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Work-Life BalanceRemove Work-Life Balance →

New research on work-life balance from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including how best to deal with today's 24/7 work culture, the concept of leaning-in, and how to build a business in the context of a life.
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Does Hybrid Work Actually Work? Insights from 30,000 Emails

by Ben Rand

It's a pandemic debate raging at companies everywhere: How often should employees come to the office? In the first large-scale study of its kind, Prithwiraj Choudhury finds that hybrid schedules might offer the best answer for everyone.

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

by Rachel Kim Raczka

Working late again? Research by Ashley Whillans and colleagues shows how incentive pay encourages workers to think of downtime as wasted time. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Dying to Lead: How Reaching the Top Can Kill You Sooner

by Jay Fitzgerald

A study of General Electric employees by Tom Nicholas shows how the stress of chasing professional success can shorten an executive's life. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Commuting Hurts Productivity and Your Best Talent Suffers Most

by Lane Lambert

Companies that prize innovation should keep employees out of soul-crushing transit, even after the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests new research by Andy Wu. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Steps to Help You Get Out of Your Own Way

by Sean Silverthorne

These research-based tips will help you slow down, fight the fog, and improve both your home life and work life. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Want to Be Happier? Make More Free Time

by Dina Gerdeman

Enjoying life requires time, but too often we willingly give it away in pursuit of money and career. Ashley Whillans shows how to restore the proper balance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

You're Right! You Are Working Longer and Attending More Meetings

by Danielle Kost

A study of 3 million people confirms what many work-from-home employees already know: We're swamped. Research by Raffaella Sadun, Jeffrey Polzer, and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

COVID's Surprising Toll on Careers of Women Scientists

by Rachel Layne

Women scientists and those with young children are paying a steep career price in the pandemic, according to new research by Karim Lakhani, Kyle Myers, and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2020

by Staff

Harvard Business School faculty are both voracious book readers and frequent book authors. Here is what they are reading this summer, and what they have written over the last year. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Women Pay a Higher Career Price in Today's Always-On Work Culture

by Danielle Kost

In industries that prize overwork, both men and women pay the price of missed time with family. But the career damage is more severe for women, says Robin Ely. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Stuck in Commuter Hell? You Can Still Be Productive

by Dina Gerdeman

Commuters who listen to music or browse social media might be increasing their chance of a stressful workday. Research by Francesca Gino and colleagues offers better ways to cope with a bad commute. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Kids of Working Moms Grow into Happy Adults

by Dina Gerdeman

In earlier research, Kathleen McGinn and colleagues discovered that adult kids of working moms are high achievers at work. Now it turns out they are happy, too. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Having No Life is the New Aspirational Lifestyle

by Michael Blanding

It used to be that we equated power and prestige with a leisurely, luxurious lifestyle. Today, lack of leisure time is the real status symbol. Anat Keinan discusses what that means for consumer marketing. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense against the 24/7 Work Culture

by Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely, and Erin M. Reid

A common explanation for women’s stalled advancement into high-level positions is that women’s family obligations conflict with the long hours of these jobs. Work-family accommodations have done little to help women advance, however. And men also experience work-family conflict yet nevertheless advance. This study argues that women’s advancement is slowed because of social defenses at the organizational level, along with wider cultural beliefs that are resistant to change. These findings concur with scholars’ observations that progress toward gender equality is slowed to the extent that efforts are focused exclusively on women. Expanding efforts to include a thorough-going reconsideration of gender at work and at home, such that both women and men can freely pursue lives in which one domain need not take precedence over the other, may be more effective.

What Will It Take to Achieve Gender Equality in Leadership?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP James Heskett's readers question the meaning of "gender equality" and ponder ways to give women access to the same management opportunities as men. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Do Americans Work Too Much and Think About Work Too Little?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP The current debate on whether Americans work too much or too little has caused Jim Heskett's readers to wonder, is our way of thinking about work outmoded? What do YOU think? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Mums the Word! Cross-national Effects of Maternal Employment on Gender Inequalities at Work and at Home

by Kathleen L. McGinn & Elizabeth Long Lingo

This study contributes to a growing body of research that explores the effects of maternal employment on their children's well-being. Female respondents raised by a mother who worked outside the home are more likely to be employed, more likely to hold supervisory responsibility if employed, work more hours, and earn higher hourly wages than women whose mothers were home full time. Sons raised by an employed mother spend more time caring for family members than men whose mothers stayed home full time, and daughters raised by an employed mother spend less time on housework than women whose mothers stayed home full time. Results overall show the power of non-traditional gender role models, especially employed mothers, as critical factors for reducing gender inequality in labor markets and households across the globe. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Kids Benefit From Having a Working Mom

by Carmen Nobel

Women whose moms worked outside the home are more likely to have jobs themselves, are more likely to hold supervisory responsibility at those jobs, and earn higher wages than women whose mothers stayed home full time, according to research by Kathleen McGinn and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Who Sets Your Benchmarks?

In his new book, What You're Really Meant to Do, Robert Steven Kaplan outlines a step-by-step approach to defining success on your own terms. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Marissa Mayer Should Bridge Distance Gap with Remote Workers

by Lakshmi Ramarajan

Marissa Mayer's decision to bring work-at-home Yahoo! employees back to the office has set off a firestorm. Lakshmi Ramarajan writes on how to mitigate the problem. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.