The effect of coworking spaces on work-life and work-family boundaries

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Dickson, A. (2020). The effect of coworking spaces on work-life and work-family boundaries. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

Coworking spaces have recently grown in popularity as a third workspace with benefits of both working from home and traditional office spaces. The goal of the current study was to examine how employees working in coworking spaces construct and navigate the boundaries between work and life in this working space. Two research questions were asked: how are work-life boundaries conceptualized and navigated for those in coworking spaces, and are there gender or parental differences in how these boundaries are conceptualized and navigated? To answer these questions, border theory was applied to 78 in-depth interviews with individuals who work primarily in coworking spaces using a constant comparative analysis. Five major themes emerged from the data. First, employees that left traditional office spaces enjoy the autonomy and flexibility they have when working in a coworking space. Second, employees that now work in a coworking space instead of working from home report feeling less isolated and less distracted from family and chores. Third, employees that want to integrate their work and life spheres (especially women) can bring their family to work and create social friendships that extend beyond the coworking space. Fourth, employees who want to separate their work and life can use segmentation strategies such as using physical and temporal boundaries to strengthen the border between work and life. Finally, the benefits of coworking extend beyond work-life boundaries and balance to increase well-being, provide collaboration and accountability, and create a community of passion around work.

Details
Author

Dickson, Ashleigh

Title

The effect of coworking spaces on work-life and work-family boundaries

Physical Description

1 online resource (62 pages) : PDF

Date

2020

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Coworking spaces have recently grown in popularity as a third workspace with benefits of both working from home and traditional office spaces. The goal of the current study was to examine how employees working in coworking spaces construct and navigate the boundaries between work and life in this working space. Two research questions were asked: how are work-life boundaries conceptualized and navigated for those in coworking spaces, and are there gender or parental differences in how these boundaries are conceptualized and navigated? To answer these questions, border theory was applied to 78 in-depth interviews with individuals who work primarily in coworking spaces using a constant comparative analysis. Five major themes emerged from the data. First, employees that left traditional office spaces enjoy the autonomy and flexibility they have when working in a coworking space. Second, employees that now work in a coworking space instead of working from home report feeling less isolated and less distracted from family and chores. Third, employees that want to integrate their work and life spheres (especially women) can bring their family to work and create social friendships that extend beyond the coworking space. Fourth, employees who want to separate their work and life can use segmentation strategies such as using physical and temporal boundaries to strengthen the border between work and life. Finally, the benefits of coworking extend beyond work-life boundaries and balance to increase well-being, provide collaboration and accountability, and create a community of passion around work.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Sociology
Psychology

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Co-Working
Coworking Spaces
Qualitative Research
Telecommuting
Work-Family
Work-Life

Subject Area

Organizational Science

Advisor(s)

Yavorsky, Jill

Committee Members

McGonagle, Alyssa
Blanchard, Anita

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2020.

Rights Statement

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). For additional information, see http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/.

Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Dickson_uncc_0694N_12667

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2145