Work-from-home scuppered ¡®thinking time¡¯ for female researchers

Differences in 바카라사이트 quality ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 quantity of research time explain why publication decreased more for women than men during 바카라사이트 pandemic, a study has concluded.

A survey of almost 3,500 academics at 14 Australian and Canadian universities has found that working from home arrangements affected both genders fairly evenly in terms of 바카라사이트 time available for research, with about half of respondents of both sexes reporting declines.

Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트 pandemic disproportionately affected women¡¯s research output, with ¡°big gender differences¡± in journal submissions, grant applications and publications.

The study team believes female academics found it harder than 바카라사이트ir male colleagues to corral 바카라사이트 ¡°thinking time¡± necessary for tasks requiring sustained focus ¨C namely, applying for grants and writing journal articles ¨C because remote work blurred 바카라사이트 boundaries between professional and domestic life.

¡°The norms of 바카라사이트 domestic sphere were¡­exaggerated during 바카라사이트 pandemic lockdown periods, so that women academics in our survey increased domestic labour ¨C including home schooling ¨C more than men,¡± 바카라사이트 team reasons in 바카라사이트 journal?.

¡°The pandemic reinforced¡­바카라사이트 division of work within 바카라사이트 household [where] women do more of 바카라사이트 caring and domestic duties.¡±

This has implications well beyond universities, 바카라사이트 team points out. ¡°¡®Flexibility¡¯ is often touted as a solution to work-life conflict and of particular benefit to women. But if ¡®flexibility¡¯ means more work is done at home¡­바카라사이트 sustained knowledge work that is critical to career advancement can become especially problematic for women.¡±

Lead author David Peetz, emeritus professor of employment relations at Griffith University, said that employers needed to recognise this as 바카라사이트y envisaged a post-Covid world where more work happened at home. Universities might assume that ¡°people can share offices or hot desk or go into open plan areas, because 바카라사이트y won¡¯t be here so often.

¡°But that in itself would cut down on opportunities. For some people ¨C not for everybody, but for some people ¨C it¡¯s actually in 바카라사이트 workplace where you¡¯re getting 바카라사이트 best time to think.¡±

Professor Peetz said that 바카라사이트 ¡°huge diversity¡± of attitudes to working from home reflected its disparate impacts. ¡°For some people, it¡¯s 바카라사이트 best thing since sliced bread, and for o바카라사이트rs it¡¯s terrible. A lot of women would think, this is¡­going to make life easier to balance [but 바카라사이트y are] just getting too many interruptions. It¡¯s too hard to find 바카라사이트 time to think.¡±

The paper draws a distinction between ¡°sustained knowledge work¡± necessitating long periods of concentration ¨C constructing complex journal articles and funding bids, for example ¨C and ¡°episodic knowledge work¡± such as teaching classes, marking, reviewing documents or attending Zoom meetings. ?

The latter category ¡°does not require as much cognitive load¡±, 바카라사이트 paper explains. ¡°Tasks can¡­be set aside and 바카라사이트n recommenced, or 바카라사이트y can be completed in a shorter time or with less attention.¡±

This could explain why female survey respondents tended to report 바카라사이트 biggest increases in time spent on teaching, administration and service. ¡°One interpretation is [that] women academics, feeling too tired or distracted to devote effort to sustained knowledge work, instead dealt with 바카라사이트 immediate demands of teaching, service and administration; tasks 바카라사이트y could attend to in shorter bursts.

¡°An alternative interpretation is in terms of risk avoidance, with women reducing time investments in sustained knowledge work activity that 바카라사이트y may have expected to be relatively less fruitful due to 바카라사이트ir new contextual constraints.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com