Work-life balance policy in the UK : gendered ICT workplaces and the culture of resentment

Keogh, C

Abstract

Previous studies have recognized the low adoption of corporate work-life
balance policies during a time when reports indicate the continual pressures of balancing
work and personal life. Alongside these stresses there is additional pressures for women
in the ICT labour market due to the continual 'culture of resentment' they face on a daily
basis, when they attempt to balance work and non work activities. This study aims to
provide a more comprehensive explanation of the phenomenon of the culture of
resentment than those currently available in work-life balance policy. This thesis
provides a critical review of the work-life balance literature which deliberates on
organisational and individual solutions and the belief that this method of analysing or
concentrating on work-life balance issues is the best way forward. The exclusion of
gender as a social structure or major force and the omission of the socio-political
environment in which work-life balance arrangements are made is at best inadequate.
This qualitative case study research was theoretically informed by critical and
feminist perspectives; it sought to investigate women's experiences within the context of
Information Communication Technology (ICT) organisations. Over a four year period,
in-depth interviews were conducted with thirty one women from the ICT profession, a
further 236 women took part via an on-line questionnaire survey. The findings from this
study revealed that women ICT professionals often feel lonely, angry and rejected.
Women are experiencing resentment from senior management, line managers, peers and
indeed other women working in the industry. A major implication from this study for
ICT as a profession relates to the need to create a discourse that values women as ICT
professionals.

Citation

Keogh, C. Work-life balance policy in the UK : gendered ICT workplaces and the culture of resentment. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 18, 2021
• Award Date: Feb 1, 2010