The purpose of the study is to find out how these working female mothers and carers experience their working lives. Photo credit: Shutterstock
The small exploratory project ‘Mothers, Carers and Performers’, funded by Oxfam, focuses on the impact of childcare related responsibilities on the working lives and careers of female performing artists and musicians.
The purpose of the study is to find out how these working female mothers/carers experience their working lives and how do they assess their chances for having fulfilling careers in their chosen creative line of work.
In particular, the study will explore ease, extent of childcare provision use and the overall experience of accessing the expanded childcare services in Scotland, given the irregular performance work patterns.
The researcher, Aleksandra Webb, described who the ideal participants would be, and what they should expect from the project:
“I am looking to connect with female performing artists (from across music genres and performing arts fields) who live in Scotland and have pre-school age children. Participation in this research is not onerous. It will involve a one-to-one interview conducted over Zoom, which is expected to last about one hour between now and the end of August to early September.
“Participants will be asked about their career journeys and aspirations, work patterns, the impact of childcare on their ability to secure work and other care provision related matters to assess whether the offered service is sufficient and meets their complex needs. An optional participation in a Zoom focus group in early Autumn will be offered to discuss ways forward, specifically with aim to inform national and local policy initiatives and interventions (expected also to last about one-hour).
“The project has been approved by the UWS Ethics committee. Females who will volunteer to take part will be furthered briefed and all standard ethical research procedures will be in place to guard participants anonymity.”
Any members interested in participating should get in contact with aleksandra.webb@uws.ac.uk