these options are exercised as women make decisions about re-entry to the workforce following the birth of their first child. We present an analysis of data from a cohort of Australian women. The data were tracked longitudinally from pregnancy until their first child was 18 months old to identify patterns of approach and salient factors of influence as they negotiate the dual challenges of re-entry to the workforce and finding acceptable childcare. Mothers’ work intentions were mapped against actual return behaviour with return assessed at 6, 12 and 18 months after the birth of their child. Early returns were associated with jobs that offered less provision for maternity leave and availability of familiar trustworthy childcare. All mothers had high satisfaction levels with motherhood and their mothering role. However, working and non-working mothers rated the costs and benefits of maternal employment differently. Working mothers were more likely to see maternal employment as increasingly beneficial and less costly across the first 18 months of their child’s life. Each generation of parents faces different challenges in finding the balance between work and care. In this contemporary sample of mothers, the majority returned to work and adapted to the new reality of work options, which were somewhat different from their pre-parenthood ideals
Reframing Work-Life Interface Stressors as Challenges
No full textWhile our first book in this trilogy on resilience, resourcefulness, coping and recovery is focused more on the positivist outlook on life’s challenges, and the third book walks us through the heavy going of surviving trauma, this book focuses more on the 'know how', intra and inter psychically, about particular events that occur in life and how and why individuals react to them in different ways. Whether it is about internal resources, knowing how to tap into external resources, or how we determine that we are on the right path in life, this book examines interesting ideas and studies in the field of coping and survival. [Book Synopsis
Age and Experience: A Comparison of Work and Family Demands Across the Lifespan
No full textThis chapter explores the effects of work and family roles amongst employed Australian women employees, who varied by age (young to adult) and presence (or not) of children. The women were employed mostly in full-time, permanent jobs, although a third of mothers of the youngest children had part-time positions. Despite the differences in working hours, the women reported similar working conditions and levels of satisfaction with their jobs and family lives. Work-life balance was also similar for the women, even for busy mothers of young children, who had more negative family-to-work spillover, and busy mothers of primary school-aged children, who had higher levels of negative work-to-family spillover. For the latter, this may reflect the challenges of returning to full-time working hours whilst caring for children who were not yet independent. Surprisingly, the higher occupational role salience of younger women without children was associated with more emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Mothers of adult children showed the most robust, positive outcomes, with greater work engagement and less burnout than women without children, than mothers of primary school children, and less negative spillover between roles. Whilst younger children made mothers busier and increased negative spillover, mothers of older children benefited from their experiences and had gained competence and engagement in work in later life
Promoting Adult Resilience (PAR): Participant Workbook
No full textThe RAP-A Workbook comprises all of the handouts required for the program's individual and group activities. A Participant Workbook is required for each adolescent to write in, and keep at the end of the program
Introduction: key issues on women who work
No full textThe concept of gender can be very prescriptive in outlining the pathways of a person’s life and can influence the distribution of roles that they occupy, through gender role stereotypes and societal expectations. More recent research about women and their work and family roles has shown that gender is a more fluid and dynamic construct than one based on reproductive ability or identity. The resources that women have available to them impact on their well-being in all facets of their lives and influence the balance that can be achieved between work and non-work activities. This volume explores women’s experiences in many diverse settings and economic situations, as they negotiate between work and non-work activities. The chapters include refugee women in Jordon and mid-level executives in Bangladesh, women employed part-time and as academics in the UK, women executives experiencing the ‘glass cliff’, and explore work-life balance and the challenges for mothers of very young children and adolescents. Finally, the effects of physiology on working women are explored through menstruation and menopause. In each chapter, women have shown agency in shaping their own lives and are resourceful in how they manage the challenges that they face
Can a childcare practicum encourage degree qualified staff to enter the childcare workforce?
No full textConcern to ensure that all children have access to high-quality educational experiences in the early years of life has instigated policies to increase the qualifications of staff in the childcare workforce, and in particular, to increase the number of degree qualified teachers. However, existing data suggests that employment in childcare is viewed less favourably than alternatives in the education sector by those undertaking Early Childhood Education degrees. For most, childcare is not a preferred place of employment. This study asked whether a practicum in a childcare setting would improve attitudes towards childcare and willingness to work in childcare settings. In a study of a cohort of Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) students, measures of attitudes to childcare and willingness to work in childcare were taken before and after practicum. Additionally, students provided accounts of their practicum experiences. Results indicate a trend in which there was a group increase in positive attitudes and willingness to consider work in childcare, but considerable individual differences influenced by the quality of the practicum experience. The relationship with, and model provided by, centre directors and group leaders in the practicum class was identified as a key influencing factor. Results are discussed in term of models of pedagogical leadership
Longitudinal modelling of the influence of individual differences and the workplace on well-being and work engagement
No full textInterest and research in personality and individual differences, in why people behave the way they do and the implications for life and living, remain unabated around the world. Human beings are fascinating in how they are similar to one another and how they are different. The similarities and differences underpin many implicit and espoused theories of behaviour and of personal and professional practice, informing the decisions that we all make on what we will do and when. This book, with contributions from leading researchers, writers and practitioners from Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and further afield, is a snapshot of where we are currently. It demonstrates emphases on theoretical models and on clinical, forensic, organisational, crosscultural and cross-ideological research. The studies presented in this book range from examining the effects of the stars - the seasons and dates of birth - to the professional drivers of research that are related to efforts to make a difference for the wellbeing and survival of our world, whether as individuals or in groups at leisure and at work. [Book Synopsis
Mastery or Misery: Conflict Between Separated Parents a Psychological Burden for Children
No full textThis qualitative research examined parenting, parental conflict, and parent–child relationships following separation in the context of Australian government reform in 2006 and subsequent changes to the Family Law Act (1975). Participants were English-speaking men and women, age 16 to 27 years. The research was guided by attachment theory and social conflict theory, and embedded in grounded theory. The Cooperative Competitive Parental Conflict model emerged from the data. Two factors moderated the parent–child relationship: emotional security and responsive parenting. The research found it was not parental conflict, but how parental conflict was handled, that created the psychological burden for a child
The Relevance of Menopause to the Occupational Safety and Health of Employed Women
No full textThere are increasing numbers of older women in the workforce, for whom menopause, a natural part of their life cycle, is especially relevant during this time. While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and other treatments have improved many women’s lives, there has been less consideration of menopause as an occupational safety and health (OSH) issue and as a work-related stressor. Menopause could have poor mental and physical health consequences, with one consequence, depression, generally linked to poorer interpersonal relationships with colleagues and decreased work satisfaction and performance. A large sample of employed women in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) completed an online survey that measured personal resources, workplace conditions, and how well women believed their workplace responded to menopausal symptoms, in addition to their mental health, well-being and performance at work. Whilst a poorer experience of menopause was linked to poor mental health; personal resources and better workplace conditions acted as buffers for menopause, and improved job and life satisfaction and work performance. Identifying the risks in the workplace that either increased the demands on the women (e.g., an inflexible environment) or reduced the resources (e.g., less autonomy and social support) available to them during menopause, highlighted their OSH concerns and provided suggestions to reduce any negative impacts these may have on women in the workplace
Being on PAR: Outcomes of a Pilot Trial to Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace With the Promoting Adult Resilience (PAR) Program
No full textThere is an urgent need to find strategies to promote positive mental health in the workplace. The current study presents outcomes of a pilot trial of the Promoting Adult Resilience (PAR) program, an innovative mental health promotion program, which is conducted in the workplace over 11 weekly sessions. The PAR program is a strengths-based resilience-building program that integrates interpersonal and cognitive–behaviour therapy (CBT) perspectives. Pre-, post- and follow-up measures on 20 PAR participants from a resource-sector company were compared with a non-intervention-matched comparison group. At follow-up, the PAR group had maintained significant post-test improvements in coping self-efficacy and lower levels of stress and depression, and reported greater work-life fit than the comparison group. The program appeared to be ecologically valid and treatment integrity was maintained. Process evaluations of PAR program showed that skills were rated highly and widely used in everyday life at both post and follow-up measurement times
