Returning To Work Post Maternity Leaves - A study of well-educated women's experiences in Finland

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Volume Title

School of Business | Master's thesis

Date

2019

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Management and International Business (MIB)

Language

en

Pages

81 + 2

Series

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to further our understanding of the employed women’s experiences of returning to work after their maternity leaves. In particular, I will look into the experiences of well-educated working mothers in Finland. While Finland has traditionally enjoyed a high level of women’s engagement in paid work, there are few studies concerning their experiences of going back to paid work post maternity leaves in the country. In the broader literature, currently, studies on the topic seem to be insufficient and fragmented, too. Therefore, this thesis attempts to enrich the academic discussion of the topic and hopefully build a solid base for future policies and practices to better facilitate the mothers’ and women’s working. In order to answer the research question of "How do well-educated employed mothers in Finland experience and manage returning to work post maternity leaves?", this thesis is conducted as a qualitative interview study. Specifically, eight in-depth semi-structured interviews were undertaken with eight university-graduated Finnish women who have returned to work for less than two years after their maternity leaves to produce data for the study. The interviews’ transcripts were then analyzed using the thematic analysis method. In the end, five prevalent themes of the well-educated women’s experiences of returning to work post maternity leaves in Finland were identified, namely: (1) The Simultaneous Sense Of Sorrow And Joy, (2) The Enablers For Mothers’ Working In Finland, (3) The Time Management, (4) The Sense Of Guilt, and (5) Work And Home Benefit Each Other.

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Thesis advisor

Katila, Saija

Keywords

women working, return to work, mothers working, maternity leave

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