Policy Presentation

POLARITY MAPPING 5

Mary Garcia

SOC 5620 Sociology of Work in Contemporary Society

Instructor: Alan Barton

December 16, 2019

Polarity Mapping

According to Levknecht (2013), polarity mapping entails a visual representation for handing interdependent challenges, and an individual can only ensure performance or success by supporting each other. In other words, although the interconnected perspectives or values results in tension, they must be balanced as well as support each other to maintain the high performance of each while avoiding the downsides. The technique can be used in various sectors to address dilemma issues. Regarding the experiences of women in employment, there is usually a conflict of balancing work life and home life. This can be referred to as the polarity of work-life vs. home life. Typically, focusing more on any of the values can result in downsides on the other. Maintaining the upsides can result in a sustained quality of life, while the downsides can lead to feelings of scantiness. As more women are entering the workforce in the United States and the world as a whole, they are often faced with the challenge of balancing work life and home life (Kavitha, 2017). The primary reason for this is that women are known to be homemakers. They are responsible for taking care of their children and husbands, which makes it tricky to balance work life and life at home.

Moreover, the dilemma can be addressed using polarity thinking or mapping. To begin with, focusing more on home life can result in several upsides. First, it would lead to more family bonds because women, especially those who are parents, can get adequate time with their children and husbands. Staying close to the families can enhance healthy and robust ties. Second, one can get time to relax and rejuvenate away from busy work life. In other words, you can get enough time to watch your favorite TV series or sport. Third, focusing on home life can provide enough time for plays and hobbies, which can lead to a more fulfilling and happy life. Lastly, it also leads to more comfort, unlike the pressures that are often present in the workplace (Kavitha, 2017). However, concentrating more on home life without balancing the work-life can result in various downsides. For instance, one cannot get the right rewards or promotions from work. This can hinder women workers from meeting specific financial needs, which can be demoralizing. It can also impact work relationships adversely since there will be no time to network and connect with colleagues. Such concentration can also prevent career development or growth as a result of missed opportunities.

Besides, focusing more on work-life can result in getting better rewards because of the accomplished tasks and targets. It can also ensure that women establish healthy working relationships that can impact work performance and productivity positively. In other words, better relationships can improve motivation to work as well as achieve both personal and organizational targets (Russo et al., 2016). It can also stimulate professional or career growth because women are likely to utilize various opportunities in the workplace. For instance, they can engage in training programs or even get financial support from the company to increase their education. Lastly, concentrating more on work can play a huge role in addressing gender inequalities in the workplace because it increases the chances of women to get specific employment positions that might be considered male-dominated. However, more focus on work-life can lead to particular downsides. Firstly, it can result in stress and exhaustion due to the need to accomplish many tasks and lack of enough time for relaxation. Secondly, concentrating on work-life without balancing home life can destroy family relationships because one will not get time to bond with the family members. For instance, mothers would not get adequate time to connect with their children or husbands. It can also limit personal pursuits, such as engaging in hobbies and plays.

Nevertheless, to maintain the upsides in their home life while balancing the work-life, female workers should schedule specific times to be with their families. For example, they can spare two hours every day for family bonding. Also, they should utilize massage therapy to minimize the stress and tiredness that often come along with a busy schedule at work. To maintain upsides in their work-life while balancing their home life, female workers can consider working at home so that they can be close to their families (Misra & Strader, 2013). Learning new skills can also enable them to accomplish tasks efficiently and spare enough time to be at home.

Action Steps Home-life Upsides Work-life Upsides Action Steps

Home-life Downsides Work-life Downsides

References

Kavitha, V. (2017). The relationship and effect of role overload, role ambiguity, work-life balance and career development on work stress among call center executives of business process outsourcing (BPO) in Selangor (Doctoral dissertation, University Utara Malaysia).

Levknecht, L. (2013, January 8). Using polarity thinking to achieve sustainable positive outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.elsevier.com/connect/using-polarity-thinking-to-achieve-sustainable-positive-outcomes

Misra, J., & Strader, E. (2013). Gender pay equity in advanced countries: The role of parenthood and policies. Journal Of International Affairs, 67(1), 27-41.

Russo, M., Shteigman, A., & Carmeli, A. (2016). Workplace and family support and work–life balance: Implications for individual psychological availability and energy at work. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(2), 173-188.