Senior leaders who fail to implement work-life balance strategies may experience reduced profits and sustainability challenges. This single case study explored employers' strategies for improving employee work-life balance. The population for the study included 4 senior leaders of a hospice care agency in North Carolina who successfully implemented employee work-life balance strategies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and from the review of company documents, website, and social media pages. The conceptual framework for the study was the transformational leadership theory. The trustworthiness of interpretations was supported by member checking. Four themes emerged from inductive analysis of the data: a supportive work environment promotes employee work-life balance, leadership trust is key to the success of employee work-life balance, work-life balance programs minimize stress and improve employee job satisfaction, and flexibility and remote work options increase employee work-life balance. Implementing work-life balance strategies in an organization may increase employee morale, employee productivity, and quality of work life. The application of the findings of this study may contribute to positive social change by providing insights for senior leaders on the implementation of strategies to achieve work-life balance to increase workplace sustainability and meet the physiological and psychological needs of employees as well as contribute positively to the communities and the organizations served.

The factor structure of the work/family conflict scale developed by Carlson, Kacmar, & Williams (2000) was analyzed for measurement invariance between a US and an Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) sample using a multisample confirmatory factor analysis procedure. Results indicated that factor pattern fit between the female samples on the common model was good-to-mediocre, and factor pattern fit between the male samples and the common model was mediocre-to-poor. Both samples exhibited significant changes in chi square when testing for the more restrictive factor loading equivalence. Partial measurement invariance revealed a better fit between the male samples when three of the items were unconstrained, and when eight items were unconstrained between the female samples. Finally, males and females in the ANZ sample exhibited factor pattern invariance, but required two items to be unconstrained before factor loading invariance was achieved. Mean differences on the six scales revealed higher levels of time-based work interference with family and family interference with work for males than for females in the ANZ sample.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur olika aspekter av arbetslivet påverkar individen. Vår utgångspunkt i denna uppsats är att vi ställer oss kritiska till arbeten med högt självbestämmande som blir allt mer vanligt. Till vår hjälp har vi en mängd tidigare forskning samt kritisk teori och Foucaults teori om makt och övervakning som guidar oss i genom forskningsprocessen. Urvalet är baserat på tidigare statistik framtaget av ESS, som består av ett samarbete mellan 24 europeiska länder. Uppsatsen testar hur olika aspekter av arbetslivet påverkar gränsdragningen mellan arbete och fritid. Resultaten visar att ju högre grad av självbestämmande individen har i sitt arbete, desto mindre missnöjd är hon med tidsfördelning mellan arbete och fritid samt att en högre grad av självbestämmande även tenderar att skapa en oro hos individen på hennes fritid över arbetsrelaterade problem. Vår slutsats är att det finns goda skäl att vara uppmärksam på vad detta alltmer vanliga arbetssätt kan ställa till med för individen. / The purpose of this paper is to explore how different aspects of working life affect the individual. Our starting point in this paper is that we are critical of jobs with high autonomy that is becoming increasingly common. To assist us, we have a lot of previous research as well as critical theory and Foucault’s theory about power and surveillance that guides us through the research process. The selection is based on previous statistics produced by the ESS, which consists of a collaboration between 24 European countries. The essay test different aspects of paid work and its affect on work-life balance. The results show that the higher the degree of autonomy the individual has in his/her work, the less dissatisfied he/she is with time spent between work and leisure. A higher degree of autonomy does in fact lead to the individual worrying about work-related problems in his/her leisure time. Our conclusion is that there are good reasons to pay attention to what this increasingly common tendency can affect the individual.

In North America, to become an architect, students must acquire a wide range of knowledge, create designs in studio, and spend some time working in an architecture firm. There are various lessons that they need to learn, and techniques that they develop through their education that combine to give them the necessary skills to write their professional exams. However, the education of an architect is not a process that is simple or straight-forward, and there are a series of other elements that, combined with this basic knowledge, ultimately create contemporary architects. Qualities like individual development, experience, emotional response, personal attitudes, and behaviours are not elements that are going to show up in any architecture school’s brochure, but their effect on the student is just as important as the knowledge that he or she will require to practice. To date, pedagogical inquiry into architecture seems to take two views: either looking at educational techniques and courses; or focusing on the detrimental symptoms of the less-tangible elements mentioned above. This thesis will bridge these two areas by researching the educational process and combining this knowledge with the important but more subjective areas of individual development. Through this study a clearer understanding of the profession will emerge, creating an opportunity for it to improve in the future.

The following study explores the relation between psychosocial work environment and individual health. The purpose is to examine how female employees in the occupational health sector experience their own psychosocial work environment, focusing on different influencing factors in both the workplace and their private life regarding the employees own health. The study applies a hermeneutic approach in which qualitative interviews constitute the empirical data. Previous research on this particular subject has focused on the following themes: the combination of work-family life, demand/control model and flexibility in the workplace in relation to health and stress. The theoretical framework used in this study integrates relevant concepts, specifically SOC, poor leadership and flexibility. The main findings of this study are three fundamental themes prevalent in the employees experience of health and stress: meeting the demands of the psychosocial work environment, the psychosocial work environment related to balance in everyday life  and the managements role of the psychosocial work environment. One major contribution on the research on psychosocial work environment and work-life balance is that the results presented underline the importance of a female perspective on welfare and individual wellness.

Around the globe, many organisations are still dominated by male managerial models. In spite of the progress in the status of women in our society in the last decades, higher positions in organisations are still held by men, even though women have the capacity to occupy these positions. This work investigates many studies about the different arguments linked to organisations that researchers/authors have done on this subject. It uses narrative as a key focus to explore the under-representation of women in higher positions within national and multinational organisations. The theoretical part of this thesis enables a better understanding of aspects of leadership in organisations,        and discusses the whole idea of gender labelling leadership as masculine or feminine, but also to present the principal hurdles encountered by women in organisations. Using the empirical method involves undertaking semi-structured interviews with women and men in high management positions, in order to construct a solid basis for analysis and discussion by putting forward solutions. I hope that my work will enable my readers to find some solutions, and that it can serve as a guideline for firms in order to encourage them to benefit. I will try to propose a solution for them to harness the under-utilised talent of their female employees and to pool and foster an environment of respect and equity based on merit rather than on gender.

In North America, to become an architect, students must acquire a wide range of knowledge, create designs in studio, and spend some time working in an architecture firm. There are various lessons that they need to learn, and techniques that they develop through their education that combine to give them the necessary skills to write their professional exams. However, the education of an architect is not a process that is simple or straight-forward, and there are a series of other elements that, combined with this basic knowledge, ultimately create contemporary architects. Qualities like individual development, experience, emotional response, personal attitudes, and behaviours are not elements that are going to show up in any architecture school’s brochure, but their effect on the student is just as important as the knowledge that he or she will require to practice. To date, pedagogical inquiry into architecture seems to take two views: either looking at educational techniques and courses; or focusing on the detrimental symptoms of the less-tangible elements mentioned above. This thesis will bridge these two areas by researching the educational process and combining this knowledge with the important but more subjective areas of individual development. Through this study a clearer understanding of the profession will emerge, creating an opportunity for it to improve in the future.

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe agriculture teachers on factors related to career retention and to explore the relationships between agriculture teachers? work engagement, work-life balance, occupational commitment, and personal and career factors as related to the decision to remain in the teaching profession. The target population for this study was defined as experienced agricultural educators who had completed a minimum of four years of teaching experience, who were currently employed in a secondary agricultural education classroom for the 2009-2010 school calendar. The accessible population consisted of those experienced agricultural educators in the southern region of the United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The study sought responses from a stratified random sample of those teachers to ensure geographical and gender representation equivalent that of the target population. This study employed descriptive-correlational research procedures. The instrument was constructed utilizing portions of the four studies to measure the variables of interest. Independent samples t-tests revealed there were no statistical differences between genders on any responses. A regression analysis revealed a 25% variance in occupation commitment attributed to work-life balance and work engagement. Note: This student obtained a joint doctoral degree from Texas A&M University and Texas Tech.

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of former beginning agriscience teachers and to explore the relationships between these perceptions, the characteristics of former beginning agriscience teachers, work satisfaction, work-life balance, and their reasons for leaving the profession. Information was gathered from former secondary agriscience teachers across Texas who left the profession during the 2001-2 through 2005-6 academic years. A survey instrument was created specifically for this study through which information about perceived work satisfaction, work-life balance, effect of work-life on attrition, and demographic characteristics of the former beginning agriscience teachers was gathered. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics. For this population, work satisfaction, work-life balance, and teacher attrition were not found to differentiate among demographic and career characteristics: age, gender, ethnicity, employment, salary, teacher training institution, years of experience, agriscience department size, hours on the job, or FFA area association. The results suggested evidence of an inverse relationship between work satisfaction and beginning agriscience teacher attrition as well as an inverse relationship between work-life balance and agriscience teacher attrition. Nearly half of all respondents reported the wanting of balance between professional work and personal life as their chief reason for leaving the profession. Closely following this reason were the placement of students in agriscience classes who did not choose to be in the elective courses and too much time away from family. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents offered the recommendation to set a maximum student enrollment per class period and to decrease the number of class preparations/course sections taught by beginning teachers. Over half of the respondents made the recommendation to share the load of shows and contests equally among teachers and to increase the number of teachers in the agriscience department. To improve the preparation and retention of agriscience teachers, two-thirds of the respondents recommended a salary increase. The recommendation following salary and given by nearly half of respondents was to provide mentor teachers. And, one-third of respondents offered the recommendation for more follow-ups from university teacher trainers.

Includes vita. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 141 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: The factor structure of the work/family conflict scale developed by Carlson, Kacmar, & Williams (2000) was analyzed for measurement invariance between a US and an Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) sample using a multisample confirmatory factor analysis procedure. Results indicated that factor pattern fit between the female samples on the common model was good-to-mediocre, and factor pattern fit between the male samples and the common model was mediocre-to-poor. Both samples exhibited significant changes in chi square when testing for the more restrictive factor loading equivalence. Partial measurement invariance revealed a better fit between the male samples when three of the items were unconstrained, and when eight items were unconstrained between the female samples. Finally, males and females in the ANZ sample exhibited factor pattern invariance, but required two items to be unconstrained before factor loading invariance was achieved. / ABSTRACT: Mean differences on the six scales revealed higher levels of time-based work interference with family and family interference with work for males than for females in the ANZ sample. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.