Are family-friendly organisations friendly for children? Navigating work, families with children, and discursive power use within organisations

Figures & data

Table 1. Organisational characteristics and participants in focus group interviews.

Organisation	Organisation characteristics	Organisation’s family-friendly practices	Goals for organisation’s family-friendly practices	Focus group interview participants
(A) Industrial company, 200 employees, 82% males, 18% females	Traditionally male-dominant field; provides necessary services for local communities Traditional views about gender roles and family-friendliness	Distance work practices Family-friendly flexibility	To become a socially responsible employer and to create concrete instructions for employees and a positive atmosphere towards family leave (fathers particularly)	Focus group interview 1, managers: 1 woman, 6 men	Focus group interview 2, employees with specialists roles: 3 women, 6 men
(B) International service company, 650 employees, 50% males, 50% females	International consulting firm Family-friendly orientation	Distance work practices Family-leave mentoring	To improve managers’ family-friendly attitudes and the organisation’s active communication about family leave	Focus group interview 3, managers: 5 women, 4 men	Focus group interview 4, employees with expert roles: 3 women, 4 men

Figure 1. Description of the data analysis process.

Table 2. Overview of results.

Name of discourse	Optimising for family-friendliness in organisations: excluding children	Leaning on rules for family friendliness in organisations: projecting	Moral reasoning for family friendliness in organisations: redeeming children
Core content of discourse	Organisation’s success and performance is prioritised when constructing family- friendliness Performance-oriented flexibility emphasised	National and organisational rules are constructed as ways to build family-friendliness Rules are an external authority whose power exceeds the organisation	The moral reasoning for showing concern towards children is constructed as acceptable; family-friendly-oriented flexibility is attempted
Discursive use of power within organisations	Organisation controls and monitors flexibility for family if you ‘perform’ and do the work	Organisation is passive concerning power use; family-friendliness as a set of obligations and societally determined	Moral reasoning explains when it is acceptable to prioritise children over work; fluctuation in what is considered acceptable
How the child is positioned in discourse	Children are excluded and subordinate in relation to the organisation's performance and success	Children are projected to follow rules and regulations; the best interests of the child include ensuring their rights and caring for them in a mechanical manner	Children are positioned as a moral concern and part of the meaning of life; they are redeemed when there is a moral reason, such as a sick enough child