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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1992

Catherine R. Smith

Describes trends in the dualcareer research literature, whichshows that conflicting demands of home and work are exacerbated whenboth partners strive for upward career

Abstract

Describes trends in the dualcareer research literature, which shows that conflicting demands of home and work are exacerbated when both partners strive for upward career progression, disadvantaging women more than men, and adversely affecting their work performance. Directions for future work in the area are indicated, including more studies of women managers. Employers have a key role to play in enhancing both organizational and individual benefits, by acknowledging the interrelationship between home and work, and the conflicting demands and loyalties facing dualcareer couples, and adopting innovative and flexible work options.

Details

Women in Management Review, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0964-9425

Keywords

Abstract

Institutional structures of professional career paths often support breadwinner–homemaker families, with a stay at home wife available full time to support the professional (and children), so the professional can devote complete energy and time to developing a career. This research examines how two partners in the same narrowly structured, fast track occupational culture such as those occurring for dual military officer couples shape how women and men negotiate decision making and life events. Data from interviews with 23 dual U.S. Navy officer couples build upon Becker and Moen’s (1999) scaling back notions. With both spouses in these careers, placing limits on work is extremely difficult due to fast track cultures that demand higher status choices and structures that formally do not reliably consider collocations. Trading off occurs, but with distress due to the unique demands on two partners in the fast track culture, which means career death for some. Two partners in fast track careers may not yet have given up on two careers as many peers may have, but they lose a great deal, including time together and their desired number of children. But they ultimately posit individual choice rather than focusing on structural change. The pressured family life resulting is likely similar to that for partners in other narrowly structured, fast track cultures such as in law firms and academia.

Details

Visions of the 21st Century Family: Transforming Structures and Identities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-028-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2003

David F. Elloy and Catherine R. Smith

The dualcareer phenomenon has become increasingly prevalent worldwide. This lifestyle often generates stresses and strains, at home and at work, for couples juggling multiple…

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Abstract

The dualcareer phenomenon has become increasingly prevalent worldwide. This lifestyle often generates stresses and strains, at home and at work, for couples juggling multiple demands, which can have negative consequences for organisations. While most empirical research into this lifestyle has been conducted in the United States and Britain, very little has been carried out in Australia. This particular study, based on data from an Australian sample of 121 lawyers and accountants, was therefore aimed at analysing the levels of stress, work‐family conflict and overload among dualcareer and single‐career couples. The results confirm that dualcareer couples experience higher levels of stress, work‐family conflict and overload than single‐career couples. To enhance labour productivity and organisational effectiveness, human resource managers therefore need to take account of the potential for dualcareer stress, overload and conflict, and respond flexibly to dualcareer employee status.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

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Article
Publication date: 26 July 2021

Tracy Scurry and Marilyn Clarke

Dual-careers are an increasingly common typology among professionals yet very few studies have considered how two potentially competing career trajectories are managed in relation…

Abstract

Purpose

Dual-careers are an increasingly common typology among professionals yet very few studies have considered how two potentially competing career trajectories are managed in relation to the broader aspects of life, such as family and personal life. This article addresses the gap through an exploration of the strategies adopted by dual-career professional couples as they seek to navigate these challenges whilst satisfying individual and shared goals and aspirations.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were carried out with 18 couples (dyads) from a range of professional occupations. Interviews were conducted individually, and then responses analysed and compared for key themes.

Findings

Rather than focusing on how couples manage work–life balance on a day-today basis this study shows how couples incorporate a more strategic approach to dual-careers so that both careers are able to progress, albeit within situational constraints.

Practical implications

To satisfy personal, business and economic performance goals, organisations and governments will need to find more creative ways to support employees as they seek to navigate careers while balancing the work and nonwork needs of themselves and their partner. The challenges faced by dual-career couples have implications for human resource managers as they seek to attract and retained talent within their organisations.

Social implications

Demographic and social changes at the household level will ultimately require changes at an organisational and broader societal level to meet the work and family needs of this growing cohort.

Originality/value

Rather than focusing on how couples manage work-life balance on a day-today basis this study shows how couples incorporate a more strategic approach to dual-careers so that both careers are able to progress, albeit within situational constraints.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 51 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2011

Liisa Mäkelä, Marja Känsälä and Vesa Suutari

The purpose of this paper is to identify how dual career expatriates view their spouses' roles during international assignments.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify how dual career expatriates view their spouses' roles during international assignments.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 39 interviews were carried out with expatriates who had a working spouse. The interview data were content analysed using replication logic.

Findings

The authors' findings indicate that the importance of spousal support increases among dual career couples during international assignments. Expatriates report their spouses as having supporting, flexible, determining, instrumental, restricting and equal partner spousal roles.

Originality/value

This study provides in‐depth understanding about multiple spousal roles during international assignments among dual career couples and contributes to the previous literature by showing how spousal roles appear in the international context, and by identifying two new spousal roles.

Details

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7606

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Article
Publication date: 7 October 2021

Galina Boiarintseva, Souha R. Ezzedeen and Christa Wilkin

Work-life balance experiences of dual-career professional couples with children have received considerable attention, but there remains a paucity of research on the definitions of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Work-life balance experiences of dual-career professional couples with children have received considerable attention, but there remains a paucity of research on the definitions of work-life balance among dual-career professional couples without children. This qualitative investigation sheds light on childfree couples' lives outside of work and their concomitant understanding of work-life balance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on interviews with 21 dual-career professional couples in Canada and the US, exploring their non-work lives and how they conceive of work-life balance.

Findings

Thematic analyses demonstrate that this group, while free of child rearing responsibilities, still deals with myriad non-work obligations. These couples also defy uniform characterization. The inductive investigation uncovered four couple categories based on the individual members' career and care orientations. These included careerist, conventional, non-conventional and egalitarian couples. Definitions of work-life balance varied across couple type according to the value they placed on flexibility, autonomy and control, and their particular level of satisfaction with their work and non-work domains.

Originality/value

This study contributes to research at the intersection of work-life balance and various demographic groups by exploring the work-life balance of professional dual-career couples without children. Using an interpretive ontology, the study advances a typology of childfree dual-career professional couples. The findings challenge the rhetoric that these couples are primarily work-oriented but otherwise carefree. Thus, this study demonstrates ways that childfree couples are different as well as similar to those with children.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 41 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2009

Michael Harvey, Milorad Novicevic and Jacob W. Breland

The purpose of this paper is to use hope theory as a foundation from which to understand the global dualcareer exploration phenomenon. Additionally, the concept of curiosity is…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use hope theory as a foundation from which to understand the global dualcareer exploration phenomenon. Additionally, the concept of curiosity is explored as a triggering mechanism for dualcareer couples to explore and learn about career options in a global context.

Design/methodology/approach

Hope theory is used to provide theoretical support for the proposed conceptual model.

Findings

It is concluded that hope and curiosity are important elements for dualcareer couples to leverage in order to reduce stress, maintain marital status, and allow the trailing spouse to resolve the potential dramatic and negative impact on their career path.

Practical implications

Both hope and curiosity have been argued to have developmental aspects, meaning that individuals can nurture and strengthen their level of hopefulness and curiosity. Organizations which aid individuals in developing these abilities will likely increase the probability that their global employees will successfully complete their foreign assignment.

Originality/value

The paper explicitly examines dualcareer exploration as it occurs in a global context. More specifically, it takes the perspective that global dualcareer exploration is a continuous and adaptive process in which individuals who are hopeful and curious will be more successful in exploring and adapting to career options.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 January 2020

Susan Shortland

The purpose of this study is to examine how female expatriates mobilise couples’ dual-career coordination strategic choices to achieve their own and their partners’ desired career

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how female expatriates mobilise couples’ dual-career coordination strategic choices to achieve their own and their partners’ desired career goals.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative research is based upon in-depth interviews with 20 dual-career female expatriates working in two case study oil and gas organisations.

Findings

Female expatriates use a series of tactics ranging from cooperation in maintaining a dual-career hierarchy, through to coordinating aspects of their own and their partners’ assignments, undertaking compatible industry roles and co-working (working together in the same organisation) to attempt to achieve a greater egalitarian international dual-career strategic outcome.

Research limitations/implications

This case analysis was based on a relatively small sample of female expatriates in heterosexual relationships working in oil and gas exploration. Further research in different sectors, with larger samples, and with male expatriates is also needed.

Practical implications

Employers should minimise periods of separation by focussing on coordinated assignment timings for both partners, facilitate suitable employment for both partners who wish to work abroad, and prioritise securing partner work visas.

Social implications

The inability to pursue desired dual-careers together while undertaking international assignments can be detrimental to couples’ relationships, potentially leading to unwillingness to expatriate and thereby deliver necessary skills in the host country.

Originality/value

The originality lies in identifying the tactics women use to enact dual-career coordination strategies, including coordinating assignment timings and locations to reduce separation and pursuing compatible roles to achieve egalitarian career and relationship outcomes. While women expected co-working in the same firm to facilitate dual-career mobility, its career outcomes were disappointing.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal , vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2006

Linda Achey Kidwell and Roland E. Kidwell

This paper aims to examine the lives of early twentieth century opera star Louise Homer and her composer husband Sidney, and their attempts to manage two successful careers and a…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the lives of early twentieth century opera star Louise Homer and her composer husband Sidney, and their attempts to manage two successful careers and a family of six children. Almost 100 years ago, the Homers – a rare example of a two‐career family – employed several adaptive strategies that academic researchers later suggested for twenty‐first century dualcareer couples.

Design/methodology/approach

Considering the work‐family literature, two modern models of managing and coping with the stresses of dual careers were examined and the Homer family were then considered to determine whether they employed similar strategies. Letters were used from the Homers and their children, other original documents and secondary research in investigating the couple's efforts to handle the challenges of dualcareers when the concept of a woman pursuing a profession outside the home was a novelty.

Findings

Several adaptive strategies recently “discovered” to be used by upper‐income dualcareer couples with children seem just as applicable to 1911 when the Homers' fifth child was born. The findings underscore the idea that challenges perceived as unusual and unique to one generation have been dealt with successfully by past generations.

Originality/value

The paper provides an historical perspective on newly suggested strategies for dualcareer couples in the work‐family literature. Such strategies have been used for at least a century even though the dualcareer concept only became prominent in the last four decades. This paper is one of a few that examines dualcareer couples in an historical context, and indicates how the past can inform those who face contemporary workplace phenomena.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Subhash C. Kundu, Rina S. Phogat, Saroj Kumar Datta and Neha Gahlawat

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of various workplace characteristics on work-family conflict among dual-career couples in India.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of various workplace characteristics on work-family conflict among dual-career couples in India.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data based on 393 employees belonging to dual-career couples were analyzed. Using multiple regression analysis, the study has attempted to find out the effects of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict in dual-career couples.

Findings

The findings indicate that not all workplace characteristics effect work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Out of 13 characteristics, 8 workplace characteristics, namely, development and flexibility, co-worker support, supervisory support, job competence, self-employee control, practicing overtime, flexibility and discrimination, are found to have significant effects on work-family conflict in dual-career couples.

Research limitations/implications

As this study is limited to the dual-career couples employed mainly in organizations operating in India, these results may not be generalized to other areas such as traditional career couples, self-employed member of couples and in other national contexts.

Practical implications

It would be beneficial for organizations to understand and implicate that adoption of certain workplace characteristics provide appropriate choices, freedom and environment for dual-career employees, which further encourage them to build effective amalgamation of work and family roles suiting their individual circumstances.

Originality/value

This study is an important and almost first study on dual-career couples in India on such issues. As a very scant number of researches have examined the impact of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict on such extensive basis, it definitely contributes to HR literature.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 11000