Women experience significantly more difficulty in separating their work and family lives when working from home compared to men, according to new research from Durham University Business School.
While remote work is often praised for its potential to address gender inequality due to its flexibility, these findings highlight that personal circumstances still impact women’s careers.
The research, carried out by Menghan Shen, an MSc Information Management student at the University of Sheffield, and Dr. Efpraxia Zamani, Associate Professor of Information Systems at Durham University Business School, aimed to understand the experiences of both women and men working remotely, focusing on how they set boundaries and avoided conflicts between their work and personal lives.
The findings revealed that women were much more likely to experience a blurring of the boundaries between work and family life – typically in the form of regular distractions during work – which often increased stress levels and reduced productivity for women.
Conversely, men were more likely to keep work and family time completely separate.
Interestingly, the researchers also discovered that women were more inclined to prioritise family needs, even during work hours, whereas men were less likely to attend to their family’s needs if these conflicted with their work schedules.
However, the researchers caution that these findings do not necessarily imply that remote work is a negative experience or inadvisable for women.
“The greater flexibility that working from home provides has empowered women to bridge much of the gender gap in the workplace,” says Dr. Zamani. “However, our findings show that there’s still a need for more shared responsibilities in the family home if we are to achieve true equality in both work and family life, as women currently are taking on a similar burden in work, but a greater burden at home.”
The researchers emphasise that remote work can have both positive and negative effects on staff, depending on their personal circumstances and how their work is managed by their employers.
On one hand, working fully remotely can lead to feelings of alienation and low self-confidence, fostering an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality. On the other hand, remote work can enhance employees’ wellbeing and help achieve a better work-family balance – provided they receive adequate support.
To facilitate this, the researchers recommend that remote workers have access to various tools and systems to manage boundaries in ways that support their performance and productivity. For instance, some remote workers may prefer integrative strategies such as flexible working patterns to accommodate personal and family life, ensuring work can be completed effectively.
If you would like to receive the full research paper or speak with the researchers, please contact Peter Remon at BlueSky Education – peter@bluesky-pr.com +44 (0) 77 235 228 30.