Delaney Caitriona, Bobek Alicja, Clavero Sara
AIB Research Centre on Inclusive and Equitable Cultures (RINCE), Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Front Psychol. 2023 Oct 30;14:1208099. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1208099. eCollection 2023.
This study analyses the experiences of working from home (WfH) during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has on working mothers through the lens of "mental load." Remote study, often lauded as a way to reduce work/life conflicts, can bring new multifaceted challenges for working mothers and, as this study shows, suddenly shifting to remote work led to the boundaries among work, care, and domestic labour becoming blurred. The data used here are from narrative interviews collected as part of the RESpondIng to outbreakS through co-creaTIve inclusive equality stRatEgies (RESISTIRÉ) Horizon 2020 project, which analyses the impact of COVID-19 policies on gendered inequalities across the EU27 and Türkiye, Serbia, UK, and Iceland. We draw on 12 narratives from working mothers in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Ireland, Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Slovakia. Employing thematic analysis, the analysis of these narratives, illuminates the challenges and opportunities of WfH and highlights its impact on mental load. While adding to the research on WfH and working mothers, the analysis also illustrates the lessons to be taken forward as well as underscoring the importance of mental load both theoretically and empirically.
本研究从“心理负担”的视角分析了新冠疫情期间居家办公的经历及其对职业母亲的影响。远程办公常被视作减少工作/生活冲突的一种方式，但它也会给职业母亲带来多方面的新挑战。正如本研究所示，突然转向远程工作导致工作、照料和家务劳动之间的界限变得模糊。此处使用的数据来自作为“通过共同创造包容性平等战略应对疫情”（RESISTIRÉ）这一2020地平线项目一部分所收集的叙事访谈，该项目分析了新冠疫情政策对欧盟27国以及土耳其、塞尔维亚、英国和冰岛性别不平等的影响。我们借鉴了来自奥地利、保加利亚、捷克、丹麦、爱尔兰、爱沙尼亚、希腊、葡萄牙、荷兰、英国和斯洛伐克的职业母亲的12篇叙事。通过主题分析，对这些叙事的剖析揭示了居家办公的挑战与机遇，并突出了其对心理负担的影响。在为居家办公和职业母亲的研究增添内容的同时，该分析还阐明了有待吸取的经验教训，并在理论和实证层面强调了心理负担的重要性。
