Dear Colleagues,

Neoliberal reforms continue to change the nature of the economy and of dynamics surrounding the engagement of workers across the globe (Connelly & Gallager, 2004; Dolan & Garcia, 2002; Kuschel, 2017). Such global restructuring patterns also affect construct-changing gender roles, attitudes, orientations, and the negotiations of work and family (Lero, 2003; Wood & Eagly, 2010). Thus, while the interface between work and family serves as a major source of concern for researchers (Skinner, Elton, Auer, & Pocock, 2014) with increasing attention to the antecedents and negative consequences for workers (such as satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, burnout, absenteeism, retention, quality of life, well-being), the relative importance of gender orientations within the dynamics of that interaction remains less interrogated (Matias, Ferreira, Vieira, Cadina, Leal, & Matos, 2017; Shockley, Shen, DeNunzio, Avan, & Knudsen, 2017). Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its nuanced implications, there have also been increasing concerns about the exacerbation of the tensions between work and family life for many across the globe.  These, and other issues, raise different questions related to work-family inequities, fit, and negotiations, as well as how organizations support meaningful participation, integration, and enrichment of work and family domains (Voydanoff, 2002; Parkes and Langford, 2008; Jang and Zippay, 2011).

We seek submissions therefore that address: (i) the interplay of the institutional, cultural, ideological contexts that (re)configure gender roles, (ii) the diverse ways in which these, and other exogenous factors (e.g. COVID-19), impact the work-family interface for diverse workers and across sectors, and, (iii) the extent to which organizations can effectively manage and implement policies and practices that promote diversity and social justice.

Dr. Talia Esnard
Prof. Dwayne Devonish
Dr. Marcia Nathai-Balkissoon
Guest Editors

References

1. Connelly, C. E., and Gallagher, D. G. 2004. Emerging trends in contingent work research. Journal of Management, 30(6): 959-983.
2. Dolan, S. L., and Garcia, S. 2002. Managing by values: Cultural redesign for strategic organizational change at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Journal of Management Development, 20(2): 101-117
3. Jang, S. J., and Zippay, A. 2011. The juggling act: Managing work-life conflict and WLB. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 92(1): 84–90.
4. Kuschel, K. 2017. The Work-Family Field: Gpas and missing links as opportunities for future research. Innovar, 27(66): 57-74.
5. Lero, D. S. 2003. Dual-earner families. In M. Lynn (Ed.), Voices: Essays on Canadian families (2nd ed.). City, ON: Nelson Thomson Learning, pp. 6-31
6. Matias, M., Ferreira, T., Vieira, J., Cadima, J., Leal, T., and Mean Matos, P. 2017. Workplace family support, parental satisfaction, and work-family conflict: individual and crossover effects among dual-earner couples. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 66(4): 628–652.
7. Parkes, L.P. and Langford, P.H. 2008. “Work-life balance or work-life alignment? A test of the importance of work-life balance for employee engagement and intention to stay in organisations.” Journal of Management and Organization, 14(3): 267-284.
8. Skinner, N., Elton, J., Auer, J. and Pocock, B. 2014. “Understanding and managing work-life interaction across the life course: a qualitative study,” Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 52(1): 93-109.
9. Shockley, K. M., Shen, W., DeNunzio, M. M., Arvan, M. L., and Knudsen, E. A. 2017. Disentangling the relationship between gender and work-family conflict: an integration of theoretical perspectives using meta-analytic methods. Journal of Applied Psychology 102(12): 1601–1635.
10. Voydanoff, P. (2002). Linkages between the work-family interface and work, family, and individual outcomes: An integrative model. Journal of Family Issues, 23(1), 138–164
11. Wood, W., and Eagly, A. H. 2010. “Gender.” In Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. 1, 5th Edn, edited by S. T. Fiske, D. T. Gilbert, and G. Lindzey. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 629–667.

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• neoliberal
• gender
• work-family interface, organizational policy
• equity
• social justice
• COVID-19 impacts