Women find it more difficult to separate remote work from their family lives

Women have much more difficulty separating their working lives and their family lives when they work from home, than men do, according to new research from Durham University Business School. Remote work has often been lauded as a potential solution to gender inequality, given its flexibility, however these findings showcase that personal circumstances still have an effect on women’s careers.

The research, conducted by Menghan Shen, student of MSc Information Management at the University of Sheffield, and Dr. Efpraxia Zamani, Associate Professor of Information Systems at Durham University Business School, sought to understand the experiences of both women and men who work remotely, how they set boundaries and avoided conflict between their work and personal lives.

Their findings revealed that women were much more likely to see a blurring between the boundaries of work and family life – usually in the form of regular distractions during work – often increasing the levels of stress for women and making them less productive.

Men, on the other hand, were more likely to see the opposite with work very often being totally separate from their family time.

Interestingly, the researchers also found that women were much more likely to value being there for their family, even during work time, whilst men were less likely to attend to their family’s needs if these conflicted with their work schedule.

However, the researchers warn these findings do not necessarily mean 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.”

Remote work, the researchers highlight, can have both positive and negative effects on staff depending on both their personal circumstances, and how their work is managed by their employers.

On the one hand, working fully remotely can lead to alienation, and low self-confidence, leading to an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality. Whilst on the other hand, remote work can help employees enhance their wellbeing, and achieve a better work-family balance – if they also have adequate support.

To achieve this, the researchers say that remote workers should receive access to different tools and systems to manage boundaries in ways that support their performance and productivity. For example, some remote workers may prefer more integrative strategies such as enabling flexible working patterns to accommodate personal and family life and ensure work can be completed in the most effective way.