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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER, 2016
ACTION RESEARCH
At some point in life
most if not all people will be troubled
by certain fundamental questions. How do we find that
elusive and fulfilling balance between work and life?
How will we deal with old age, our own and our parents?
Advancement and shifts in culture make these concerns
even starker as traditional gender roles have changed and
people live much longer.
Ambitiously, a research team at The UWI St Augustine
Campus has undertaken a project to not only collect the
data on work/life balance and ageing but also implement
practical solutions for Caribbean society. In fact, the project
has already begun this practical aspect through a lecture
series for employees of one of Trinidad and Tobago’s public
utility companies.
The research is titled Work/Life Balance and Ageing
in Trinidad: Studying the Productivity and Wellbeing of
Working Men and Women.
“Life has accelerated,” says Professor Patricia
Mohammed, Lead Researcher of the Work/Life Balance
and Ageing project. “And at the same time the expectation
of life has increased. It is no longer three score and ten. The
average person is living longer. By 2030 the population who
would have retired at 65 will exceed the working population”.
The project looks at the work and family life
commitments of a selected group of working people in the
40 to 65 age range. Researchmethods include talking circles,
surveys of childcare and elderly facilities, and interviews
with working men and women.
Professor Mohammed, who is also Professor of Gender
and Cultural Studies as well as Campus Coordinator of the
School of Graduate Studies and Research, explains that, “we
approached this project with the belief that it should not just
be an intellectual approach. It had to include the practice,
the axiology between concept and practice”.
She reached out to the Social Work Unit in the
Department of Behavioural Sciences to combine the
practical methods of social work with the theoretical
framework of gender studies.
“We are synergising gender and social work, using
some of the philosophies of gender and the methodologies
of social work,” says Dr Cheryl-Ann Boodram, Investigator
with the project and Assistant Lecturer/Practicum
Coordinator with the Social Work Unit. “We work together
and find solutions”.
This multi-disciplinary, practical outcome type of
research is very much in line with the larger research goals
of The University of the West Indies. Seeking to encourage
Work
and
Life
finding the balance
Gender Studies/Social Work partner for groundbreaking research
B y J o e l H e n r y
research of this nature, The UWI St Augustine established
the Research and Development Impact (RDI) Fund, which
provides three-year funding for projects in specific thematic
areas. The Work/Life project, which began in 2015 and will
run to April 2018, is RDI funded.
The emphasis on impact is reflected in key facets of
the project. The research teammade sure to carry the work
outside of the campus and establish partnerships with
organisations such as the International Labour Organisation
(ILO), the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Retired
Persons (TTARP), the UNEconomic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC), the Women’s
Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD), Working
Women, corporate sector representatives and even homes
for the elderly.
The research team has also developed a work/life
balance module that it is delivering to employees of one of
Trinidad and Tobago’s public utilities, amassive organisation
with over 13 stations throughout the two islands.
“It is an interactive lecture series,” says Dr Boodram.
“We engage the workers to uncover how they construct
their own meaning of work/life balance. We continue until
we discover what causes them stress and then work together
to find solutions to help them cope”.
The team has traveled to far-flung communities to
deliver the module, providing relief to many.
“Everywhere we go the experience is different and new,”
says Professor Mohammed.
But no matter the location, certain causes of work/life
stress appear consistently. These include traffic to and from
work, which eats up hours every day for working people;
communications technology, which allows encroachment
into time allotted to both work and life; evolving gender
roles, particularly of women, who find themselves juggling
work along with traditional roles such as homemaker and
childcare; and caring for ageing parents, another emerging
phenomenon as people live longer.
And the impact has been very positive, says Dr.
Boodram: “The experience has been absolutely wonderful.
People are animated in talking about their experiences. The
sessions are full of anecdotal stories about the challenges
they face. They feel engaged by us. Many have said that
they are happy to be engaging with the university in a very
meaningful way. When we do these sessions people see
that they are not alone in dealing with stress. It brings them
together, which in turn helps them find solutions”.
Coming out of the lectures there has been greater
contentment and productivity within the organisation. The
research team is looking at using the data related to work/life
stress uncovered from the modules to provide policymakers
and stakeholders vital qualitative information on the labour
force. They also want to create a saleable module that can
be used by other organisations.
Currently, the Work/Life Balance project is in the
second of its three year span, but with the engaging nature
of the research and its proven practical impact it seems
certain that this is just the beginning.
The Research Team
Professor Patricia Mohammed........Lead Researcher
Professor Paula Morgan.....................Investigator and Advisor
Dr Cheryl-Ann Boodram....................Investigator
Dr Angelique Nixon.............................Investigator
Deborah McFee....................................Investigator
Renée Maria Cozier..............................Research Assistant
Sommer Hunte.....................................Research Assistant
Patricia Hackett.....................................Research Assistant
Rachel Taylor..........................................Research Assistant (OJT)
Raquel LM Sukhu.................................Project Manager
The project looks at the work and family life commitments of a selected group of working
people in the 40 to 65 age range. Research methods include talking circles, surveys of
childcare and elderly facilities, and interviews with working men and women.
