Radical changes in the lives of international professional women with children: from airports to home offices

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to discover the impact of restrictions connected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the work and life of international professional women with children.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, explorative research was conducted with 12 international professional women, who were professional women with children under 12; semi-structured online interviews were used.FindingsThe radical decrease in international travel combined with an increase in online work and the increased demand of parenting resulted in work overflow, temporary re-traditionalisation of gender relations and a radical decrease in international mobility with respect to future prospects.Research limitations/implicationsThe relatively small and non-representative sample needs to be complemented with further investigation into the social and economic consequences of restrictions connected with the COVID-19 pandemic.Social implicationsA large-scale crisis like the pandemic-related lockdown has had a tremendous effect on societies, including with regard to gender relations. Reflection will be needed in the aftermath of the crises and the gender equality achieved before the lockdown needs to be rebuilt.Originality/valueThe exceptional case of the COVID-19 pandemic generated the need to understand the new situation, especially in the life of mobile professionals and women with small children.