Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

“Women Like You Keep Women Like Me Down”: Understanding Intergenerational Conflict and Work-Life Balance from a Discourse Perspective

  • Chapter
Handbook on Well-Being of Working Women

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life ((IHQL))

  • 4289 Accesses

Abstract

In a fairly recent phenomenon, four generations of women are now present in the workplace (Martin CA, Tulgan B, Managing the generation mix: from urgency to opportunity, 2nd edn. HRD Press, Amherst, 2006; Zemke R, Raines C, Filipczak B, Generations at work: managing the clash of veterans, boomers, Xers, and Nexters in your workplace. American Management Association, New York, 2000). While the research attending to issues of work and life, conflict and balance, is burgeoning, scant attention has been paid to intergenerational work-life conflict. This chapter explores some of the underlying tensions and differences that lie at the nexus of intergenerational conflict in the work-life context seeking to disrupt staid stereotypes and offer pathways in which women across generations may find commonality and bridge differences. A review of the literature and contemporary research trends suggest intergenerational conflict in the work-life context illuminates gendered and structured imbalances in the workplace. In light of this, the chapter challenges present conceptions of what counts as a work ethic and predicts generational responses to gendered structures will challenge assumptions about how women will work in the future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For simplicity of reading, I do not use the big D little d distinction in this chapter.

  2. 2.

    The most recent reports on this subject show Millennial women earning 92 % of their male counterparts earnings at the beginning of their careers. However, whether they will maintain this narrowing of the wage gap throughout their careers has not yet been determined and has not panned out for previous generations of women (Pew Research Social and Demographic Trends 2013).

References

  • Alvesson, M., & Karreman, D. (2000). Varieties of discourse: On the study of organizations through discourse analysis. Human Relations, 53, 1125–1149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armour, L. (2005, November 6). Generation Y: They’ve arrived at work with a new attitude. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2005-11-06-geny_x.htm

  • Ashcraft, K. L., & Mumby, D. K. (2004). Reworking gender: A feminist communicology of organization. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belkin, L. (2003, October). The opt out revolution. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved December 31, 2013 at: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/magazine/26WOMEN.html

  • Belkin, L. (2013, August 12). What mother’s really want: To opt in between. Huffington Post. Retrieved at: www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/what-mothers-really-want-_n

  • Bell, A. (2010). The myth of generational tensions. Leader to Leader, 58, 7–10. doi:10.1002/ltl.434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1967). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York: First Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beutell, N. J. (2010). Health, supervisory support, and workplace culture in relation to work family conflict and synergy. Psychological Reports, 107, 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BLS Reports. (2013, February). Women in the labor force: A databook. Bureau of Labor Statistic, Report 1040. Retrieved December 2, 2013 at: www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook-2012.pdf

  • Bo, I. (2006). Working life and family life: Ambiguous communication at work. Community, Work and Family, 9(2), 123–141. doi:10.1080/13668800600586951.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brinckerhoff, P. C. (2007). Generations: The challenge of a lifetime for your nonprofit. Saint Paul: Fieldstone Alliance.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bujak, J. S. (2009). Overcoming generational differences. Healthcare Executive, Sept/Oct, 25, 5. Retrieved December 31, 2013 at: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/44025226/Overcoming-Generational-Differences

  • Buzzanell, P. M., & Liu, M. (2005). Struggling with maternity leave policies and practices: A poststructuralist feminist analysis of gendered organizing. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 33, 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman Gallagher, V., & Fiorito, J. (2005). Generational differences in attitudes about unions: A segmented dispositional marketing approach. Southern Business Review, 31, 35–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cordeniz, J. A. (2002). Recruitment, retention, and management of generation X: A focus on nursing professionals. Journal of Healthcare Management, 47, 237–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deetz, S. (1992). Democracy in an age of corporate colonization. New York: State University Press of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dou, W., Wang, G., & Zhou, N. (2006). Generational and regional differences in media consumption patterns of Chinese generation X consumers. Journal of Advertising, 35, 101–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durkin, D. (2008). Youth movement. Communication World March–April, 25, 23–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckman, E. W. (2002). Women high school principals: Perspectives on role conflict, role commitment, and job satisfaction. Journal of School Leadership, 12, 57–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edley, P. P., Hymio, A., & Newson, V. A. (2004). Alternative organizing communities. Collectives organizing, telework, home-based internet businesses, and online communities. In P. J. Kalbfleisch (Ed.), Communication yearbook, 28 (pp. 87–127). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, R. (2013). Generational training: What’s in it for boomers? Forbes. Retrieved December 3, 2013 at http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/10/18/generationaltraining-whats-in-it-for-boomers/2/

  • Eisner, S. P. (2005). Managing generation Y. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 70, 4–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, M. J. (1998). Revisiting the family life cycle theory and paradigm in marriage and family therapy. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 26, 341–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, J. J., Martinengo, G., & Hill, E. J. (2010). Putting work and family experiences in context: Differences in family life stage. Human Relations, 63(7), 955–979. doi:10.1177/0018726709353138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faber, B. D. (2001). Gen/ethics? Organizational ethics and student and instructor conflicts in workplace training. Technical Communication Quarterly, 10, 291–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairhurst, G., & Sarr, R. (1996). The art of framing: Managing the language of leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Favero, L. W., & Heath, R. G. (2012). Generational perspectives in the workplace: Interpreting the discourses that constitute women’s struggle to balance work and life. Journal of Business Communication, 49(4), 332–356. doi:10.1177/0021943612456037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, J. K. (1999). Disappearing acts: Gender, power, and relational practice at work. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings 1972–1977 (L. M. C. Gordon, J. Mepham, & K. Soper, Trans.). New York: Pantheon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fullerton, A. S., & Dixon, J. C. (2010). Generational conflict or methodological artifact? Reconsidering the relationship between age and policy attitudes in the U.S., 1984–2008. Public Opinion Quarterly, 74(4), 643–673. doi:10.1093/poq/nfq043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaebler. (2013). Self-employment statistics for women. Gaebler.com. Retrieved October 27, 2013 at http://www.gaebler.com/Self-Employment-Statistics-for-Women.htm

  • Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychology theory and women’s development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harding, S. (1991). Whose science? Whose knowledge? Thinking from women’s lives. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, M. F., & Cowan, R. L. (2008). The meaning of work/life: A corporate ideology of work/life balance. Communication Quarterly, 56(3), 227–246. doi:10.1080/01463370802251053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, M. F., & Cowan, R. L. (2010). Be careful what you ask for: Structuration theory and work = life accommodation. Communication Studies, 61(2), 205–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, J. (1995). Women, men and politeness. London: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, J., & Marra, M. (2004). Relational practice in the workplace: Women’s talk or gendered discourse? Language in Society, 33, 377–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, J., & Stubbe, M. (2003). Power and politeness in the workplace: A sociolinguistic analysis of talk at work. Harlow: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • hooks-bell. (1981). Ain’t I a woman: Black women and feminism. Boston: South End.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R. (1977). The silent revolution: Changing values and political styles among Western publics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, D., & Clarke, S. (1993). Women, men, and interruptions: A critical review. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Gender and conversational interaction (pp. 231–274). New York: Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayson, S. (2006, December 8). Companies slow to adjust to work-life balance concerns of Gen Y. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-12-06gen-next-life-work-balance_x.htm

  • Jorgenson, J. (2000). Interpreting the intersections of work and family: Frame conflicts in women’s work. Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication, 10. Retrieved from http://www.cios.org/www/ejc/v10n3400.htm#Dois

  • Kirby, E. L., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2013). Communication work-life issues. In L. L. Putnam & D. K. Mumby (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: Advances in theory, research, and methods (pp. 351–373). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, E. L., & Krone, K. J. (2002). “The policy exists but you can’t really use it”: Communication and the structuration of work-family policies. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 30, 50–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, E. L., Golden, A. G., Medved, C. E., Jorgenson, J., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2003). An organizational communication challenge to the discourse of work and family research: From problematics to empowerment. In P. J. Kalbfleisch (Ed.), Communication yearbook 27 (pp. 1–43). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, E. L., Wieland, S., & McBride, M. C. (2006). Work-life communication. In J. Oetzel & S. Ting-Toomey (Eds.), Handbook of conflict communication (pp. 327–357). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, E. L., Wieland, S. M., & McBride, M. C. (2013). Work/life conflict. In J. Oetzel & S. Ting-Toomey (Eds.), Handbook of communication and conflict (2nd ed., pp. 377–402). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Leavy, P. L. (2007). The practice of feminist oral history and focus group interviews. In S. Nagy Hesse-Biber & P. L. Leavy (Eds.), Feminist research practices: A primer (pp. 149–186). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, M., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2004). Negotiation maternity leave expectations: Perceived tensions between ethics of justice and care. Journal of Business Communication, 41(4), 323–349. doi:10.1177/0021943604268174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loughrey, M. (2008). Just how male are male nurses…? Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17(10), 1327–1334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mannheim, K. (1953). Essays on sociology and social psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, C. A., & Tulgan, B. (2006). Managing the generation mix: From urgency to opportunity (2nd ed.). Amherst: HRD Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNall, L. A., Nicklin, J. M., & Masuda, A. D. (2010). A meta-analytic review of the consequences associated with work-family enrichment. Journal of Business Psychology, 25, 381–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medved, C. E. (2010). Communication work-life research. In S. Sweet & J. Casey (Eds.), Work and family encyclopedia. Chestnut Hill: Sloan Work and Family Research Network. Retrieved from: https://workfamily.sas.upenn.edu/wfrn-repo/object/3kb6k5cb4ft7918c

  • Moen, P., & Roehling, P. (2005). The career mystique: Cracks in the American dream. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mumby, D. K. (1993). Critical organizational communication studies: The next 10 years. Communication Monographs, 60, 18–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mumby, D. K. (1998). Communication and power in organizations: Discourse, ideology, and domination. Norwood: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, E. F., Gibson, J. W., & Greenwood, R. A. (2010). Analyzing generational values among managers, and non-managers for sustainable organizational effectiveness. SAM Advanced Management Journal (Winter), 75, 33–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, K. K., & Sadaghiani, K. (2010). Millennials in the workplace: A communication perspective on Millennials’ organizational relationships and performance. Journal of Business Psychology, 25, 225–238. doi:10.1007/s10869-010-9172-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ott, B., Blacksmith, N., & Royal, N. (2008). What generation gap? Job seekers for different generations often look for the same things from prospective employees, according to recent Gallup research. http://gmp.gallup.com

  • Parker, K. (2012, April 13). Women, work and motherhood: A sampler of recent Pew research survey findings. Retrieved at: http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/04/13/women-work-and-motherhood/

  • Perlow, L. A. (1997). Finding time: How corporations, individuals, and families can benefit from new work practices. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pew Research Center. (2007). How young people view their lives, futures, and politics: A portrait of “Generation Next”. http://people-press.org/report/300/a-portrait-of-generation-next

  • Pew Research Center Interactive. (2011). A portrait of five generations. Retrieved December 30, 2013 at: http://pewrsr.ch/10Obrg5

  • Pew Research Social and Demographic Trends. (2013, December 11). On pay gap, Millennial women near parity—For now. Retrieved December 31, 2013 at: http://pewrsr.ch/1fiyqoJ

  • Pool, M. S., & McPhee, R. D. (2005). Structuration theory. In S. May & D. K. Mumby (Eds.), Engaging organizational communication theory and research: Multiple perspectives (pp. 171–195). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Quast, L. (2012, November 12). Masculine norms in the workplace cold be holding women back. Forbes. Retrieved on December 13, 2013: http://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2012/11/12/how-masculine-norms-in-the-workplace-could-be-holding-women-back/

  • Rapoport, R., & Bailyn, L. (1996). Relinking life and work: Toward a better future. New York: Ford Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandberg, S. (2013). Lean in: Women, work, and the will to lead. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shultz, N. J., Hoffman, M. F., Fredman, A. J., & Bainbridge, A. L. (2012). The work and life of young professionals: Rationale and strategy for balance. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 13, 44–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sterns, H. L., & Huyck, M. H. (2001). The role of work in midlife. In M. E. Lachman (Ed.), Handbook of midlife development (pp. 447–486). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, W., & Howe, N. (1997). The fourth turning: An American prophecy—What the cycles of history tell us about America’s next rendezvous with destiny. New York: Broadway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tannen, D. (1990). You just don’t understand: Men and women in conversation. New York: Ballantine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toosi, M. (2012). Employment outlook: 2010-2010. Labor force projections to 2020: A more slowly growing workforce. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Retrieved December 31, 2013 at www.bls.gov/opub/mir/2012/01/art3full.pdf

  • Twenge, J. (2006). Generation me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled—and more miserable than ever before. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner, J. (2013, August 7). The opt-out generation wants back in. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved at: www.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/magazine/the-opt-out-generation-wants

  • Wayne, J. H., Musisca, N., & Fleeson, W. (2004). Considering the role of personality in the work-family experience: Relationships of the big five to work-family conflict and facilitation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64, 108–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zalokar, N. (2001). Generational differences in female occupational attainment—Have the 1970’s changed women’s opportunities? American Economic Review, 76, 378–381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zemke, R., Raines, C., & Filipczak, B. (2000). Generations at work: Managing the clash of veterans, boomers, Xers, and Nexters in your workplace. New York: American Management Association.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Renee Guarriello Heath

Authors
  1. Renee Guarriello Heath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renee Guarriello Heath .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management College of Business Administration, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA

    Mary L. Connerley

  2. Department of Management and Marketing School of Management, Rhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    Jiyun Wu

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Heath, R.G. (2016). “Women Like You Keep Women Like Me Down”: Understanding Intergenerational Conflict and Work-Life Balance from a Discourse Perspective. In: Connerley, M., Wu, J. (eds) Handbook on Well-Being of Working Women. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9897-6_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9897-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9896-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9897-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation