WORKPLACE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR SINGLE PARENTS: REMOVING BARRIERS TO CAREER ADVANCEMENT AND EDUCATION IN KENYA
WORKPLACE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR SINGLE PARENTS: REMOVING BARRIERS TO CAREER ADVANCEMENT AND EDUCATION IN KENYA
Joy Igoki Njiru
A Doctor of Philosophy in Early Childhood Education student at the University of Nairobi
Professor Paul Odundo
Department of education, Early Childhood Education, University of Nairobi
ABSTRACT
Single parenting has a heavy influence on people’s career development. Contrary to two-partner families where parents usually support each other for childcare and financial needs, single parents face a greater need in order to combine their work with their childcare responsibilities. Since the vast majority of single parents are mothers, they have also to deal with the additional difficulties that women face in the labour market. The present chapter aims at presenting the major career issues that arise regarding the career development of single parents in western countries. The most common barriers that obstruct or limit their career growth are presented, along with parent-style typologies that have been proposed in the relevant literature in order to describe their career behaviour. Although the proposed typologies and categorizations are very helpful in understanding single parents’ career development, it is stressed that the factors that influence each individual’s career development are much more complex and intercorrelated and each case should be viewed individually. Major factors that contribute to this perplexity are examined. In order to better understand the obstacles single parents face, their main career-related characteristics are also examined. Finally, good practices that have been implemented in various countries to reduce the impact of these barriers are discussed.
