Work-life advantage : sustaining regional learning and innovation

247 Pages·2018·1.47 MB·English

by  James, Al

Work‐Life Advantage
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and Dariusz Świątek
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Work‐Life Advantage
Sustaining Regional Learning
and Innovation
Al James
This edition first published 2018
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: James, Al, author.
Title: Work-life advantage : sustaining regional learning and innovation / Al James.
Description: Hoboken : Wiley-Blackwell, 2017. | Series: RGS-IBG book series |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017026665 (print) | LCCN 2017040536 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781118944820 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118944813 (epub) |
ISBN 9781118944844 (hardback) | ISBN 9781118944837 (paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Flextime. | Women–Employment–Psychological aspects. |
Work and family. | Organizational learning. | Organizational change. |
BISAC: SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Geography.
Classification: LCC HD5109 (ebook) | LCC HD5109 .J36 2017 (print) | DDC 306.3/6–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017026665
Cover Image: Photograph © Al James, 2016
Cover Design: Wiley
Set in 10/12pt Plantin by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For friends and colleagues at QMULGeography
(who always enjoyed a good bottle of workahol)
Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables ix
Series Editor’s Preface xi
Preface and Acknowledgements xii
List of Abbreviations xv
1 Inclusive Regional Learning? 1
2 Recentering Regional Learning: Beyond Masculinist Geographies
of Regional Advantage 16
3 Work‐Life Balance and its Uncertain ‘Business Case’ 38
4 Researching Labour Geographies of Work‐Life
and Learning in Ireland and the UK 67
5 Juggling Work, Home and Family in the Knowledge Economy 86
6 Overcoming Work‐Life Conflict and the Gendered
Limits to Learning and Innovation? 117
7 Work‐Life Balance, Cross‐Firm Worker Mobility
and Gendered Knowledge Spillovers 145
8 Conclusions: Gendered Regional Learning
and Work‐Life Advantage 176
References 197
Index 226
List of Figures
Figure 2.1 Unpacking the regional learning and innovation agenda:
key concepts/objects of study. 19
Figure 2.2 Engendering the regional learning
agenda – a visual metaphor. 36
Figure 3.1 Documenting the exponential growth in WLB research. 42
Figure 4.1 Map of Greater Dublin region and key IT sites. 74
Figure 4.2 Map of Greater Cambridge region and key IT sites. 76
Figure 5.1 Lived experiences of work‐life conflict:
IT worker survey (2008). 101
Figure 5.2 Dublin and its commuter environs. 105
Figure 5.3 What are workers’ preferred types of employer‐provided
work‐life arrangements? IT worker survey (N = 162, 2008). 107
Figure 5.4 What are workers’ preferred types of employer‐provided
work‐life arrangements in the wake of recession? IT worker
survey (N = 147, 2010). 114
Figure 7.1 Unevenness of total suites of work‐life provision across IT
employers (Dublin and Cambridge 2008). 163
List of Tables
Table 2.1 Grounding regional learning and innovation theories:
illustrating the scope of empirical research. 20
Table 2.2 Building cross‐firm female communities of practice
in high technology. 33
Table 3.1 Labourforce participation rates by sex: UK, Ireland,
EU, OECD (1990, 2000, 2013). 45
Table 3.2 Women’s employment by age: UK, Ireland, EU,
OECD (1990, 2000, 2013). 46
Table 3.3 Multiple ‘definitions’ of work‐life balance. 51
Table 3.4 A typology of employer‐provided work‐life
balance arrangements. 57
Table 3.5 Evidencing the business benefits of employer‐provided
work‐life arrangements. 58
Table 4.1 Comparing national WLB provision/welfare regimes:
Ireland and the UK. 70
Table 4.2 Whatever happened to the UK Silicon Cowboy? IT
workforce demographics. 78
Table 4.3 Whatever happened to the Irish Silicon Cowboy? IT
workforce demographics. 79
Table 5.1 Lived experiences of work‐family conflict: working mothers
in the IT sector. 96
Table 5.2 Employer provision of (formal) WLB arrangements,
Dublin and Cambridge IT firm sample (2008). 109
Table 6.1 Employer provision and worker take‐up of (formal) work‐life
arrangements, Dublin and Cambridge IT firm sample (2008). 124
Table 6.2 Consistency of manager‐perceived WLB learning benefits with
measured improvements in firm performance (2004–2007). 125
Table 6.3 Everyday mechanisms of work‐life/learning advantage. 126
x list of tables
Table 7.1 Analysing regional knowledge spillovers I:
influential/founding studies. 148
Table 7.2 Analysing regional knowledge spillovers II:
extending the debate in economic geography. 150
Table 7.3 Dublin and Cambridge IT employer provision
of (formal) work‐life arrangements (2008). 162
Table 7.4 IT worker mobility in response to uneven work‐life provision
by employers (Dublin and Cambridge, N = 162). 168
Table 7.5 Evidencing the quality of female ‘embodied knowledge’
in Dublin and Cambridge (n = 115). 171
Series Editor’s Preface
The RGS‐IBG Book Series only publishes work of the highest international
standing. Its emphasis is on distinctive new developments in human and physical
geography, although it is also open to contributions from cognate disciplines
whose interests overlap with those of geographers. The Series places strong
emphasis on theoretically informed and empirically strong texts. Reflecting the
vibrant and diverse theoretical and empirical agendas that characterise the con-
temporary discipline, contributions are expected to inform, challenge and stimu-
late the reader. Overall, the RGS‐IBG Book Series seeks to promote scholarly
publications that leave an intellectual mark and change the way readers think
about particular issues, methods or theories.
For details on how to submit a proposal please visit:
www.rgsbookseries.com
David Featherstone
University of Glasgow, UK
RGS‐IBG Book Series Editor