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Freeze frame: media coverage of Apple’s and Facebook’s egg-freezing employee benefit

Freeze frame: media coverage of Apple’s and Facebook’s egg-freezing employee benefit This paper aims to examine the media coverage of a new reproductive benefit (oocyte cryopreservation) made available to employees at Apple and Facebook in 2014, in light of an ongoing public debate around the conflict experienced by women to be both “ideal workers” and “ideal mothers”.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines the coverage of the new benefit as a news item in major American newspapers and websites. It uses problem/solution frame analysis and provides a qualitative analysis of the leads, journalists’ rhetoric and sources found in 23 news articles on the topic. A rudimentary quantitative analysis of positive and negative solution evaluations is also included.FindingsAll the articles were found to use a problem/solution frame in their presentation of the new benefit as a news item. When biology is presented as at the root of the motherhood/career conflict, as it was by many journalists and their chosen sources, this logically leads to a biotechnological solution, such as egg-freezing. Other potential contributors to motherhood/career conflict, such as rigid and gendered career timelines and inadequate supports for working parents, are largely left out of the discussion – as are potential broader workplace and socio-cultural changes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to news articles only; the coverage of the issue in opinion pieces and in other media might have different findings. An experimentally designed study might lead to interesting findings on the impact of these framing elements (leads, rhetoric, sources) on readers’ responses to this topic.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on the media coverage of motherhood and to management scholarship on gender, parenthood and work. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Gender in Management An International Journal Emerald Publishing

Freeze frame: media coverage of Apple’s and Facebook’s egg-freezing employee benefit

Grandy, Karen
Gender in Management An International Journal , Volume 34 (5): 14 – Jul 23, 2019
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References (51)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1754-2413
DOI
10.1108/gm-07-2018-0080
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the media coverage of a new reproductive benefit (oocyte cryopreservation) made available to employees at Apple and Facebook in 2014, in light of an ongoing public debate around the conflict experienced by women to be both “ideal workers” and “ideal mothers”.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines the coverage of the new benefit as a news item in major American newspapers and websites. It uses problem/solution frame analysis and provides a qualitative analysis of the leads, journalists’ rhetoric and sources found in 23 news articles on the topic. A rudimentary quantitative analysis of positive and negative solution evaluations is also included.FindingsAll the articles were found to use a problem/solution frame in their presentation of the new benefit as a news item. When biology is presented as at the root of the motherhood/career conflict, as it was by many journalists and their chosen sources, this logically leads to a biotechnological solution, such as egg-freezing. Other potential contributors to motherhood/career conflict, such as rigid and gendered career timelines and inadequate supports for working parents, are largely left out of the discussion – as are potential broader workplace and socio-cultural changes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited to news articles only; the coverage of the issue in opinion pieces and in other media might have different findings. An experimentally designed study might lead to interesting findings on the impact of these framing elements (leads, rhetoric, sources) on readers’ responses to this topic.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research on the media coverage of motherhood and to management scholarship on gender, parenthood and work.

Journal

Gender in Management An International Journal – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 23, 2019

Keywords: Media; Employee benefits; Motherhood; Frame analysis

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