A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities

Returning to work after a career break can be challenging, accordingly employers implement a range of policies, practices, and strategies to support and retain working parents. This chapter analyses the work-family policies at two universities in the Australian university sector, through the eyes of...

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Main Authors: Hodgson, Helen, Bowyer, Dorothea
Other Authors: Schnackenberg, Heidi
Format: Book Chapter
Language:English
Published: IGI Global 2023
Online Access:https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/book/314587
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93645
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author Hodgson, Helen
Bowyer, Dorothea
author2 Schnackenberg, Heidi
author_facet Schnackenberg, Heidi
Hodgson, Helen
Bowyer, Dorothea
author_sort Hodgson, Helen
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Returning to work after a career break can be challenging, accordingly employers implement a range of policies, practices, and strategies to support and retain working parents. This chapter analyses the work-family policies at two universities in the Australian university sector, through the eyes of academic parents. Grounding the discussion in the Australian industrial relations system, the authors examine the lived experience of academic parents drawing on two separate qualitative studies at two different Australian Universities. Initiatives in place to enhance career progression for academic parents are tested against lived experience. The authors find that policies and strategies need to be overhauled and suggest more feasible ones that universities can implement to enable the academic parent, who is juggling an academic career with parenting, to succeed in the post COVID uncertainty faced by the higher education sector.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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language English
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publishDate 2023
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-936452024-01-26T06:55:03Z A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities Hodgson, Helen Bowyer, Dorothea Schnackenberg, Heidi Simard, Denise Returning to work after a career break can be challenging, accordingly employers implement a range of policies, practices, and strategies to support and retain working parents. This chapter analyses the work-family policies at two universities in the Australian university sector, through the eyes of academic parents. Grounding the discussion in the Australian industrial relations system, the authors examine the lived experience of academic parents drawing on two separate qualitative studies at two different Australian Universities. Initiatives in place to enhance career progression for academic parents are tested against lived experience. The authors find that policies and strategies need to be overhauled and suggest more feasible ones that universities can implement to enable the academic parent, who is juggling an academic career with parenting, to succeed in the post COVID uncertainty faced by the higher education sector. 2023 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93645 10.4018/978-1-6684-8597-2.ch013 English https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/book/314587 IGI Global fulltext
spellingShingle Hodgson, Helen
Bowyer, Dorothea
A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities
title A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities
title_full A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities
title_fullStr A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities
title_full_unstemmed A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities
title_short A Tale of Two Universities: Primary Carers Working in Australian Universities
title_sort tale of two universities: primary carers working in australian universities
url https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/book/314587
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93645