Stories of Work/Life Transitions from the Italian Public Sector

Purpose – The aim of this article is to overcome an endogenous view of work, as a category isolated from the other existential spheres, and to identify an alternative approach to understanding how (paid) work and other life domains interweave. Biographical transitions between work and non-work are analysed, paying specific attention to the processes of gender positioning. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on the analysis of 60 narrative interviews with men and women working in the Italian public sector (the civil service and the health service). The interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed, and then subjected to narrative analysis, focusing in particular on plots, biographical transitions and positioning processes. Findings – The analysis has brought out the predominant plots, as well as the alternative ones, of the work stories narrated by men and women interviewed, highlighting the specific gender positioning that subtended different attributions between men and women in the inter-relations between work and the personal and familial sphere. Practical implications – The results show the opportunity to focus next research on organizations that use managerial models innovative in terms of time organization and performance assessment, giving visibility and legitimacy to alternative narratives on the interweaving among people's different biographical trajectories. Originality/value – The paper proposes the concept of “biographical transition” as an interpretative category with which to study the different strategies and experiences of work/life balance and an heuristic tool able to give sense to the complex interweaving among different life trajectories in the contemporary society.