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“The Guilt Thing”: Balancing Domestic and Professional Roles
Author(s) -
Guendouzi Jackie
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00303.x
Subject(s) - workforce , happiness , commission , psychology , qualitative research , social psychology , representation (politics) , sociology , political science , law , social science , politics
Women’s representation in the workforce has increased dramatically over the past 30 years; yet, women “take a greater responsibility for the care of children” ( Equal Opportunities Commission, 2006 ). Research has suggested working mothers may experience guilt resulting from the social constrictions of a traditional model of intensive mothering ( B. Holcomb, 1998 ). Forty‐two audiotaped conversations of female teachers ( n = 8) were collected in a British high school. Qualitative analyses of 3 conversations, in which 5 of the teachers discussed their professional and domestic responsibilities, demonstrated that the participants discursively aligned to 3 dominant interactional positions, accessibility, happiness, and separate spheres ( Y. Elvin‐Novak & H. Thomsson, 2001 ). The analyses also revealed the use of supportive conversational strategies such as co‐complaining and matching accounts.