Work-Life Philosophy

To frame the development of work-life policies and programs at

the University of Rhode Island

    Our mission: To respond to the needs of a diverse workforce thought the creation of a more humane, welcoming, and inclusive community. Our goal is to effect institutional change in support of balancing work, life, and family throughout the life course.

        The purpose of work-life policies is to create a more satisfying and productive work environment for all URI employees.  Such policies provide opportunities to challenge the cultural imbalance between employees' work and non-work lives, and thus are integral in promoting institutional change.  Although the task of achieving family and work-life balance in institutions is complex, it is necessary; research has shown that such balance is crucial in recruiting and retaining the optimum work force, as well as promoting higher levels of productivity. We offer this philosophical statement as a structure for the development of effective work-life efforts at the University of Rhode Island.  We stress the opportunity to use policy as a means to bring about positive social chance, rather than perpetuate cultural expectations that no longer reflect the reality of employees' lives.  This work is based on several guiding principles.

    First, our policies will recognize that in order to have a just and sustainable society, economic priorities need to be balanced with individual and collective well-being.  Further, we emphasize the interconnections between economic growth and the private domain, that each is critically dependent on the healthy functioning of the other, and for this reason, both should be equally valued.

    Second, our policies will recognize that an increasingly diverse workforce presents a diversity of work-life challenges and opportunities.  We will ensure that policies will not reinforce cultural norms and practices that promote inequality and discrimination based on intersections of gender, race, and ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, and national origin.  Rather, our policies will promote understanding and acceptance of new workplace norms that are inclusive and flexible, and meet the life course needs of all workers.

    Finally, we will recognize that these policies are embedded in a larger context of climate change efforts.  These efforts include but are not limited to: education about the importance of work-life balance; the collection, dissemination, and evaluation of research based on best practices; the creation of physical and virtual places where resources are available; and the open encouragement, without prejudice, of the use of work-life policies by employees.

        In sum, these guiding principles reflect our intent to challenge the status quo of social structures that overwhelmingly promote narrow definitions of individual achievement to the detriment of collective good.  Through these principles, we also hope to confront the cultural resistance that prevents us from conceptualizing the inter-connectedness of work and family as institutions that are essential to the sustainability of a good society.  These guiding principles will allow us to engage in continuing dialogue and refinement of policies and practices that are proactive, collaborative, and reflexive in meeting the needs of a diverse workforce.