Accommodating Diversity in the Workplace Webinar

The Accommodating Diversity in the Workplace research initiative aims to understand issues relating to diversity & inclusion in the workplace. We are a group of researchers based at the University of Reading working on a range of projects focusing on best ways to accommodate diversity in the workplace. We aim to create a two-way dialogue between academic researchers, and employers and other stakeholders to reach a shared understanding around issues related to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and their implications for good workplace practice and policy. We are delighted to announce the speakers of our 2024/2025 webinar series, which will be held monthly on a Thursday at 1pm via MS Teams. The webinar is aimed at anyone who has an interest in diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Click here to register for the webinar series

Getting Dads talking

Presenter: Mark Gatto, Northumbria University

Abstract:
In recent years, the space for parents at work has opened up, though this emergent ‘caring commons’ is still typically predominantly occupied by women. The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns meant that some dads spent additional time doing caregiving and working flexibly, presenting an unexpected opportunity to experience extended time with their children . During this time, the boundaries between work and home became more blurred, enabling the potential normalisation of caring discourses. This timeframe saw the proliferation of parents and carers networks in workplaces, particularly in Universities, as sites where caring discourse could take root.  However, in the context of historically patriarchal organisation norms, the cultural task remains pressing to shift the discourse from breadwinning to care for dads. Indeed, campaign groups such as The Fatherhood Institute and Pregnant then Screwed have shifted their focus to the policy area of 6 weeks of statutory leave for men as one approach to achieving meaningful cultural change.

This talk will focus on my ongoing cultural activism as a Parent and Carer Network Chair and the aspiration to create caring communities that can shift the dial for dads at work. During this talk I will discuss the growth of parents and carers networks across the University sector, their membership, and the emergence of a national network, UK-PACT. Drawing on Dr Jasmine Kelland’s research into fatherhood forfeits and father’s forums, I will then share my own local project to develop a group called, ‘dad chat’, and the lessons I have learned in collaboration with other dads in the pursuit of a community of dads at work. 

Bio:
Mark is an Assistant Professor in Critical Organisation Studies at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. His main research interest is parents at work (paid and unpaid). Mark’s research explores patriarchy and masculinities in organisations. Mark’s 2023 book ‘Parents at work’ combined parent narratives, autoethnography and dystopian fiction into a ‘fictocriticism’. Mark also does research, teaching and activism on the themes of Justice, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI). As an academic activist, he established and proudly leads the Northumbria University Parents and Carers Network in 2020, and Co-Chairs the national organisation for parents and carers in UK Higher Education, UK PACT.