University of Manchester, Lancaster University School of Management, University of Plymouth
Research tells us diversity is good for business, but gender equality in the work place still needs more focus, particularly when it come to working dads.
On June 21 2017, FNS held an event, sponsored & hosted by Lloyds Banking Group, which offered a host of perspectives on How Employers Can #DadUp. The event provided a chance to learn how to create a culture where both fathers and mothers can take leave and use family-friendly policies.
With leading research from University of Manchester, Lancaster University, and University of Plymouth the event covered the following topics:
- Fatherhood Forfeits - part-time working for fathers (Jasmine Kelland -University of Plymouth)
- How to support employees taking shared parental leave (Ben Kerrane - Lancaster University School of Management)
- How workplaces and work-family policy influence dads' involvement at home (Helen Norman - University of Manchester)
- Supporting our Communities (Razi Ahmed - Lloyds Banking Group)
- The reality of being a working dad (Martin Doyle - Lloyds Banking Group)
Speakers:
Jasmine Kelland presented the findings of her PhD at Plymouth University which explores the impact of gender role stereotyping of parents in the workplace.The findings point to the existence of a 'Fatherhood Forfeit' for dads who behave in a way that is not congruent with more traditional parental gender role stereotypes by wanting to work fewer hours to facilitate active involvement in family life. Support for the existing literature - which purports the existence of a 'Motherhood Penalty' for mothers who act contrary to such parental gender role stereotypes by working full time - has also been found in the initial analysis.
Read the Slides from Jasmine's presentation
Dr Ben Kerrane is Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University Management School. His research interests revolve around family life, and he has undertaken research (with Dr Emma Banister, Alliance Manchester Business School) on the introduction of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) in the UK. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a series of fathers who have taken Shared Parental Leave, this presentation focuses on the lived experiences of SPL parents, their motivations for taking SPL and the barriers they encountered in utilising SPL. Advice was offered to employers for practical steps organisations can take – as advocated by SPL parents themselves - to help support those who wish to apply for SPL.
Read the Slides from Ben's presentation
Dr Helen Norman is a Research Fellow in Sociology at the University of Manchester. Her research interests focus on fathers and fatherhood, the gendered division of labour and gender inequalities in work and family life. Helen shared the early findings from her project exploring what makes fathers involved in their children’s care. The project looks at how employment characteristics (e.g. hours, schedules) enable or hinder a father’s involvement in childcare. It also investigates whether the way that parents organise their work and childcare arrangements in the first year of the child’s life influence paternal involvement as the child grows older. In her talk, Helen also considers how effective work-family policies in the UK – such as Shared Parental Leave, flexible working and childcare services - have been in helping fathers (and mothers) to strike a satisfactory balance between work and care.
Read the Slides from Helen's presentation
Razi Ahmed is the Divisional Lead Inclusion & Diversity at Lloyds Banking Group and presented on his own experience of balancing work and family life and his role at Lloyds and the need for inclusion and diversity in the modern workplace.
Martin Doyle is a Colleague Engagement Manager at at Lloyds Banking Group and talked candidly about his personal experience of becoming a Dad, and how Lloyds' LGB and flexible working policy allowed him to balance the needs of his family and employer.