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Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal
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Job-Sharing Couples In Academia: Career And Family Lifestyles

Kathleen F. Mikitka

School of Family Studies and Consumer Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 02182-0282

Sally A. Koblinsky

School of Family Studies and Consumer Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 02182-0282

The purpose of this study was to investigate careers and family lifestyles of 20 job-sharing couples in faculty positions at 12 colleges. Interviews conducted with both spouses and questionnaires administered to individual partners provided information about the couples' reasons for becoming involved in job sharing, conditions of their employment, their division of professional and household labor, their satisfaction with the job-sharing arrangement, and their future career plans. Competitive job market conditions and the desire for improved lifestyles were major factors influencing the decision to share a position. Couples were employed by their institutions as teams with one shared contract or as regular, part-time workers with independent contracts. Spouses sharing one position con tributed an average of 90 hours per week to professional activities. A majority of the couples were involved in egalitarian family relationships characterized by cooperation in childrearing and domestic labor. Lifestyle flexibility and empa thetic spousal support were perceived as major advantages of job sharing, whereas low family income and the potential for institutional exploitation were considered to be major drawbacks. Three-quarters of the couples planned to continue job sharing in the following academic year, but only one quarter ex pected to maintain this arrangement for five years. Most couples viewed job sharing as a temporary work option rather than as a permanent lifestyle.

Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, Vol. 14, No. 2, 195-207 (1985)
DOI: 10.1177/1077727X8501400203
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