The Part-Time Paradox: Time Norms, Professional Lives, Family, and Gender

Description

Choosing to work part-time may seem like an attractive option for many workers, and it is a fact of the modern workplace that the availability of part-time work is increasing. However, the authors of this study find that there are cultural and social meanings attached to part-time work which suggest that it is in fact not such an easy option. Using case studies of legal professionals, this book highlights not only the negative sides, but also the coping strategies utilized to overcome the part-time paradox.

Cynthia Fuchs Epstein is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is Visiting Professor at the Stanford Law School for 1997-98. Carroll Seron is Acting Dean of the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College, CUNY. Bonnie Oglensky and Robert Saute are at CUNY Graduate Center.

""The Part-time Paradox provides a brilliant portrayal of the discontents of the post-industrial workplace. With insight and passion, it demonstrates that achieving gender equity and family welfare requires nothing less than a fundamental restructuring of the 'time norms' that now equate work success with all consuming commitment."
-Kathleen Gerson, author of "Hard Choices: How Women Decide about Work, Career, and Motherhood
"This superb study works on many levels--as first-class scholarship, as probing policy analysis, and as an extraordinary source of insight into the professional lives of men and women. A must read for all who study, love or live with the struggles of work and family."
-John Hagan, co-author of "Gender and Practice
"Lawyers now rival medical interns and residents in workaholism (though at least they kill only themselves). This book--the first systematic study of part-time legal careers--shows that lawyers can control their hoursand effectively serve employers and clients--as well as themselves and their families."
-Richard Abel, author of "American Lawyers