ERIC Number: EJ1355782
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0271-0560
EISSN: EISSN-1536-0741
Available Date: N/A
"You Can't Hide Your Children Anywhere": Perceptions of Organizational Support for Work-Life during the Pandemic among Academic Couples Who Parent
New Directions for Higher Education, n199 p73-87 Fall 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has refocused higher education on issues of work-life conflict among faculty members with children. This study draws from interviews with 13 heterosexual couples (26 participants) who were employed as faculty members and who cared for at least one child during the pandemic. Using the theory of perceived organizational support, we considered how institutional actions shaped the extent to which academic couples who parent felt supported in managing pandemic-related work-life conflict. We found centralized mechanisms for sharing concerns, innovative childcare resources, and flexibility and transparent communication enhanced participants' sense of organizational support, while inaction and unsystematic institutional responses undermined perceptions of organizational support. Our findings are consistent with past work on the relationship between organizational policies and resources and perceptions of organizational support, but also suggest alternative strategies for institutions that want to enhance perceived and real support for academic couples who parent.
Descriptors: Family Work Relationship, Parent Child Relationship, Pandemics, COVID-19, College Faculty, Child Rearing, Child Care, Teacher Attitudes, Work Environment, Organizational Culture
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A