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)

La présente thèse porte sur les acteurs au sein des organisations non gouvernementales locales (ONG) qui, dans la configuration actuelle de l’aide internationale au développement, jouent un rôle de relais ou d’intermédiaires entre donateurs internationaux et populations bénéficiaires en Afrique subsaharienne. En analysant les trajectoires professionnelles de 32 femmes et hommes « leaders » dans des ONG de Cotonou (Bénin) et de Lomé (Togo), la thèse se propose d’appréhender les processus sociaux à travers lesquels ces individus deviennent intermédiaires dans les activités de développement. La recherche s’inscrit dans une approche théorique construite à la rencontre entre la perspective orientée vers l’acteur en socioanthropologie du développement, la sociologie de l’individuation et le paradigme des parcours de vie. La thèse prend également une posture comparative en contrastant, d’une part, les trajectoires professionnelles des intermédiaires du Bénin et du Togo, deux pays ayant connu entre les années 1990 et début 2000 des « destinées » opposées en ce qui a trait à leurs rapports avec les bailleurs de fonds étrangers. D’autre part, l’analyse compare deux générations d’intermédiaires et contraste l’expérience des intermédiaires féminins et masculins. L’analyse montre qu’en premier lieu, les conférences nationales en 1990 au Bénin et en 1991 au Togo ont constitué un tournant important dans les trajectoires professionnelles des intermédiaires dans les deux pays, créant subséquemment, d’un côté, un contexte favorable aux intermédiaires du Bénin, et de l’autre, un environnement délétère pour ceux du Togo. Toutefois, au cours des dix dernières années, ces différences de conditions de travail se sont beaucoup atténuées et les défis relevés par les intermédiaires dans les deux pays sont à nouveau similaires; les contextes actuels sont caractérisés par un soutien étatique au minima, un champ d’activités très concurrentiel et politisé, une professionnalisation du champ, et une forte dépendance vis-à-vis des bailleurs de fonds extérieurs. En second lieu, l’analyse des récits de vie a permis de ressortir quatre types de profils des intermédiaires au moment où ils intègrent le champ des ONG : les « reconvertis », les « nouveaux diplômés des années 1990 », les « carriéristes », et les « activistes ». La comparaison générationnelle suggère en outre que les deux premiers types décrivent mieux les intermédiaires ayant commencé leurs activités avant les années 2000, alors que les « carriéristes » sont pour l’essentiel des intermédiaires de la jeune génération qui intègre le domaine de l’intermédiation après 2000. Aussi, la recherche montre que pour entrer, mais surtout « durer », dans le champ des ONG ces individus utilisent divers réseaux politiques et associatifs et savent « manœuvrer », notamment en choisissant une « thématique porteuse », en veillant à maintenir une constante « visibilité » ou en ayant recours à des formations continues pour acquérir ou consolider des compétences recherchées par les bailleurs de fonds. Par ailleurs, l’analyse des trajectoires professionnelles féminines a révélé qu’alors que le poids des responsabilités familiales a fait que les « pionnières » de l’intermédiation sont entrées de façon tardive dans une profession dominée par les hommes, et se sont toutes focalisées sur des thématiques liées directement aux droits des femmes, les parcours de leurs cadettes sont bien différents. Ces dernières ne travaillent pas dans le traditionnel domaine du « genre », et même si elles reconnaissent aussi leurs difficultés à concilier responsabilités professionnelles et devoir familial, elles ne sont pas prêtes à mettre de côté leur carrière et ont une perception très différente de leurs aînées des rôles genrés au sein de la famille. / This dissertation focuses on individuals in local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who, in the current configuration of international development, act as relays or intermediaries between international donors and recipient populations in sub-Saharan Africa. By analyzing the careers of 32 female and male "leaders" in NGOs in Cotonou (Benin) and Lomé (Togo), the dissertation aims to understand the social processes through which these individuals become intermediaries in the development arena. The research mobilizes a theoretical approach that combines the actor-oriented perspective in socio-anthropology of development, the sociology of individuation and the life course paradigm. This thesis also takes a comparative approach, first, by contrasting the careers of development intermediaries from Benin with those from Togo, two countries that experienced in the 1990s and early 2000s opposite fates in terms of their relations with international donors. Also, the analysis compares two generations of intermediaries and contrast the experiences of male and female intermediaries. The analysis shows that, first, the Benin National conference of 1990 and the one in Togo in 1991 were turning points in the careers of intermediaries in both countries, by creating a supportive working environment for intermediaries in Benin, and, on the opposite, a deleterious context for those in Togo. However, over the past decade, these differences in working conditions have dwindled, and the challenges faced by intermediaries in both countries are once again similar; the current contexts are characterized by a limited state support, a very competitive and politicized working environment, a professionalization of the field, and a strong dependence toward external donors. Second, four types of intermediaries’ profiles at the time they enter the NGO sector emerged from the life history analysis: the "converted", the "new graduates of the 1990s," the "careerists" and the "activists". Generational comparison shows that the first two types best describe the intermediaries that started their activities before 2000, while "careerists" are mostly intermediaries from the younger post-2000 generation. The research also shows that in order to enter, and more importantly to "last", in the NGO sector these individuals use various political and associative networks and develop various strategies such as choosing a “fashionable” field of interest, remaining “visible”, and constantly seeking trainings in order to acquire “marketable” expertise. In addition, the analysis of women's professional trajectories revealed that while “pioneers” female intermediaries entered the male dominated NGO sector late in their life due to their familial obligations and all worked in the area of women's rights, the experience of their younger counterparts are quite different. The latter work outside the traditional “gender” arena; and, although they also have difficulties reconciling work and family duties, they are not ready to give up their career, and they have very different perceptions of gender roles within the family than their older counterparts.

Stora förändringar har skett på arbetsplatser under de senaste 40 åren.  Arbetsgivare ställer allt högre krav på sina arbetare att täcka upp längre och mer av arbetstiden det vill säga olika delar av dagen, veckan och året. Organisationers ständiga omstrukturering och nedskärning bidrar till underbemanning, vilket ökar arbetsbelastning samt stress på arbetarna som måste vara tillgängliga längre timmar för att klara av arbetskraven. Även att inte enbart arbetsplatsen ställer höga krav på individer, utan familjelivet och särskilt barnomsorg kräver mycket energi och tillgänglighet. Samt genom långa arbetspass så minskar automatiskt tiden och energin till att hinna spendera med familj och barn. Detta bidrar till konflikter mellan arbete-familjelivet. / Major changes have taken place in workplaces over the last 40 years.  Employers are increasingly demanding on their workers to cover up longer and more of working hours, i.e. different parts of the day, week and year. Organisations permanent restructuring and cutbacks contribute to understaffing, which increases workload and stress on the workers who must be available for longer hours to cope with the work requirements. Also that not only the workplace places high demands on individuals, but family life and especially child care requires a lot of energy and availability. As well as through long shifts, the time and energy are automatically reduced to spend with family and children. This contributes to conflict between work-family life.

台灣五大會計師事務所審計部門的從業人員長久以來一直是女性多於男性，每年新進的人員亦以女性居多，然而在高階職位上卻是男性遠多於女性。換言之，若女性審計人員在事務所裡沒有遭受任何升遷上的障礙，以每年新進人員女性多於男性的情況比例計算，在高階職位上女性的人數亦應多於男性，然而真實的情況卻正好相反。故本研究參考之前研究者的研究發現，彙總出台灣五大會計師事務所女性審計人員可能面臨到的升遷障礙，包括性別歧視、性騷擾、家庭與工作衝突和缺乏良師益友（mentor）等，以問卷調查方式蒐集實證資料，並進行統計分析。另外，本研究詢問研究對象所知的審計人員離職原因以及五大會計師事務所現行的工作場所家庭政策，以了解男性與女性審計人員在離職原因上有無差異和事務所提供的家庭福利政策，得到的結果如下： 1.性別歧視：不管從性別、職位和事務所別的角度來看，受試者均趨向於不同意女性審計人員遭受到性別歧視；而在參加選修課程與社交活動的情形上，男性與女性亦沒有顯著的差異。 2.性騷擾：曾經遭受性騷擾的受試者雖然皆為女性，然而僅有12位，比例為8.43%，比之前的研究低許多。 3.工作與家庭衝突：已婚女性比已婚男性感受到較大的衝突程度，而且家中若有生活無法自理、需要特別照顧的家人或小孩的女性，其衝突程度會比沒有需要特別照顧的家人或小孩的女性來得高。反觀已婚的男性受試者，不管家中有無需要特別照顧的家人或小孩，其工作與家庭衝突的程度並沒有顯著的差異。 4.女性缺乏mentor：女性擁有mentor的比例與男性相同；相同職位的男性與女性擁有mentor的比例亦相似。而且深入分析後發現，女性與男性的mentor，在職位上的差異不大，且擁有mentor的女性受試者，對mentor所能提供協助的同意程度，與男性受試者差異不大。 5.離職原因：女性因為「結婚生子」而離職排名第4，為其主要離職原因，男性則否。衡量性別歧視的「升遷機會受限」，則非男女審計人員的主要離職原因。 6.工作場所家庭政策：五大會計師事務所皆有提供產假與留職停薪這兩項福利政策，然而，較具彈性的「半職（part-time）」只有兩個事務所提供；「彈性上班時間」只有一個事務所提供，顯示目前五大事務所的工作場所家庭政策仍不夠多元。 綜上所述，本研究所探討的四個女性升遷障礙：性別歧視、性騷擾、工作與家庭衝突和缺乏mentor等，僅有工作與家庭衝突得到支持。因此在沒有進一步地證據支持另外三項升遷障礙前，工作與家庭衝突似乎是目前五大會計師事務所女性審計人員所共同面臨到的升遷問題，故會計師事務所管理當局應提供更多元的工作場所家庭政策，以降低女性審計人員的工作與家庭衝突。

Esta tesis evalúa el papel de las características no deseadas del trabajo - llamadas disamenities - en el contexto del balance entre trabajo y familia. Particularmente, se plantean las siguientes preguntas: ¿es el descenso en el salario de las mujeres luego del nacimiento del primer hijo - llamado child penalty - acompañado por una reducción simultánea en las disamenities?; ¿cuánto salario están dispuestas las madres a sacrificar para reducir las disamenities?; ¿las disamenities propias del trabajo de las madres tienen algún efecto sobre el desarrollo cognitivo de sus hijos? En el capitulo I se describe empíricamente como las características del trabajo de las madres cambian luego del nacimiento del primer hijo y se testea la hipótesis de que si el child penalty se puede explicar como un diferencial salarial compensatorio. En el capitulo II se estima la disposición marginal a pagar de las madres para reducir las disamenities. La estrategia de identificación está basada en la baja por maternidad, la cual constituye un contexto que permite modelar más cabalmente la decisión sobre la participación laboral; y por consiguiente, mejora la metodología existente para estimar la disposición marginal a pagar por parte de las madres. Finalmente, en el capitulo III se investiga el impacto de las disamenities del trabajo de las madres sobre el desarrollo infantil. / This dissertation evaluates the role of job disamenities - job characteristics disliked by workers - in the context of work-family balance. In particular, the following questions are raised. Is the decrease in mothers' wages around first childbirth - the so-called child penalty - accompanied by a simultaneous reduction in job disamenities? How much wage are mothers willing to sacrifice in order to reduce job disamenities? Do disamenities involved in mothers' occupations go on to affect parenting behaviour and as a result harm children's cognitive development? Chapter I provides empirical evidence for changes in maternal working conditions around first childbirth and tests the hypothesis if the child penalty can be explained by a compensating wage differential? Chapter II estimates mothers' marginal willingness to pay to reduce job disamenities. The identification strategy relies on the framework of maternal leave, a setting which allows us to model mothers' decision to join the labor force accurately and hence to improve on the existing methodology to estimate the marginal willingness to pay. Chapter III investigates how disamenities involved in mothers' occupation go on to affect children's cognitive outcomes.

No description available.

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)

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)

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship that exists between emotional stability, stress and work-family conflict among Standard Bank female employees. For this purpose data was collected from the female employees of Standard Banks in Alice, Fort Beaufort, King Williams and East London Town’s in the Eastern Cape. A sample of 72 female bank employees was drawn from the population. Neuroticism is the opposite of emotional stability and it was mostly often used in place of emotional stability in the study. Results of the study indicated that all study variables are significantly positively correlated with one another. The findings of this study is helpful in the banking industry in order to design human resources policies which will reduce the work-family conflict and decrease stress for female bank employees and for future research in respective topics. The implications of this study are discussed along with recommendations for future research and professional managerial practice.

Le travail et la famille sont souvent vus comme deux domaines en compétition pour le temps, l’énergie et l’attention des travailleurs. Pourtant, des synergies positives existeraient à l’interface entre ces deux domaines de vie. Plus particulièrement, le bien-être psychologique pourrait déborder positivement d’un domaine à l’autre. Des articulations théoriques réfèrent au débordement de bien-être psychologique (p. ex., Edwards et Rothbard, 2000 ; Greenhaus et Powell, 2006), mais très peu d’études se sont attardées à évaluer les mécanismes par lesquels les bien-être psychologiques au travail et dans la famille s’influencent mutuellement. Les études antérieures ne permettent pas de capter adéquatement le processus à l’intérieur duquel les mécanismes de débordement opèrent, et ce, pour deux raisons. D’une part, elles recourent à des concepts-valises qui englobent l’ensemble du débordement et éludent ainsi les mécanismes internes à celui-ci. D’autre part, elles utilisent des devis majoritairement transversaux qui ne permettent pas de capter le déploiement temporel des mécanismes à l’étude. L’objectif de la présente thèse est donc d’évaluer un ensemble de mécanismes pouvant expliquer le débordement de bien-être psychologique entre le travail et la famille. Le premier article évalue le rôle médiateur de la performance au travail dans la relation du bien-être psychologique dans la vie hors travail vers le bien-être psychologique au travail, mécanisme le plus universellement soutenu par les théorisations de l’interface travail-famille. Ainsi, l’article explore plus en profondeur ce mécanisme en l’évaluant selon deux conceptualisations du bien-être psychologique, ainsi que deux types de performance. Deux études ont été réalisées : l’une à deux temps de mesure séparés de 7,5 mois et l’autre mesurant des expériences journalières concomitantes. Les résultats confirment le rôle médiateur de la performance dans les deux cas et mettent en lumière les distinctions entre le débordement de bien-être cognitif et celui de bien-être affectif. Le deuxième article explore trois autres mécanismes de débordement : la satisfaction dans la vie (médiateur), la centralité du domaine d’origine dans l’identité et la force des frontières travail-famille (modérateurs). Des théorisations périphériques au thème du débordement travail-famille enrichissent la compréhension du processus de débordement du travail vers la famille et inversement. Six-mille-soixante-dix-sept jeunes travailleurs ont répondu à trois questionnaires séparés de 11 semaines chacun. Des analyses acheminatoires soutiennent le rôle médiateur de la satisfaction dans la vie. Par ailleurs, nous avons trouvé que plus un individu accorde d’importance à sa famille, plus sa satisfaction dans la famille influencerait positivement sa satisfaction dans la vie. Finalement, la force des frontières entourant la famille limiterait le débordement de bien-être psychologique du travail vers la famille. Cette thèse a pour principale contribution l’articulation de plusieurs propositions théoriques en un modèle cohérent de débordement de bien-être psychologique entre le travail et la famille, ainsi que son évaluation empirique. Nos études étayent la documentation précédente en recourant à des échantillons diversifiés et à des méthodologies rigoureuses. Les résultats de cette thèse présentent des implications pratiques pour les travailleurs, les organisations et la société. / Work and family are often considered as two domains competing for the time, energy and attention of workers. Positive synergies could nonetheless exist at the interface between these two life domains. Notably, psychological well-being could spillover from one domain to the other. Theoretical frameworks about the spillover of psychological well-being exist (e.g., Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Greenhaus & Powell, 2006), but very few studies have evaluated the mechanisms through which work and family psychological well-being influence each other. Previous studies do not adequately capture the process within which spillover mechanisms operate for two reasons. On the one hand, they use global concepts encompassing the whole spillover process, thereby disregarding internal mechanisms. On the other hand, they mainly use cross-sectional designs which cannot capture the processual nature of the proposed mechanisms. The objective of this thesis is therefore to evaluate mechanisms that could explain work-family psychological well-being spillover. The first article evaluates the mediating role of work performance in the influence of psychological well-being outside of work on psychological well-being at work, the mechanism most supported by work-family interface theories. Hence, the article explores this mechanism in depth by evaluating it according to two psychological well-being conceptualizations, as well as two types of performance. Two studies were conducted: one using a two-wave design with a 7.5-month delay and the other measuring experiences on a given workday. Results support the mediating role of performance in both studies and shed light on the distinction between cognitive well-being spillover and affective well-being spillover. The second article explores three other spillover mechanisms: life satisfaction (mediator), originating domain identity centrality, and work-family boundary strength (moderators). Theoretical articulations peripheral to work-family spillover enhance the understanding of the spillover process from work to family and inversely. Six thousand seventy-seven young workers answered three questionnaires with a delay of 11 weeks between each measurement time. Path analyses support the mediating role of life satisfaction. Furthermore, we discovered that the more an individual considers family as an important life domain, the more its family satisfaction will positively influence its life satisfaction. Finally, home boundary strength appears to limit the psychological well-being spillover from work to family. The main contribution of this thesis is its articulation of different theoretical propositions in one consistent work-family psychological well-being spillover model, as well as its empirical evaluation. Our studies build on previous literature by tapping on diverse samples and rigorous methods. The results of this thesis show practical implications for workers, organizations, and society.