Remote Working Contexts, Innovation and Creativity: Do Gender Differences Play a Role?

The paper aims to explore the effects of social isolation and work-home conflict on the relationship between Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) and creativity, focusing on gender differences. The research contributes to understand how remote working conditions influence creativity and IWB, offering insights into gender dynamics in domestic work contexts. We collected primary data through surveys sent to 803 remote working employees from four Italian firms in spring 2020. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed a positive association between IWB and creativity in remote work for both genders. Conversely, work-home conflict and social isolation shown a negative impact on creativity, asymmetrically across gender lines. The findings offer valuable insights for organisations and managers, who are encouraged to adopt gender-tailored policies supporting employees’ well-being and performance. By underlining the asymmetrical impact of remote working across genders, we suggest it may differently affect men’s and women’s creativity.