Work and family in hybrid contexts: A typology of dual-career couples

Abstract

This paper explores how dual-career couples negotiate work and non-work responsibilities within hybrid work arrangements, a structural condition reshaping assumptions about careers, equity, and organisational support. Using a qualitative, social constructionist approach, it draws on 32 individual interviews with 16 dual-career couples, analysed dyadically using ideal-type analysis. The resulting typology comprises four types: egalitarian strategists, prioritising mutual career progression; dual-centric integrators, sustaining balanced engagement across work and family; corrective rebalancers, using hybrid work to address past inequities while retaining hierarchical elements; and adaptive supporters, where one partner temporarily reduces career focus to enable the other partner’s progression. The typology advances understanding of how hybrid work reconfigures agency and interdependence within dual-career relationships by moving beyond foundational classifications to capture how identity orientations are enacted and negotiated through hybrid work. Recognising couple-level patterns offers insights to guide organisational flexibility to enhance equity, well-being, and retention without requiring individualised arrangements.