If an employee has a conflict between work and a child's school or extracurricular commitment, most of the time his or her colleagues are willing to accommodate the parent's needs. However, the factors that are make the workplace most 'family friendly' are the attitudes of the employees, rather than the management. The employees are reasonably balanced in terms of their gender and family situation. Thus they are sympathetic to the needs of workers who are trying to balance...

The higher-level managers tend to be older and male, and come from more traditional family backgrounds, and it is an undeniable logistical advantage for a worker to have a stay-at-home wife, not because of outright discrimination, but because of the difficulties of trying to be 'two places at once:' at a demanding job, and functioning as a caretaker at home. A lack of support at a worker's home and cultural biases that assume women are the primary caretakers of children and the home, even if they are working full-time seem to be unavoidable. The company cannot alter these personal attitudes, but it could provide more family leave and access to on-site childcare.
Reference

Diversity Brochure. (2008). Regis University. Retrieved November 23, 2009 at http://regis.edu/content/abt/pdf/Diversity%20Strategic%20Plan%202008_Layout%201.pdf