As an expert on organizational behavior, gender, and work-life balance, Ellen Ernst Kossek, the Basil S. Turner Distinguished Professor of Management at Purdue’s Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, studies how people, managers and companies can improve workplace cultures and the effectiveness of work-family policies to foster well-being at work and home.
In "Virtuality at Work: A Double-Edged Sword for Women's Career Equality?", Kossek and her research colleagues — N. Sharon Hill and Kira O. Foley of George Washington University and Isabel Villamor of IESE Business — address the rise of virtuality, where employees often don’t work face-to-face with co-workers, are geographically distributed, and communicate through technology. The paper was among 2023’s top-10 most read and cited articles in Academy of Management Annals.
“With the growth of videoconferencing tools and email for communication, nearly all workers today engage in some form of virtual work,” Kossek says. “Many are also fully or hybrid remote, which entails working away from a formal work site such as an office or plant.”
The researchers find that virtual work can have both beneficial and negative effects on gender equality, including women's career development, salary, work-family balance and well-being.
“Some aspects of virtuality including the ability to sometimes work from home fits women's work-life interests better because it gives them more control over their work and nonwork lives, but women find it harder to work from home than men do because of the greater demands often placed on them by their families," Kossek says. “Understanding how virtual work affects women's career equity is particularly crucial as businesses continue to adjust to the post-pandemic work world. This is because women who have worked hard to attain gender equality don’t want to fall behind.”
To that end, the researchers conducted an analysis of 100 academic papers published between 1995 and 2021 that looked at topics pertaining to women's career equity in virtual employment. They discovered that while increasing virtuality in the workplace promises to enhance gender equality, it also causes obstacles to women's professional advancement. The study identified three conflicts that are caused by dual career-damaging and career-enhancing elements unique to virtual work environments: interference and control over work-life boundaries; better and fewer employment prospects; and integration and exclusion in society.
According to Kossek, women who work virtually have more choice over their work-life balance, but also experience more interference between the two. For instance, working virtually gives you greater freedom to work from home, which improves women's well-being and job satisfaction. However, being away from the workplace makes it more difficult to distinguish between work and home obligations, which raises the possibility of multitasking and the possibility that responsibilities may overlap, causing increased stress and role overload.
“If collaborating with coworkers who are spread out across different regions necessitates more travel for work, this could lead to further work-life conflicts,” Kossek says. “Greater flexibility frequently accompanies the expectation of constant access to the workplace, which makes work-life boundaries more permeable, heightening work-related disruptions at home and family conflicts at work.”
Although virtuality can have a positive impact on women's employment prospects in terms of salary, advancement and leadership roles, it can also have a negative impact. On the positive side, virtuality affords women the ability to choose where they work, which gives them the freedom to continue working full-time even as their personal responsibilities grow — like when they become mothers, for instance.
“Understanding how virtual work affects women's career equity is particularly crucial as businesses adjust to the post-pandemic work world. Women who have worked hard to attain gender equality don’t want to fall behind.” — Ellen Ernst Kossek
It can also help foster participation in global careers. While relocating can be a barrier for women accepting worldwide assignments, virtuality offers allows access to global jobs without relocation. Additionally, women's more interactive leadership styles may be advantageous in distant work settings where fostering relationships can be particularly difficult.
Despite these benefits, some women are reluctant to utilize telecommuting and remote work due to worries that, should they opt to work from home, they will be ostracized for putting their families before their careers. “They might also worry that their obligations to their families will make it impossible for them to fulfill the travel or after-hours connectivity requirements involved in collaborating with coworkers in distant places,” Kossek says.
The social integration of women at work might be facilitated or hindered by electronic communication. Positively, when communication occurs virtually rather than face-to-face, women might feel less constrained by gender stereotypes and be more inclined to contribute to group discussions and provide their opinions. Social media also makes networks, knowledge, and skills within organizations more accessible to women. Performance is enhanced by these dynamics.
Yet on the down side, internet communication can sometimes lead to more negative opinions about women when unfavorable gender stereotypes, such as views that women are less capable, are left unchallenged. Furthermore, social media facilitates the formation of closed, informal networks — like private WhatsApp groups that are exclusive to women at the expense of open discussion. Women's success in the workplace is hampered by these dynamics in ways like receiving unfavorable task assignments and low evaluations.
The authors conclude that while virtual work has the potential to advance women's career equality, gender expectations still exist in our society. As a result, organizations must take proactive measures to mitigate any potential negative effects and everyone — especially leaders — needs to be aware that it is important to leverage the benefits of virtuality for women’s career equality.
“Managers should welcome the chances for gender equality that virtual work offers while also taking actions to minimize any potential for new kinds of discrimination,” Kossek says. “In doing so, businesses can benefit both their firms and society by capitalizing on the tremendous opportunities that virtual work offers for women’s labor market participation and career advancement.”
