Academic careers are based on expectations of high productivity, professional mobility and constant availability, therefore parenthood
and motherhood in the academic environment become a relevant issue of work organization and career opportunities. The aim
of the article is to reveal the preconditions for unequal career opportunities for employees with children in academic organizations.
The study is based on a qualitative interpretative design, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The study highlighted three interrelated processes that take place in the academic environment, which form unequal career opportunities. These are
the transfer of professional requirements outside the formally defined working hours, conditionally applied and unequally accessible
flexibility, and the impact of these processes on employees professional pace, engagement and career decisions. It has been established
that employees‘ experiences differ and this depends on gender, career stage and available support resources. The article shows how everyday academic work practices become a prerequisite for the formation of unequal career opportunities.
Journal:Tiltai
Volume 94, Issue 1 (2025), pp. 79–96
Abstract
Parenthood is quite rare among physically disabled adults in Finland, and becoming a parent can be labelled as a taboo act. In this paper, we shed a light on this salient topic by scrutinising the experiences of Finnish mothers and fathers with physical disabilities. The research questions are: (1) How do mothers and fathers describe their agency as parents? and (2) How is their agency constructed within social structures and relations? The analysis is based on qualitative teller-focused interviews with 17 mothers and fathers. The results reveal their agencies as multidimensional, and demonstrate how parenthood is constructed through interaction within institutional spaces. Personal support, peers and NGOs also play an important role in the construction of agency. Interaction can either limit, question or support the agency of disabled people as parents. The results show that the parents have strong agency in using their knowledge, and flexible resources when meeting the demands.
We will analyse the cultural phenomenon as a product created by human genius. We will ask how works the interaction of culture and human life today and how cultural transformation influences the process of modelling perceptions of man himself. We will analyse how the cultural perception of what is “normal” or what is “value” is replaced by what is pleasant and useful. How a new concept of normality and value is created. We are creating a society on the foundation of exceptions without borders or a respectful and tolerant society?