ABCP Webinar: Constant juggling? An interactive and research-informed webinar on managing work-life boundaries for academics

Title

Constant juggling? An interactive and research-informed webinar on managing work-life boundaries for academics

Speaker

Dr Mengyi Xu (徐梦艺博士), Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management, University of Birmingham, UK

Chair

Professor Lynda Jiwen Song (宋继文教授), Professor in Management, Leeds University, UK

Language

The talk will be delivered in English.

Abstract

This webinar aims to share academics’ experiences of managing their work-life boundaries from recent research and lived experience, and collectively explore individual strategies and tactics for work-life boundary management and managerial implications of hybrid working in the Higher Education (HE) sector. COVID-19 has accelerated existing trends towards the greater digitalisation and virtualisation of how the HE institutions are operated, and the knowledge work is done. Hybrid working, comprising a mixture of office-based and remote working, is now a firmly established option for many employers. While it is understood that the resulting blurring of work and home domains poses threats to staff wellbeing, health and longer-term productivity, the problem has consistently been framed as individual responsibility with the result that less attention has been paid to what employers can and should also do to support staff.

We will start by sharing some recent research and lived experiences on the work-life boundary experiences of academics during and after the pandemic. Then participants will be instructed to take an assessment designed to identify their boundary style and its pros and cons. Participants will then be allocated to a breakout room to share and use the results of this assessment to develop strategies and tactics for effective work-life boundary management. The webinar will end with a debrief from the discussions where participants will share the good practices and techniques of effective work-life boundary management, and critically reflect upon the importance of work-life boundary control for improving productivity and well-being.

Intended participants and admission criteria for the participants

All ABCP members and friends.

If you are interested in understanding work-life boundaries ahead of the webinar, you can read through the following article and do the work-life boundary style assessment and have their results handy.

Kossek, E. E. (2016) Managing work-life boundaries in the digital age. Organizational Dynamics, 45(3):258-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2016.07.010

Bio of speaker

Dr Mengyi Xu is an Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management (HRM) at the University of Birmingham. She is an academic member of the Charted Institute of Personnel Management, a Council member of the British Academy of Management and a working member of the Association of British Chinese Professors. She also serves as an external examiner on MSc and BSc HRM courses at other universities in the UK and Malaysia.

Mengyi’s research interests focus on work-life interface, hybrid working, and the future of work. Her research and consultancy projects are funded by the British Academy of Management, Forces in Mind Trust, the UK local government and Brazil’s Civil Service. She was awarded a Research Accelerator Fellowship from Cranfield University. Her publications have appeared in high-impact journals, international peer-reviewed conferences, and HR professional magazines.

Mengyi is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and possesses a broad portfolio of teaching and supervision expertise in HRM, Employment Relations, and Organisational Behaviour at Undergraduate, Master, MBA and Executive education. Her teaching is infused with insights from her research, and consultancy as well as her international experience in the West and East.

Prior to her academic career, Mengyi held a variety of roles in the UK and China, including HR, content creator, bilingual teacher and events presenter at TV stations.

How to Participate

Join Zoom Meeting using the following information:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81376373243?pwd=EbUovJgglM1ILq3xSO1OoFG3tVxKva.1

Meeting ID: 813 7637 3243
Passcode: 725001

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