This summary is provided by the IPR Organizational Communication Research Center
Dr. Sarah Jane Blithe analyzed the challenges of work-life balance and mothering. The research explores the development of work-friendly child spaces and points to deeper implications about the work and parenting expectations of mothers.
A two-year ethnography totaling in 145 hours of observation was conducted in 2020-2022.
Key findings include:
1.) Women often used the work-friendly child spaces as a means of balancing the demands of paid work with parenting responsibilities.
2.) Work-friendly child spaces ultimately perpetuated deep-rooted structural inequalities and unrealistic expectations of ideal motherhood and worker norms.
3.) Working mothers found innovative ways to utilize parks and gyms as places for work while parenting.
Find the original study here.
