Changing university work, freedom, flexibility and family

Abstract

This article investigates what Finnish academics on short fixed-term contracts consider to be the effects of having children on work and careers. The study is framed by the context of the current state of the university sector, its neoliberal and entrepreneurial tendencies and its claims to meritocracy. Informants express relative happiness with what they see as freedom and flexibility in their work/life balance, but this can turn to anxiety about their careers when they start talking about having (or postponing) children or taking long family leave. The informants' initial depiction of an egalitarian and family-friendly workplace thus turns into one of a competitive meritocracy with demands that are not easy to meet – and which are unequal in terms of gender when the talk turns to careers. In spite of this, the ideals of the entrepreneurial university are sometimes internalized, and gender equality interpreted in a neoliberal and post-feminist way.

Keywords:

• academics
• career development
• gender
• neoliberalism
• work life balance

Acknowledgements

The research is part of a project ‘Consequences of work insecurity on work, family relations and well-being’ which is funded by the Academy of Finland (SA 124493).