This study investigated how Work-Family Conflict was related to Role Salience and Job level (investigated in terms of the amount of job demand and job control associated with different job levels) among women from a Collectivistic culture. A sample of 65 teachers was used. Although the results of the study showed no correlations between Work-Family Conflict and both role salience and job level, this was attributed to the high data skewness, thereby reducing the chances of detecting correlations. The high positive data skewness was possibly caused by the floor effect, which was the situation that the sample consisted of only female teachers from a Collectivistic culture. The high negative data skewness was possibly caused by the ceiling effect, which is the situation that the women in this sample have a Collectivistic cultural orientation, and are therefore highly likely to consider their home role as more salient. Moreover, correlations between Work Family Conflict and Job demand have been found to be higher in Individualistic cultures compared to Collectivistic cultures. There also seems to be no differences in job control among teachers occupying different job levels, and hence, no correlations were detected. Further analyses depicted that the teachers within this sample considered their home role as more salient. Moreover, despite their commitment to both their home role and occupational role, the data indicated that the sample experienced low levels of Work Family conflict.

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Family Studies and Social Work, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], viii, 90 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-86).

Doctor of Philosophy / Psychological Sciences / Patrick A. Knight / Satisfaction with work-family balance is a relatively new construct that differs from other work-life constructs in several ways: it is not focused on conflict between work/family domains, does not include cross-domain transfer processes, has no directional implications, and is not multidimensional. The current study has three purposes: 1. Examine work-family balance issues for both blue-collar and white-collar employees, as the literature has focused mainly on white-collar employees. 2. Examine relationship between technology and satisfaction with work-family balance. 3. Assess how role salience influences satisfaction with work-family balance. Participants were recruited and compensated for completing a 60 item online survey via Qualtrics. Blue-collar participants were recruited from manufacturing industries, while no industry was specified for white-collar employees. The sample consisted of 210 participants (105 blue-collar, 105 white-collar). Several checks were included throughout the survey to ensure data quality. Two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. The first regression revealed that boundary control and autonomy predict satisfaction with work-family balance, while employee type and boundary interruptions do not. Boundary control, family identity, and stress significantly predicted satisfaction with work-family balance in the second regression, while boundary interruptions, work identity, hours worked, and technology use did not. Results indicate white-collar workers have higher satisfaction with work-family balance, lower stress, and lower turnover intentions compared to blue-collar workers. Results also reveal that technology use to complete work outside of work hours is significantly and positively related to stress. Nearly half of participants report feeling expected to utilize technology to complete work outside of work hours. In addition, while it was hypothesized that those higher on family identity would have lower satisfaction with work-family balance when they used technology outside of work hours, worked longer hours, and had more frequent boundary interruptions than would those lower on family identity, the opposite effect was found for each of these variables. Implications of the study include: 1. Organizations may improve employee satisfaction with work-family balance by increasing autonomy and boundary control. 2. Employees may improve satisfaction with work-family balance by taking time to de-stress from work and limiting use of technology to complete work outside of work hours.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / This study investigated how Work-Family Conflict was related to Role Salience and Job level (investigated in terms of the amount of job demand and job control associated with different job levels) among women from a Collectivistic culture. A sample of 65 teachers was used. Although the results of the study showed no correlations between Work-Family Conflict and both role salience and job level, this was attributed to the high data skewness, thereby reducing the chances of detecting correlations. The high positive data skewness was possibly caused by the floor effect, which was the situation that the sample consisted of only female teachers from a Collectivistic culture. The high negative data skewness was possibly caused by the ceiling effect, which is the situation that the women in this sample have a Collectivistic cultural orientation, and are therefore highly likely to consider their home role as more salient. Moreover, correlations between Work Family Conflict and Job demand have been found to be higher in Individualistic cultures compared to Collectivistic cultures. There also seems to be no differences in job control among teachers occupying different job levels, and hence, no correlations were detected. Further analyses depicted that the teachers within this sample considered their home role as more salient. Moreover, despite their commitment to both their home role and occupational role, the data indicated that the sample experienced low levels of Work Family conflict. / South Africa

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Women’s roles in the workplace have increased but expectations within their family roles have not diminished. Work-family conflict (WFC) occurs when work and family roles are mutually incompatible in some respect. Mothers’ representations of their own particular personal contexts seem largely absent from the cultural iconography and so motivations for the study included bringing to light the phenomenological experiences of contemporary fulltime working mothers by developing a rich description of their lived experience. These ideas have not been widely explored in South Africa. The study aimed to explore how full-time working mothers experience work-family conflict, including how they conceptualise their dual roles, how salient each role is to them, the factors in the work and family domains which are particularly pertinent for them and any coping strategies they might employ. The study used as a theoretical framework the model of work-family conflict developed by Greenhaus and Beutell in 1985, together with an extension from the work of Amstad, Meier, Fasel, Elfering and Semmer in 2011. The study used a phenomenological methodology. Eight middle-class, professional, full-time working mothers from the Southern Suburbs and City Bowl of Cape Town were interviewed individually, using a semi-structured interview schedule. A qualitative paradigm was used to analyse the interviews. Emotional and cognitive repercussions of WFC were many, including feelings of unsustainability. Some participants acknowledged a need to compromise in order to cope, but the current normative messages are not conducive to this. Participants aspire, not to stop working, because the role of worker is regarded as important for self-definition, but to reduce their overall load. The generalisability of this study was reduced because of its localised ambit, its small size and some similarities in socio-economic profile among the participants. Future studies could further explore the choices or strategies which are successful in reducing WFC.

Text in English / The purpose of this study was to explore the work-life balance experiences of female engineers as they progress through various career life stages. Research has demon-strated that female engineers experience unique challenges as a result of gendered norms within male-dominated occupations, with changing life-roles, needs and ex-pectations across the various career life stages, impacting how they negotiate and perceive work-life balance. A qualitative research approach was followed using a her-meneutic phenomenology paradigm that employed a multiple case study approach consisting of semi-structured interviews with nine female engineers across three career life stages. The findings of the study confirmed current research into work-life balance, highlighting that work-life balance needs and expectations are different across the lifespan and are particularly affected by the changing nature of the work role within the lives of female engineers. Companies should consider changing their organisational culture to acknowledge the needs of female engineers in both family and work domains. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)