Bordunos, Alexandra Konstantinovna (2019, December). Альтернатива «розовым очкам»: оптимизация условий труда сотрудников, совмещающих работу с заботой о детях [Alternatives to a “rose-colored glasses”: Inclusion of employees with childcare commitments]. Организационная психология [Organizational Psychology], 9(4), 141-173. [Russian] (Access: https://orgpsyjournal.hse.ru/en/2019-9-4/327936252.html)

Abstract: Purpose. The purpose of the study is to identify framework approaches to optimizing the working conditions of employees combining work with childcare. Methodology. The study addresses the framing effect and Q-methodology algorithms, namely: Q-concourse, Q-set, Q-sort and Q-factor analysis. The general set of opinions about the phenomenon under study is called the Q-concourse. Comprehensive literature review helped to form the Q-concourse. From the entire set of opinions identified (Q-concourse), a representative sample of initiatives was compiled — Q-set. Results. As a result of the analysis, it was possible to identify three main causes of a false positive assessment of working conditions for employees combining work with childcare: The end of state monopoly in institutionalizing certain gender roles, international recognition of the lack of an explicit gender gap in companies, and the avoidance of gender-related problems, associated with Western feminism, which led to the emergence of the “rose-colored glasses” frame. The article describes the first stage of the study, as a result of which it was possible to identify three framework approaches alternative to “rose-colored glasses”, to determine the boundaries of their suitability, to select illustrative examples of initiatives that correspond to the identified frameworks and satisfy the needs of domestic companies. The revealed lack of freedom of choice allows us to look at the presented reference frames, not as mutually exclusive alternatives to the “rose-colored glasses”, but as a step-by-step program of improvements: the “red glasses” frame, green glasses” frame, and “blue glasses” frame. Thus, the study offered answers to the key questions of optimizing working conditions for a dedicated marginal group of personnel: what strategic tasks does the company solve by optimizing working conditions; what individual needs do employees with childcare obligations have? what are the conditions for legitimizing initiatives? The value of the results. Theoretical results may be of interest to researchers of gender differences, inclusion and diversity of categories of personnel, social identity, strategic personnel management. The results are also addressed to the heads of organizations for which the policy on working with various categories of personnel is relevant. The originality of the study lies in the interpretation of gender studies from the perspective of management and the psychological theory of identity.

Alexandra Konstantinovna Bordunos <abordunos@bk.ru> is in the Department of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management, Graduate School of Management, Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.

Published by qmethodorg