ABSTRACT
The focus of our research was to learn about the process of new identity construction and socialization into parenthood among career-oriented professsionals voluntarily working less than full time for family reasons. Enhanced understanding of this process of identity transformation will potentially help employers respond to the changing demographics in the workforce-through offering different ways of working and design and delivery of more effective and more widely utilized work-life initiatives. Illumination of the process of professionals becoming parents will also benefit individuals and increase their capacity to continue to invest in their professional growth and development, while creating space for investing in children and family life. This study examined in depth the meaning behind reduced-load work arrangements among professionals, in order to explore changes in identity as these professionalsturned-parents adapted to their new life circumstances. Although professionals often invest years in training, preparing for a career, and developing a professional identity, little work has been done on how professionals adapt and are socialized to take on other significant life roles such as parent. The intent is to link state of the art theory and research from several disciplines (including sociology, social psychology, development psychology, management, and family studies) to enhance understanding of what happens when a professional becomes a parent.
