Abstract
Objective: Single, childless working women (SCWW) are a notable proportion of the female workforce. The budding research on this population suggests that they have issues of wellbeing that may be tied to specific needs of both their workplaces and their personal lives, and hence, distinct work-life dynamics that require attention. This study explores how SCWW construct their wellbeing.
Participants: The sample was composed of 22 SCWW aged 29 to 45.
Methods: A discourse analysis of the transcripts of semi-structured interviews with these women was performed.
Results: Most women drew on an interpretative repertoire of "wellbeing as balance" (e.g., diversification and reasonable dosing of life's dimensions). It was associated with a recurrent subject position we have termed "the dynamic woman" whose intensity transfused talk of the activities in her life. Here, work becomes a "passion" and a source of appreciated challenges. However, a dilemma could arise from these constructions for positioning oneself in relation to the cadence of one's active life or rather, in articulating an unambiguous claim to balance. Balance/dosing and dynamicity/passion can be uneasy bedfellows.
Conclusions: Our analyses raise questions about possible counter[balancing] discourses and further argue the relevance of work-life issues for SCWW.
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