Men at Work and at Home: Managing Emotion in Telework

Home-based telework is one of the flexible working options available today and is unique in its ability to physically and emotionally blur the boundaries between work and home. This paper explores how men experience working from home, how they construct their identities as workers and as parents in this ambiguous location, and how, as fathers, they manage the emotional work of reconciling family and career in this context. Our findings suggest that in order to manage the emotional aspects of telework men will, at times, focus on either the professional or parental part of their identity in their narratives, and at times attempt to ‘have it all’. We conclude that telework can provide a space where men can adopt emotional discourses and practices traditionally associated with women, and particularly working mothers.