IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04287291.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Untangling the characteristics of men who dare to break the “ideal worker” norm

Author

Listed:
  • Sabrina Tanquerel

    (Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie)

  • Marc Grau-Grau

    (Harvard Kennedy School - Harvard Kennedy School)

Abstract

For many researchers (Acker, 1990, 2006; Blair-Loy and al., 2013; Minnotte and al., 2021), today the "ideal worker" image (Williams, 2001) is still the dominant norm in most organizations. It refers to the image of the most desirable worker as one who is totally committed, available and fully devoted to his or her work (Acker, 1990). Straying from this image presents risks, especially for men, who are the most expected to adhere to the work-devotion norm (Blair-Loy, 2003). Men who "do not fit into the straight-jacket of conventional masculinity" (Williams, 2010) face sizable job risks such as femininity stigma, flexibility stigma, job consequences, career penalties (Coltrane et al., 2013; Rudman and Mescher, 2013; Williams et al., 2013). Nevertheless, despite the stigmas and barriers (Tanquerel & Grau-Grau, 2020) they may experience, some men dare to open other paths to increase their work-life balance. Until now, research has mainly focused on the consequences of male deviance from the "ideal worker" norm on their job outcomes and career structure, but we understand very little about the characteristics of such progressive profiles. These "progressive" men challenge the dominant model of masculinity and the traditional norms that still rule contemporary organizations. They are key to increase gender equality and justice at work and home. This article explores the characteristics of these men who dare to reveal their gender deviance and openly break the "ideal worker" norm. Based on 40 semi-structured interviews of working men in different types of occupations, organizations and sectors in France and Spain, the findings of this exploratory study present the different elements that may explain their "disclosure".

Suggested Citation

  • Sabrina Tanquerel & Marc Grau-Grau, 2023. "Untangling the characteristics of men who dare to break the “ideal worker” norm," Post-Print hal-04287291, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04287291
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04287291
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04287291/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erin Reid, 2015. "Embracing, Passing, Revealing, and the Ideal Worker Image: How People Navigate Expected and Experienced Professional Identities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 997-1017, August.
    2. Sabrina Tanquerel & Marc Grau-Grau, 2020. "Unmasking work-family balance barriers and strategies among working fathers in the workplace," Post-Print hal-02945399, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Erin A. Cech & William R. Rothwell, 2020. "LGBT Workplace Inequality in the Federal Workforce: Intersectional Processes, Organizational Contexts, and Turnover Considerations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 25-60, January.
    2. George Argyrous & Lyn Craig & Sara Rahman, 2017. "The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 831-851, March.
    3. Mathias, Blake D. & Williams, David W., 2018. "Giving up the hats? Entrepreneurs' role transitions and venture growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 261-277.
    4. Alison T. Wynn & Aliya Hamid Rao, 2020. "Failures of Flexibility: How Perceived Control Motivates the Individualization of Work–Life Conflict," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 61-90, January.
    5. Isabel Fernandez-Mateo & Sarah Kaplan, 2018. "Gender and Organization Science: Introduction to a Virtual Special Issue," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1229-1236, December.
    6. Duanyi Yang & Erin L. Kelly & Laura D. Kubzansky & Lisa Berkman, 2023. "Working from Home and Worker Well-being: New Evidence from Germany," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 504-531, May.
    7. Caroline Gatrell & Jamie J. Ladge & Gary N. Powell, 2022. "A Review of Fatherhood and Employment: Introducing New Perspectives for Management Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1198-1226, July.
    8. Sophie Hennekam & Jasmine Kelland & Jean‐Pierre Dumazert, 2023. "Paternal supervisor gatekeeping: How supervising fathers hinder other fathers at work in their uptake of flexible work arrangements," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 94-111, January.
    9. Glória Rebelo & Antonio Almeida & Joao Pedra, 2024. "Telework and Work Intensity: Insights from an Exploratory Study in Portugal during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, January.
    10. Sabrina Tanquerel & Marc Grau-Grau, 2020. "Unmasking work-family balance barriers and strategies among working fathers in the workplace," Post-Print hal-02945399, HAL.
    11. Gerlinde Mauerer, 2023. "Paid Parental Leave in Correlation with Changing Gender Role Attitudes," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, August.
    12. Elaine Burns & Susanne Gannon & Heather Pierce & Sky Hugman, 2022. "Corporeal generosity: Breastfeeding bodies and female‐dominated workplaces," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 778-799, May.
    13. Erin M. Reid, 2018. "Straying from breadwinning: Status and money in men's interpretations of their wives' work arrangements," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 718-733, November.
    14. Ioana Lupu & Joonas Rokka, 2022. "'Feeling in Control' : Optimal Busyness and the Temporality of Organizational Controls," Post-Print hal-04325533, HAL.
    15. Gerten Elisa & Beckmann Michael & Bellmann Lutz, 2019. "Controlling Working Crowds: The Impact of Digitalization on Worker Autonomy and Monitoring Across Hierarchical Levels," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(3), pages 441-481, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04287291. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.