The Internet and academics' workload and work–family balance

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Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse whether the Internet and other ICT technologies support a work–family balance amongst academics. The study is based on 20 in-depth interviews with academics in Iceland and analysed according to the Grounded Theory Approach. This study challenges the notion that the Internet, as part of ICT technology, makes it easier to establish a work–family balance. Although the Internet makes some features of the profession less complicated, like the possibility of working at home, it also initiates a proliferation of the workload, triggers a prolonging of the workday and enhances a demand for extensive availability. Whilst the use of the Internet increases the flexibility of academics, the Internet and work flexibility are found to increase work–family conflict. The findings suggest that the combination of flexibility and Internet use makes it increasingly difficult for academics to disengage themselves from work.

Introduction

Icelanders are keen on using technology, with 92% of households in Iceland having an Internet connection and 98% owning one or more mobile phones (Statistics Iceland, 2009). Like other Nordic countries, Iceland has a strong labour culture. In 2008, Iceland's labour force participation rate was 87.1% for men and 77.7% for women (Statistics Iceland, n.d.). In addition, statistics from 2009 show that Icelandic males and females worked an average 46.2 h and 35.8 h a week, respectively (Statistics Iceland, 2009). Such statistics are high when compared to European standards (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2007).

The fertility rate in Iceland, which was 2.1 in 2007, is the highest in Europe (Eurostat Demographic Statistics, n.d.). In addition, Iceland also occupies the top rank when it comes to gender equality according to The Global Gender Gap Index (Hausmann et al., 2009). For these reasons, Iceland provides the ideal circumstances in which to investigate the position of the Internet and other ICT's amongst career oriented people, such as academics, and explore how they combine their work and family life.

In the Icelandic academic system, the Internet has been fully integrated as a communication, teaching and resource tool. The communication within these universities largely takes place through email, by phone, and by online teaching communication programs such as Blackboard and Moodle. Lectures are generally complimented by a PowerPoint- or Adobe Reader show, with a result that overhead projectors are hardly used anymore. Resources are found by initially consulting the online databanks of Scientific Journals, while the initial verification of facts is completed within seconds by turning to Google, Yahoo! or Wikipedia. Although the Internet may make certain aspects of the academic profession less complicated, this article will highlight the fact that there are certain challenges and drawbacks for academics regarding the Internet and other ICT usage.

Section snippets

Flexibility

The term flexibility has numerous meanings attached to it in science (Furåker et al., 2007). In this article the focus will be on the concepts of flexible working hours and telecommuting. Whereas the former gives employees the freedom to decide when to start and end their working day, the latter, gives employees the freedom to decide where to work. This is relevant because academics have traditionally enjoyed high levels of flexibility and autonomy as they are essentially their own supervisors.

Sources of data

The data on which this article is based, conducted in 2008–2009, derive from 20 semi-structured in-depth interviews with academics in Iceland. The interviews form one component in a more extensive mixed method study on the work–family balance, work arrangements and well-being of academics. In the larger mixed method study, academic family members will have the opportunity to share their perceptions on these topics as well.

In the current study the respondents of 10 men and 10 women, were

Demographics

The sample demographics are as follows: Participant's age ranges from 33 to 61 years old, with 19 married or cohabiting participants, and one single. All individuals have between one and four children, with an average of 2.7 children, which is higher than the total fertility rate of 2.1 amongst Icelandic women in 2007 (Eurostat Demographic Statistics, n.d.). The children vary in age from being newborns to over 16 years old. Ten participants (five men and five women) have at least one child of six

Discussion

This study has shown that academics are unwilling to change to a 9 to 5 job as they are reluctant to give up their flexibility and its accompanying lifestyle. It does appear, however, as if flexibility in academia is something of a utopia, as the concept in reality refers to the possibility of prolonging one's working hours. Similarly to Kvande (2007), the current findings give the impression that flexibility, in combination with ICTs, challenges academics to bring work into the home and

Conclusion

It has been shown in this article that ICTs play an important role in the discussions on both flexibility and work–family conflict. It is for this reason that the integration of ICTs into everyday life creates a need for advanced theories on the subject of flexibility and work–family conflict. While Icelandic academics clearly do not want to go back to a time period of working from 9 to 5, it is certain that ICTs create new problems.

One of the major dilemmas is that it becomes increasingly

Acknowledgements

We thank the University of Iceland Research Fund for supporting the study. We thank the two blind reviewers for their useful comments.

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