Bankers find it harder to achieve a work-life balance than
doctors, according to research.
The Economic and Social Research Council survey shows that
bankers find it more difficult to juggle a successful career and childcare
responsibilities in the UK, France and Norway.
Many women bankers limit themselves to only one child. Over
two-thirds of women doctors have two or more children, compared to only 37 per
cent of women bankers. Male doctors also have more children than male bankers.
The report’s author Professor Rosemary Crompton, a
researcher at City University in London, believes that the contrasting
flexibility is because of the different professional qualifications.
She said, “Whereas professional qualifications bestow a
license to practice which can be used flexibility over employment and family
lives, managerial careers are subject to organisational constraints that hinder
such flexibility.”
The report calls for all employees with caring
responsibilities to have the right to work part-time and for it not be at the
employers’ discretion.
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Sixty doctors and bankers were interviewed in each of the
three countries.
By Robert De La Poer
