MAIS 602: Reflective Response

The reflection process has continued for me based on the readings from this week as I navigate the nuance and complexity of work-life balance. I think it can be easy to over-simplify this topic based on its perception and over-use of the term itself in recent years. The Tri-Agency Framework (2021) calls on the researcher to be open to all views, experiences, and cultures; I didn’t initially consider what work-life balance may mean to people without children and how this may differ across other cultures. Is work-life balance a western idea and do other cultures experience it? The way I initially conducted my research has shifted because I am adding additional perspectives and voices I hadn’t thought of before. Adding different perspectives, experiences and voices forces me to lean into the unknown and create a collaborative space that allows for competing and valid viewpoints that adds to the research overall and offers clarity and transparency on the topic (Bull et. al., 2019). I intend to elaborate on gendered norms in corporate work cultures specifically as it relates to working parents and although I plan to include this in my overall discussion as it relates to people without children, I don’t foresee this specific part of my research changing.

The methodology I use will need to change because it has too – a mixed methods approach may need to be used in order to capture all the voices I’d like to include and specifically different cultures and their perspectives of work-life balance. Comparing other cultures is needed to understand the nuance and complexity of work-life balance and its impact on working parents in different countries. The Tri-Agency framework can be applied to this methodology and allows for more voices to be heard; Bull et. al. (2019) draw on this when they discuss the Listening Tour, a way to learn from Indigenous communities on how to best respect and acknowledge these communities as rights holders vs. stakeholders. Something else I hadn’t thought of before was the power struggle that exists with work-life balance and the privilege associated with it; this is an interesting development and I’m hoping to elaborate on this as well.

Overall, the readings this week caused me to reflect on the definition of work-life balance and how it varies from person to person depending on their situation. My initial research question focused on the plight of working parents without considering people without children who may still want work-life balance. My research question has shifted from Can working parents find work-life balance despite pre-determined gendered norms being placed on them by corporate work cultures? to The Study of Work-Life Balance: What is it, do we want it and how working parents fight gendered norms found in western corporate work culture.

References:

Bull, J., Beazley, K., Shea, J., MacQuarrie, C., Hudson, A., Shaw, K., Brunger, F., Kavanagh, C., & Gagne, B. (2019). Shifting practise: Recognizing Indigenous rights holders in research ethics review  . Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, 15(1), 21–35.

Tri-Agency Framework: Responsible Conduct of Research .(2021). Government of Canada.