Gender Equality & Hybrid Work - A research collaboration with Exeter University
As we emerge from the pandemic, employers and employees are contemplating a new vision for working lives. Almost all involve more flexibility, with companies like Facebook announcing that they will allow WFH indefinitely. But are these arrangements beneficial for everyone? How can we use flexibility to create equal working opportunities?
The answers remain uncertain and must be explored for a more equal Future of Work. To that end, we’re excited to announce our research collaboration with Exeter University, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of UK Research and Innovation.
Our focus - gender, parenthood and the promotion of flexible work.
Motherhood reduces women’s career progression opportunities, and in doing so it deepens the already existing gender gap. Back in 2019, not knowing what would be waiting for us less than a year later, MoreThanNow conducted an experiment that revealed worrying results about the perception of mothers at the workplace.
As we emerge from the pandemic, the parenthood question is an even more pressing issue. During the lockdown, women were more likely to lose their jobs and decrease their working hours, while at the same time they experienced an increase in hours spent on childcare and household chores. Furthermore, the World Economic Forum expressed a growing concern that women will be less likely than men to turn up at the office when employees are allowed to return. This would turn offices into male-dominated spaces and could set workplace equality back by decades.
A possible solution for maintaining gender equality has long been the provision of flexible working options, which can enable women to balance home and work responsibilities. Indeed, women are twice as likely to work flexibly as men; yet, flexible working conditions are rare: in 2020 only 22% of job adverts state it as a benefit. Providing flexible work arrangements can advance gender equality beyond the pandemic in two ways:
Women may be more likely to return to work with a supportive employer;
Offering flexible working options to men can encourage a more equal distribution of caring responsibilities.
Hybrid Work brings opportunity and risk - we need to make the most of it.
The appetite for flexible working beyond the pandemic is high among both men and women, and organisations report support for hybrid work as we move towards a new normal. However, flexibility in itself won’t be the solution to creating equal working opportunities. In the past, organisations have been less likely to help the advancement of employees with flexible working options and delegate low-responsibility tasks to them.
Scholars also fear that the re-emergence of the ideal worker norms will create competitiveness and always-on work culture in a hybrid arrangement as well. The tendency for blurred boundaries was already present before the pandemic, as employees spent a lot of time near their work equipment out of hours, fueled by the worry that they won’t be reached by seniors.
Inspired by this research, MoreThanNow has started a new research project with two promising PhD candidates from Exeter University. The project sets out to understand how employers can support equality in career advancement and caring responsibilities through their approach to flexible working. This research is necessary for two reasons: to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic and to create a future of work that is equitable and fair for all employees.
“Ensuring flexible working options to everyone can be key in keeping up the progress towards gender equality.”
Our Phase 1 Project
Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), we are embarking on a project to show the importance of flexibility in advancing equal opportunities at the workplace. Our research collaborators are Nicole Russell Pascual and Mustafa Biber, PhD candidates at Exeter University.
Phase 1 | 2021 Q2-3
Phase 1 will focus on producing an in-depth literature review about the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working arrangements. Our goal is to establish a set of recommendations on how employers can shape their flexibility offering after the pandemic with inclusivity in mind. We will supplement the literature review with a hypothetical experiment among a sample of 400 individuals to better understand whether and how the ways flexible working benefits are framed in job adverts can affect job application intentions.
Phase 2 | 2021 Q4 onwards
Informed by Phase 1, we will test our findings in a series of field experiments with organisational partners. Designing and testing ways to promote the uptake of flexible and hybrid working options in ways that allow people to succeed in their working lives, as well as their personal lives, will create an invaluable contribution to ensuring equal opportunities.
Get involved in Phase 2
An inclusive Future of Work can only be achieved when like-minded stakeholders work together for a common goal. This project will help us better understand how employers can best support their employees with caring responsibilities. That being said, the shift to hybrid working models, and the unique approaches this will bring, will mean that many questions will remain.
We are keen to advance our understanding of how we can maintain equal and equitable workplaces after the pandemic. We are looking for employers to partner with who share this aim. Together, we can test and optimize your hybrid working approach to ensure it does not inadvertently hold back parents and carers. If you are interested in taking part, get in touch with us!