Results of the JuDy project
How did the study go? What are the main results?
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The JuDy project investigates women's experiences at the time around maternity leave or adoption leave, which has been shown to be a crucial time for gender equality in Europe. We are also exploring the experiences of new parents at work.
Study 1 - Maternity leave or adoption leave and return to work.
In our qualitative longitudinal research with working women around the time of their maternity leave, we integrate the Organizational Justice perspective to gain insights into women’s professional experiences at this turning point in their careers. Specifically, we investigate how fairness experiences and expectations before, and evolving fairness experiences during and after maternity leave may impact women’s career aspirations and attitudes.
Participants completed a series of 4 interviews:
- Before starting maternity or adoption leave;
- A few weeks before returning to work;
- When returning to work after maternity or adoption leave;
- Six months after returning from maternity or adoption leave.
Impact on professional aspirations and attitudes of women
The 36 participating women in our sample were all highly skilled and were interviewed at three points in time from the moment before going on maternity leave up to several months upon their return to work.
The findings suggest that (un-)fairness experiences can have repercussions, whether positive or negative, on career aspirations, attitudes and decisions. Several interviewees established a link between specific (unfair) experiences with supervisors and their desire to quit their job and to find a new employer, while others felt encouraged to take on a new role upon their return. Interestingly, in some cases there appeared to be a motivational effect of career aspirations on fairness judgments, leading participants to interpret given organizational practices as fair even when typical criteria of fairness were violated. Taken together, these findings shed light into the importance of promoting fair practices for supporting women at this pivotal time for their careers.
Consent about study 1
Study 2 - Parenthood and telecommuting during confinement
For this study, we sought to better understand the experience of parents who teleworked during the very first lockdown linked to the covid-19 crisis.
We have collected data from 287 participating working mothers and fathers who answered 1309 daily surveys over the course of one week, while teleworking.
Our aim was to investigate some of the poorly understood challenges in relation to the growing trend of working from home, and how this experience may be different for men versus women.
Being a teleworking parent, the difference between father and mother
Interestingly, we find that perceived work-to-childcare interruptions had different effects for men versus women. While men's daily experienced work-life balance was unaffected by such interruptions, women reported decreased fulfillment of work-life balance motives when work interrupted childcare related activities. On the other hand, women's perceived daily experiences of authenticity and challenge at work were unrelated to such interruptions, while men actually reported higher levels of experienced authenticity and challenge on days when they perceived more interruptions from work-to-childcare.
We interpret these results in the light of gender-role-theory and develop recommendations for theory and practice, to better support women in new types of telework arrangements. To bring our findings to life, we illustrate our quantitative diary findings with quotes that we selected from our participants during the course of the study.
Consent about study 2
Register for the seminar
If you would like to know more about the results of these two studies, you can register for the seminar organized by the JuDy project team. This seminar will take place next June and will be held online using the Zoom software. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the setting of these studies, discover their results and discuss with Marion Fortin and Camille Desjardins, the project's researchers.
Do you want to participate in the seminar?
If you wish to participate, please send us an email to contact@anr-judy.fr.