Who Takes Advantage of Family Friendly Policies

A recent study by researchers at the Association of American Medical Colleges suggests that when institutions enact family friendly policies, the long standing traditions and practices in the institution may inhibit the use of those policies. Sarah A. Bunton and April M. Corrice, the researchers at AAMC, found that half of all medical schools had enacted policies that extended the tenure clock for all faculty - sometimes to as much as ten years. When they examined the use of the opportunity of lengthening the tenure clock, however, they found that only a very small number of faculty actual took advantage of it. Their report states: "Many institutions may have developed flexible policies, but implicitly or explicitly discourage faculty members from using them."

An overview of the report appears here: http://tinyurl.com/4huxsy4.

The journal article containing the full report appears here (but requires access to the journal): http://tinyurl.com/6cuwfmv.

Given the nature of the workplace, these results are unsurprising. Organizational and occupational culture both have strong influences on actual practices in organizations, regardless of the official policies that the organization may have established. If the culture in the institution disfavors an option, such as parental leave, that is open to organizational members, it is likely that few will take advantage of the option.