Basia McDougall MPhil.pdf - OpenAIR @ RGU - Robert Gordon ...

(2004) whose sample consisted of 15 participants. Whilst insightful, it is not a study whichcan lead to generalisations. The combined weight of in-depth studies is nonetheless robust.Alban-Metcalfe and West (1991) articulate the issues women managers face, which aremultiplied when maternity leave is taken. The Daphne Jackson Trust (1991) identifies thatmaternity leave is a time taken to enhance skills, the example offered is women who take thestep towards tutoring with the Open University or Workers Educational Association (WEA).Even where such work is paid, there is little value attached to this by organisations if it isconducted during maternity leave – despite the benefits reported by the women. Legally,women are entitled to up to 10 paid days during maternity leave and this can be used fortraining purposes. This does not affect her statutory pay and it is voluntary.Millward (2006) explored the transition period from worker to mother using interpretativephenomenological analysis methodology. This idiographic approach promotes the women’svoice and as such limits any preconceptions. The findings support the negativity associatedwith taking maternity leave and calls for better management of the transition. A difficulty withstudying maternity leave decisions rests with the fact that there if the researcher takes anorganisational perspective, the sample is often self-selected from one or more organisations’employees. (Millward offers a rare exception). Hyde et al. (2001) for example, commentsthat 74% of their sample believed maternity leave was too short and financial constraintsrestricted further time off. By not including those that did not return, it is not possible to gaina complete picture. Stone make a strong case for her in-depth exploration of those ‘optingout’ as her sample consists solely of Ivy League graduates or otherwise proven highlyqualified ‘high flyers’. Hewlett’s extensive research, together with Stone’s (2007) doesspecifically consider the factors associated with maternity leave decisions from a woman’sperspective but both are based on an American sample. As has already been demonstrated,the popular press offers interpretations of academic research, to which women are exposed– and this in turn may also reflect cultural norms and expectations.1.14 Role conflictResearch on women’s working careers often points to role conflict – a robust findingregardless of the methodology. It is therefore important to be clear about what variables inthis conflict are perceived to exist. Judge and Colquitt (2004) suggest that work-familyconflict is a term used for a variety of scenarios. The two key variables most often seen to beincompatible are family time and work demands. The Hyde study (2001) was specificallylooking at the length of maternity leave and correlates this variable with a general sense ofrole overload, not to mention personal and marital distress (Hyde 1994). The repercussionsof role conflict are far-reaching and deeply rooted (Gueutal and Taylor 1991) and start with28