Future of Work – Industry Expert Guest Blog: The Flexibility Trap: Remote Work’s Promise and Peril for Women”

admin February 28, 2026 0 Comments Remote Living

Dr. Tatiana Andreeva, Associate Professor in Management and Organisational Behaviour, Maynooth University explores “Remote Work’s Promise and Peril for Women” 👇

Is remote working good or bad for women?

What happens with gender equality and inclusion when organizations go remote or hybrid, allowing their employees more flexibility in where they work? One would hope that it brings a lot of benefits to women, by giving them access to jobs or roles that they may not been able to take previously due to their family caring responsibilities. Does it indeed work this way? Beware: this opportunity comes with a darker lining.

What do employers say (and do)?

Indeed, when I talk to senior HR leaders (e.g. Mulcahy & Andreeva, 2023) or read industry reports, most of them happily report an increase in the diversity and inclusivity of the workforce since the broader introduction of remote work opportunities. Mainly, it results from hiring new talent from previously
underrepresented groups – women, working parents, neurodiverse employees. This is wonderful news.

However, if we are to capitalize on this opportunity, it’s not enough to hire diverse talent; it’s important to make sure they are included after they’ve been hired. And this is the aspect I have big concerns about. While many leaders report hiring more diverse workforce, I didn’t hear in my interviews what companies are doing to make sure these people are supported once they are hired. We are potentially heading into
a dangerous situation where we have a more diverse workforce but we are not guaranteeing they will be included properly. Belonging, career progression and retention remain a concern – especially as companies start rolling back on their remote work options and push for return-to-office.

What do employees experience?

Existing evidence on employee experiences also paints a complicated picture. In their comprehensive review of existing research on the gender aspects of remote work, Villamor et al (2023) demonstrate that remote work has the potential both to enable and inhibit career outcomes for women. For example, working virtually may both reduce gender-stereotyping social cues and at the same time provide fewer
social cues to counter already existing negative stereotypes. Similarly, working virtually may further increase the exclusion of women from informal networks (Milliken et al, 2020), or enable women to more easily access a company’s knowledge and expertise, if a company uses digital collaboration tools (Wu and
Kane, 2021). It is much easier to be ignored or omitted from important conversations when you’re working remotely; and at the same time, some women report that thanks to the “hand up” function on online meeting platforms, they have more chances to be heard in a meeting.

On the positive side, women report less everyday gender discrimination when they work remotely compared to on-site work (Doering, & Tilcsik, 2025). This drop in discrimination was particularly pronounced for younger women and those who interact mainly with men. At the darker side, Schertler et al. (2024) found that working remotely hurt women, but not men, when it came to authenticity, that is, feeling their true self at work – because they feel they can be less authentic over a screen. Women also experience more zoom meetings fatigue (Fauville et al., 2021).

In sum, remote work may both diminish and amplify the challenges women often have at the workplace. These problems can be further escalated by the fact that line managers find it more difficult to monitor these issues in the remote work setting, and most managers do not receive training to address these issues (Andreeva et al.,
2025).

What can we do?

If you are an employer – ensure that you not only hire more women but also provide supports so that they feel they properly belong. To capture the benefits of remote work for enhancing diversity and inclusion, and at the same time minimise the risks these work arrangements may bring for women, you need to consciously manage the process. For example, line managers need to diagnose and monitor potential gender biases and discrimination and develop team norms and expectations that
enable everyone to thrive. To enable managers to do so, organisations need to train them and develop supportive guidance policies. Mortensen and Haas (2021) can serve as a useful starting point to develop those. If you are an employee and a woman – consider whether your boss and your company are ready to counteract potentially discriminating effects of remote working, and whether you personally have the skills and energy to do so. If you are a man, consider how you personally can help your female colleagues to feel more included when they work remotely – every little step helps.

The content above is a guest blog contributed by an independent industry expert.

Author: Dr. Tatiana Andreeva (she/her)
Role: Associate Professor in Management and Organisational Behaviour
Organisation: Maynooth University, School of Business
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatiana-andreeva-421922/

Additional resources from Dr. Tatiana Andreeva:

Google Scholar ResearchGate Linkedin

Recent publications:

Dávila, G.A., Andreeva, T., Sætre, A.S. (2025) Using social integration mechanisms to boost absorptive capacity: Walking a tightrope, European Management Review

Ryazanova, O., McNamara, P., Andreeva, T. (2024) When hard-working bees do not make a productive beehive: Legitimacy tensions in societal impact governance and how to navigate them, Academy of Management Learning and Education. For key insights, check Times Higher Education piece and MED podcast

Andreeva, T., Zappa, P. (2023) Whose lips are sealed? Gender differences in knowledge hiding at work, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. For key insights, check Irish Times interview and a brief summary by Academic

Practical insights from my ongoing research on hybrid work:

Andreeva, T., Trullen, J., & Copeland, J. (2025). The evolving role of line managers in hybrid work: Challenges, experiences, and solutions, Agile-Lean Ireland. Report for practitioners

Hybrid workplaces Ibec WorkTalks (30-min listen)

4 strategies for fostering effective knowledge sharing in a distributed workplace (5-min read)

Research tips

Doing a literature review? Check my series of blogposts for advice

The author is not affiliated with Grow Remote. We are grateful for their contribution to the
Grow Remote blog and to the wider remote‑work ecosystem in Ireland.

About Grow Remote

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communities across Ireland.

One of the ways we deliver on this mission is through our fully funded leadership training
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Future of work – industry expert guest blog: the flexibility trap: remote work’s promise and peril for women” 2

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