Managing the risky humanity of academic workers: risk and reciprocity in university work-life balance policies

Article


Saltmarsh, Sue and Randell-Moon, Holly. 2015. "Managing the risky humanity of academic workers: risk and reciprocity in university work-life balance policies." Policy Futures in Education. 13 (5), pp. 662-682. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210315579552
Article Title

Managing the risky humanity of academic workers: risk and reciprocity in university work-life balance policies

ERA Journal ID19931
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsSaltmarsh, Sue (Author) and Randell-Moon, Holly (Author)
Journal TitlePolicy Futures in Education
Journal Citation13 (5), pp. 662-682
Number of Pages21
Year2015
PublisherSAGE Publications Ltd
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN1478-2103
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210315579552
Web Address (URL)http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1478210315579552
Abstract

University work–life balance policies increasingly offer academic workers a range of possible options for managing the competing demands of work, family, and community obligations. Flexible work arrangements, family-friendly hours and campus facilities, physical well-being and
mental health programs typify strategies for formally acknowledging the need for employees to balance work with other needs and commitments. This paper draws on examples from Australian university work–life balance policies to consider how the incalculable humanity of academic
workers is constructed as posing institutional risks because of the potential ill-effects of an imbalance between work and life. We consider how work–life balance policies anticipate and attempt to manage perceived risks to the institution as a consequence of workers’ utilization of such policies for their own benefit. Informed by poststructuralist theoretical and cultural analyses
of risk, affect, and governmentality, we argue that work–life balance policies stage a double maneuver. They offer heavily qualified workplace conditions, benefits, and supports predicated on notions of risk and reciprocity, while simultaneously extending the reach of institutional power to include the bodies, minds, families, and lives of academic workers.

Keywordsrisk, governmentality, work-life balance, higher education
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390203. Sociology of education
390303. Higher education
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Byline AffiliationsAustralian Catholic University
University of Otago, New Zealand
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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