The study focused on work-family conflict among females occupying lower level jobs. A quantitative research methodology was conducted on a sample of (N=144) females working on the assembly line in two private sector organisations. The research instrument was a questionnaire comprising six parts. The variables were measured under four categories: work-family conflict, job demands, perceived organisational support and job self-efficacy. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse and interpret the data. A comparative study was done between Hesto and Alpha pharmaceutical employees and it was found that Hesto employees experience greater work-family conflict, job demands, perceived organisational support and job self-efficacy. The correlation results of the study showed that a significant negative relationship exists between perceived organisation support and work-family conflict. There was a weak positive relationship between perceived organisational support and job self-efficacy. Work demands was found to be positively and significantly related to work-family conflict. There was a significant negative relationship between perceived organisational support and work demand. A significant negative relationship was found between job self-efficacy and work-family conflict. Based on these results recommendations were made on how South African companies can help reduce work-family conflict.

In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of working individuals. South Africa’s socioeconomic, political, and societal circumstances will influence employees’ experiences of work-life balance differently, compared to that of employees in other countries, suggesting that the construction of work-life balance amongst different race and cultural groups may differ. The present study used in-depth qualitative interviews with ten black women and men employed in a customer care environment, to explore their construction of work-life balance. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data and identify themes. This study suggests that work-life balance is a unique experience for individuals, which varies over time and in different situations. The study confirmed that attaining work-life balance is a process of balancing ever-changing experiences over time, and in different life stages. The results of this study are also discussed in relation to the relevant literature. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of working individuals. South Africa’s socioeconomic, political, and societal circumstances will influence employees’ experiences of work-life balance differently, compared to that of employees in other countries, suggesting that the construction of work-life balance amongst different race and cultural groups may differ. The present study used in-depth qualitative interviews with ten black women and men employed in a customer care environment, to explore their construction of work-life balance. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data and identify themes. This study suggests that work-life balance is a unique experience for individuals, which varies over time and in different situations. The study confirmed that attaining work-life balance is a process of balancing ever-changing experiences over time, and in different life stages. The results of this study are also discussed in relation to the relevant literature. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Through the use of contextual data, this research study aims to explicate a theory about the experiences of academic women, who are also mothers, employed at a South African University. The research is interpretive in nature as it explores the women's accounts of the conflicts they face in striving to satisfy the demands of both their scholarly work and family responsibilities within multiple intersecting factors related to their personal/familial circumstances, and the strategic processes they engage in to manage the balance between these competing roles. The study followed a constructivist grounded theory design in an attempt to test the hypothesis (emerging from a prior pilot study) that the most significant enabling factors at work in the lives of these women comprise various relational support processes. The findings indicate that balancing academic work and mothering is a delicate activity that is sensitive to a number of facilitating as well as hindering factors. The participants revealed that they experience work-family role-conflict as a result of competing desires to dedicate themselves fully to both of these roles. The relational factors most prominently cited as being critical to enabling a work-family balance include the presence of a supportive partner, a support structure in the home in the form of an employed domestic helper, and the support derived from a 'shared experience' with other working mothers. Non-relational factors emanating from the unique quality of life afforded to mothers by employment within the particular case institution also emerged as being significantly enabling of a work-family balance for this group of academic mothers.

Text in English / Early migration across borders predominantly involved movement by males for work. While changing times have seen a considerable increase in the number of female migrants as principal migrants solely for independent employment, women still move as passive participants, who have to play an often obscure supporting role beside men. Through a qualitative, exploratory research design, this thesis explored the lived experiences of accompanying immigrants, particularly women from other African countries, accompanying their immigrant spouses in South Africa. Data collection was conducted through individual face-to-face unstructured in-depth interviews with eight female accompanying spouses. The data were thematically analysed and yielded seven overarching themes, namely: motivation to relocate and power dynamics; effects of migration; how accompanying immigrant status is experienced by the female accompanying spouse; challenges immigrants that hold accompanying spouse status face; meaning-making, adaptation; and strategies deployed to cope. These were discussed in terms of the construction of the ‘accompanying spouse status’ and how this powerful social discourse impacts women’s wellbeing. Participants reported education, socioeconomic factors and related life aspects were amongst the motivations for their relocation to South Africa, in addition to citing both positive and negative effects of their migration. From the study results, accompanying spouses recounted how they encountered various adversities, including how accompanying spouse status fundamentally reduces the holder to a dependent, whose being revolves around the principal migrant spouse. Notwithstanding participants’ struggles, the study results show how the participants have, through it all, learnt to live with their status, deployed methods of coping against all odds, and today still stand. / Psychology / Ph. D.(Psychology)

Thesis (Ph.D. Commerce (Human Resource Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This thesis addresses work-life conflict, a topical phenomenon for the career progression and wellbeing of women. Notwithstanding a lot of interest in the topic, as well as various endeavours after treaties and legislation to support women in the workplace it continues to be a subject of research interest since work-life balance has not been achieved yet. The current study intended to explore what the women managers in the public sector of Limpopo Province understand by work-life conflict, as well as their experiences and to proffer a framework for understanding the work-life conflict of women managers. The study highlights that numerous working women are still inundated with non-work responsibilities, which results in conflict with the expected responsibilities in the work environment. The resultant work-life conflict continues to have career-limiting effects on women. The study employed a mixed-methods design to collect data. The quantitative part of the study used questionnaires to collect data and a total of 68 usable questionnaires were returned. For the qualitative part individual interviews were conducted with a total of 16 women. Given the mixed nature of the data, the research applied two genres of analytical techniques, viz. thematic analysis and non-parametric relational analysis. The findings of the study indicate that most of the women managers in the study understand work-life conflict to mean work-to-life interference. The women managers conceptualise life-to-work interference as a normal phenomenon, which serves as a function of maintaining homeostasis in their social structure. The results further suggested that only the workplace has to be changed for them to attain work-life balance. The women managers in the study also appear to experience physical and psychological health problems due to not coping with work-life conflict. The research results deliver invaluable information that can be employed in strategies that attempt to alleviate the negative experiences of work-life conflict by women managers. This study has developed an integrative framework for understanding the work-life conflict of women managers in the public sector. None of the existing theories has propounded any integrative framework for understanding the work-life conflict of women managers in the public sector. The current findings add to the knowledge on addressing the work-life conflict of women managers by delivering context-specific recommendations of what organisations can do to attain work-life balance. Key words: work-life conflict; coping strategies; public sector; women managers; work-life balance; Integrated work-life conflict framework

The family roles and responsibilities are still allocated along the gender lines. Women assume primary child care and household roles despite working fulltime. They suffer from work-family conflict as they battle with these competing demands. A phenomenological approach was adopted for this study. The existing literature was used in defining work-family conflict, looking at different work-family theories; development of gendered defined roles, motherhood and demands brought on by women working fulltime. The semi-structured interview was used for data collection. The themes which emerged showed that women experience strong emotions associated with raising children whilst working. There is compromise on quality time dedicated in each role. Women assume sole custodian over their children’s upbringing. Women enter into a second shift after work. Having a career and children, is made easier through adoption of strong coping strategies and mechanisms. The conclusions and recommendations were made for future a research and organisational practices. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psycology))

The family roles and responsibilities are still allocated along the gender lines. Women assume primary child care and household roles despite working fulltime. They suffer from work-family conflict as they battle with these competing demands. A phenomenological approach was adopted for this study. The existing literature was used in defining work-family conflict, looking at different work-family theories; development of gendered defined roles, motherhood and demands brought on by women working fulltime. The semi-structured interview was used for data collection. The themes which emerged showed that women experience strong emotions associated with raising children whilst working. There is compromise on quality time dedicated in each role. Women assume sole custodian over their children’s upbringing. Women enter into a second shift after work. Having a career and children, is made easier through adoption of strong coping strategies and mechanisms. The conclusions and recommendations were made for future a research and organisational practices. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psycology))

Balancing the work and family domains is an ongoing concern for men and women in dual-earner relationships. However, most of the research studies that have explored work-family balance, have been conducted within the North American context using highly educated middle-class couples. Furthermore, no known South African studies have explored work-family balance experiences and strategies based on the couple as a unit. The aim of this study is therefore to understand how middle-class South African dual-earner couples experience and pursue work-family balance. A sample comprising ten multi-racial, middle-class, heterosexual dual-earner couples with children, who work in different employment sectors, and reside in Cape Town, South Africa, were selected purposefully through the use of convenience and snow-ball sampling techniques. The interpretive approach located within the qualitative paradigm was employed to understand the subjective experiences of couples through the method of semi-structured conjoint interviews. All conjoint interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for later analysis. Patterns and themes within the data were identified using thematic analysis and later organised through the use of thematic networks. Two organising themes were uncovered for the global theme "subjective experiences of work-family balance amongst dual-earner couples", namely that work-family balance is a unique experience, and that work-family balance is a dynamic process. Furthermore, the data analysis revealed ten organising themes for the global theme "strategies dual-earner couples use to pursue a work-family balance", namely that striving towards an egalitarian marital relationship helps to promote couples' experience of work-family balance; proactively structuring opportunities for time with family contributes to a balanced work and family life; accessing familial and paid support promotes feelings of being successful in balancing work and family roles; shared planning and organisation facilitates a better balance of work and family roles; living within means relieves couples of unnecessary financial stress; creating opportunities for "alone time" supports couples' work-family balance; work validation and satisfaction encourages greater experiences ofwork-family balance; having the ability to control one's schedule ensures greater freedom to transition between work and family domains; setting boundaries around work and family domains helps couples maintain their balance; and relying on faith to cope with work and family stressors leads to a more balanced life. Each organising theme contained several basic themes which were discussed in relation to previous literature and/or research studies. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Employee engagement has been conceived as one of the “hottest topics in management” (De Cieri, Holmes, Abbott, & Pettit, 2002; Saks, 2006). Therefore, the need to further understand factors that enhance the level of employee engagement is of utmost importance if organisations are to successfully increase their competitive edge. The purpose of the present study was to develop a model of personality traits and work-life balance as determinants of employee engagement among employees in the various industries in South Africa. In particular, the present study investigated relationships between personality traits adapted by Martins (2000) which include five robust factors: agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, resourcefulness and emotional stability and work-life balance as measured by the Survey Work-home Interaction/NijmeGen (SWING) which consists of four dimensions, namely, negative work-home interaction, positive work-home interaction negative home-work interaction and positive home-work interaction. The study utilised Schaufeli’s (2002) Utrecth Work Engagement Scale (UWES) which consists of three interrelated dimensions: vigour, dedication and absorption. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was followed and the data was collected from a population of 1 063 working adults through a Web-based survey. The results revealed significant relationships between the variables. Specifically, the results revealed that positive work-home interaction and positive home-work interaction appeared to be stronger correlated to engagement than the five dimensions of personality traits. For instance, a Pearson correlation analysis revealed that positive work-home interaction (r = .33) and positive home-work interaction (r = .30) had the highest correlation with employee engagement. In the same vein, the canonical correlation analysis revealed that positive work-home interaction, positive home-work interaction, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability exhibited the highest correlation with the canonical employee engagement construct variate. The results of the structural equation modelling further confirmed that the interaction of three personality traits, namely, agreeableness, conscientiousness and emotional stability and two of the work-life balance constructs, which are positive work-home interaction and positive home-work interaction, significantly and positively predicted employee engagement. The outcomes can be useful in informing employee engagement strategies, particularly in the recruitment, selection and retaining of highly skilful talents. Specifically, the study provided practical recommendations for employee engagement practices, based on the literature review and empirical results. This study highlighted the manner in which the personality traits and work-life balance variables impacted on employee engagement behavior. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Litt. et. Phil. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)