M.A. (Social Work) / The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a particular parent guidance programme on the stress experienced by working mothers. The programme was aimed at the working mother, given her particularly difficult position and resulting stress, as well as the importance of the mother's role in child care. A specific programme known as "Ouerverrykingsprogram" was presented to working mothers and its effect was evaluated with regard to certain areas of stress. In evaluating the effectiveness of the parent guidance programme, the specific goal of the study was to ascertain whether working mothers, subjected to the programme, experienced a difference in stress on the following aspects: intrapsychic stress, work stress, family stress (referring to both marital and parent-child relationships), total stress. with this goal in mind the following objectives were set for the study: To give a theoretical discussion of the working mothers dilemma. To discuss the enriching and preventative value of parent guidance for working mothers. To apply an existing parent guidance programme in practice and to evaluate certain components relevant to the main goal. To ascertain the effectiveness of the programme by means of of an evaluation questionnaire focussing on the opinion of subjects regarding the course.

The current study aimed to contribute to research in the areas of Sex-Role Identity (SRI) and Work-Family Conflict (WFC), as no research to date has examined how socially desirable and socially undesirable SRI‟s effect this inter-role conflict. The EPAQ-R was used to examine a differentiated model of SRI and Carlson et al.‟s WFC scale measured the bi-directional nature of WFC. This study made use of a cross-sectional, exploratory research design with 268 working mothers participating in this research. Under the COR framework and social constructionist theory, this study demonstrated that sex-role personality traits serve as resources that influence individual experiences of WFC. Results from a series of one and two-way ANOVA‟s indicated that socially desirable SRI‟s were associated with lower WFC than their undesirable counterparts. The results from this study provide support for the differentiated model of SRI. The practical and theoretical implications of this research are presented in this study.

The number of women who choose to combine careers and traditional roles as mothers has been increasing steadily over the last number of years. As a result, the subjective wellbeing of these women has been the focus of many research projects over the last number of years. Subjective well-being has been defined in various ways by different authors. One definition describes subjective well-being as people's evaluations of their lives, which includes happiness, pleasant emotions, life satisfaction, and a relative absence of unpleasant moods and emotions. The current study, which took the form of a multiple case study, attempted to explore and describe White employed married mothers’ subjective experience of their well-being. The study also explored these women's experiences of combining the roles of employee and motherhood. The sample was obtained through the snowballing technique, and both qualitative (in-depth interviews) and quantitative techniques (two questionnaires - the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory) were utilized. The analysis of the data that was gathered was done by means of thematic and content analyses.

M.A. (Psychology ) / The purpose of this study was firstly to develop a measuring scale to determine tension experienced by working mothers who still have pre-school children in nursery schools...

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Orientation: An increasing number of women entering the workplace are experiencing inter-role conflict in their home and work domains. As a result, work-family conflict may occur. This may impact level of work engagement women experience. Research purpose: The study aimed to determine the effect of work-family conflict on work engagement amidst working mothers. In addition, the study investigated the moderating effect of the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness on the correlation between work engagement and work-family conflict. Motivation for the study: A narrow body of knowledge exists that explores the implications of work-family conflict in the South African context, particularly among working mothers. Research design, approach and method: The research design was quantitative and cross-sectional. The sample (n=326) encompassed working mothers. The data was collected by using the Work-to-Family Conflict questionnaire (Netemeyer, Boles & McMurrian, 1996), the Basic Traits Inventory (BTI) (Taylor & de Bruin, 2006) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) (Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá & Bakker, 2002). Main finding: This study found that work-family conflict predicts work engagement among working mothers. In addition, the personality traits extraversion and agreeableness predict work engagement but do not moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and work engagement within this sample. Practical/managerial implications: The results of this investigation contribute to the narrow amount of research conducted in the South African context with regard to work-family conflict and work engagement, especially among working mothers. In addition, organisations may gain insight into the effects of work-family conflict on work engagement. Organisations should therefore take measures to provide support to employees so as to decrease the level of iv work-family conflict they experience and consequently, increase work engagement. This study also demonstrates the effect of personality on work engagement.

Includes bibliography. / This study is a critical analysis of educare policy in South Africa with recommendations towards effective provision for the preschool child. The need for a radically revised policy, structure and provision system is based on the inadequacies, inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the present system. A quantitative descriptive research design is used in which use is made predominantly of secondary data and field experience of the writer. Data collection was hindered by the lack of information available and the reluctance of certain authorities to provide information as requested. The historical development of educare in South Africa is outlined. Legislation which, impacts on educare is recorded and the present education and care policies and structures are described. The extent of educare provision is quantified focusing on who is provided for and who is not. Gil's (1981) framework for Analysis and Synthesis of Social Policies is used in analysing educare policy within the Social Planning and Administration paradigm. The study contends that there is no clear unitary discernible educare policy in existence and this has resulted in fragmented structures controlling educare in this country. Particular attention is made to the ideological and value underpinnings of educare policy, structure and provision. The result is an array of services which are uncoordinated and inadequate in terms of the need and demand. The study concludes by making recommendations aimed at eliminating the inadequacies highlighted. A radically revised educare policy is proposed. A three-tier structure with defined responsibilities and functions at each level is suggested. It is the writers belief that implementation of these recommendations will contribute to the solution of problems faced in the educare field today.

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, for the degree of Master of Arts. / This study evaluates the utility of a stress-coping paradigm for explaining differences in psychological adjustment to stress among duel-employed family members. Specifically, a model of stress was applied that encompassed a single stressful dual-employed family event, the degree of perceived stressfulness of this event, dual-employed family coping and five dimensions of personal adjustment (two work indicators, two family attitudes and one individual measure). This model was used to assess the mechanisms through which dual-employed family stress and coping are linked to psychological outcomes through two effects. first being the main effect which states that stress and coping have a uniform effect on well-being, independent of one another. The second being the moderator effect which says that coping moderates the impact of stressful episodes depending on the type, or degree, of stress encountered. Two procedures were applied for analysing data. Firstly, content analysis was applied to the single stressful life events measure and from this the existence of seven forms of dual-employed family stress were established, namely, occupational, domestic chore, child-care, role overload, marital, financial, and stressors arising from external systems encompassed under the label "other". Secondly, moderated multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between each dependent, independent and moderator variable and provided statistical support for the operation of both main and moderator effects. This support, however, was found to vary according to context and level of stressfulness of the events. The limitations of the present study are noted as well as the practical and theoretical implications. Furthermore , the implications for future research on stress, coping and adjustment among dual-employed families are considered. / Andrew Chakane 2018

The aim of this qualitative research study is to develop insights into the dynamics involved in work- family conflict, balance and coping strategies. The study explores the experiences of seven professional women, who are also mothers, employed in professional work positions in Grahamstown. The research is interpretive in nature as it aims to explore the conflicts experienced by the professional mothers in balancing their competing roles. The study focused on the demands that these women face and the coping strategies that these working mothers develop and use, in order to balance their career aspirations as well as their family responsibilities. It set out to explore the women’s perceptions of work- family conflict and the extent to which they experience it, further examining the compromises that the women have had to make and possible feelings of guilt or regret that they may have experienced. The findings indicated that this balance is sensitive to many facilitating and hindering factors. The participants revealed that they experience work- family conflict, and that the experience of it has largely to do with the guilt of not spending enough time with their family. Another significant finding was that the women expressed their coping strategies as being organised; forming a line between work and family life as well as employing domestic workers. The women further stated that there are constant compromises that have to be made to fit in the multiple roles, and that feelings of guilt and/or regret do set in at times.

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.

The research at hand focuses on job satisfaction as a moderator of the relationship between work-family conflict and stress among female civil service managers in the Department of Education in the King William’s Town District. Samples of 100 employees were used in the study. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire which consisted of the following sections: (i) a biographical and occupational data questionnaire,(ii) Eum, Lee, and Paek’s (2007) Effort-Reward Imbalance questionnaire, (iii) Bedenia, Burke, and Moffat’s (1998) Short-form Work-family Conflict questionnaire, and (iv) Halpern’s (1966) Job Satisfaction questionnaire. The data were analyzed by means of Pearson’s Correlation Technique, Multiple Regression Analysis, and Analysis of Variance. The results showed that job satisfaction does not moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and occupational stress. The study also found a significant positive correlation between work-family conflict and occupational stress and between work-family conflict and job satisfaction. It also showed that both work-family conflict and job satisfaction respectively accounted for a significant proportion of variance in occupational stress. The thesis ends with several recommendations for future research and for future professional or managerial practice.