In chapter 3 I focused on the barriers women from economically developed western contexts encounter in harmonising home and work. In the case of home, I highlighted domestic labour and childcare as constraints on these women‟s career progression. However, in the case of South Asian women‟s home spheres, we see a totally different picture to women in the West where extended family members and domestic aides are members of households in addition to spouse and children we see in the western model. Scholars argue that women from South Asian contexts are often able to work intensively due to their extended families helping them with childcare (see Gambles et al., 2006; Nath, 2000; Rout et al., 1999; Wesley and
Muthuswamy, 2005). However the complexity inherent to this picture becomes apparent when we take a second glance. For instance research findings suggest that South Asian women face the demands of multiple roles, which often go beyond the wife, mother, and worker roles working women in the West take on to include additional responsibilities to their extended families (Rout et al., 1999; Rana et al., 1998; Poster and Prasad, 2005).
Here the demands of elder care have been noted to be particularly problematic for women from developing countries. For instance Budhapriya„s (2009) study of professional women in India revealed that certain women in her sample stated that they would like employers to provide support for emergency-care for elderly parents and parents-in-laws as well as for children. This finding suggests that Indian women‟s care giving burdens are much broader than western women‟s. Given that there is almost no social security in most developing countries (Gambles et al., 2006) elder care can be expected to be a significant burden to women in these nations. Indeed women from developing countries are often able to employ their less affluent fellow citizens as domestic maids to help them with caring and household chores. However research findings suggest that women continue to be the supervisors of housework and child-related activities in the home even after employment of domestic aides and therefore this process of management is often problematic (Muttarak, 2004; Constable, 1996).
Given the burden of multiple family roles, we can expect spousal support within the household to be extremely important for South Asian women. However, in the context of India, studies suggest men‟s participation in domestic labour is minimal (Ramu 1989; cited in Budhapriya, 2009; Nath, 2000). Rout et al‟ s (1999) findings indicate that extended family members and the South Asian community contribute towards sustaining conventional gender
roles and thereby prevent couples from sharing household chores with each other. For example, many women in their research sample had spoken of the pressures from the Asian community for men not to be seen doing women‟s work or showing signs of an equal relationship. Thus while legal and economic changes have helped women join the workforce in India, prevailing normative attitudes prescribes different roles for men and women (Budhapriya, 2009). According to Budhapriya (2009) men are expected to prioritise work over family while women are expected to prioritise family over work.
In the light of these findings we could expect married women in South Asia to find it extremely challenging to develop their careers. Desai (1996) notes that Indian women tend to limit their career aspirations for family reasons. She argues that keeping a low profile in one‟s career enables these women to enjoy both work and family spheres. A few other scholars similarly note that professional women in India make career compromises when it becomes difficult to harmonise home and work (see Radhakrishnan, 2008; Budhapriya, 2009).
However Budhwar et al.‟s (2005) findings of senior managerial Indian women indicate that the women in their study were extremely career-oriented and ambitious that they had been ready to make compromises on their home fronts to make their careers a success. Nath‟s (2000) findings similarly highlight that career advancement is very important to both professional women and their families in South Asia.
Moving on to the work sphere, the limited available literature suggests that organisational constraints are more severe in countries such as India than in the West (see Poster and Prasad, 2005; Rajadhyaksha and Smita, 2004; Uma Devi, 2002). For example, Rajadhyaksha and Smita, (2004) argue that the new call centres and software firms in India often expect employees to work 24 hours a day. Many of these firms have introduced gymnasiums,
day-care facilities, laundries, canteens and even sofa beds to rest (see Uma Devi, 2002; Phadke, 2007) to prevent intensive work schedules affecting employees‟ work-life balance (Rajadhyaksha and Smita, 2004). However scholars argue that these work-life initiatives do not work (Budhwar et al., 2005) since they are implemented as an imitation of western organisational practices rather than from a genuine concern to enable employees harmonise home and work (Rajadhyaksha and Smita, 2004). Moreover measures such as gymnasiums and day care facilities inside the workplace are geared at keeping workers within the organisation itself. A few studies suggest that organisational time expectations and ideal worker norms in Indian workplaces work in opposition to the new work-life initiatives. For example, Poster and Prasad‟s (2005) findings highlight that employers in India prefer work being done within the workplace itself since it can be closely monitored. Furthermore Indian employees often had to sign an attendance register at work where in and out times had been strictly noted by the organisation.
The Indian state gives substantial attention to legislation which enable women workers harmonise home and work. „The Maternity Benefits Act (1961) for instance entitles a woman to six weeks of leave with full pay, both before and after delivery. If the woman wants, she can take the entire 12 weeks of leave after the delivery. Under this Act, it is unlawful for an employer to discharge or dismiss a woman during or on account of maternity leave, except for gross misconduct. Further, a woman worker must be permitted to take two nursing breaks in addition to normal breaks until the child is 15 months old‟ (Rajadhyaksha and Smita, 2004:
1675). The Factories Act of 1948 establishes maximum working hours for employees and states that factories must provide day-care facilities for children below six years where more than thirty women workers are employed (Rajadhyaksha and Smita, 2004). However, Rajadhyaksha and Smita (2004) note that employers frequently get around the legislation by
employing less than 30 women as permanent workers and the rest on a part-time or contract basis. All these findings highlight that although employers and national states take measures to help women harmonise home and work, these efforts do not always work in practice due to gaps in implementation (see Gambles et al., 2006).
Given these significant challenges South Asian women encounter from their extensive domestic obligations, conventional gender ideologies and bureaucratic workplace cultures it becomes extremely interesting and significantly important to find out how women in these contexts perceive home and work and manage these spheres as they pursue their careers.