Work-Family Conflict and Its Impact on Women's Career Goals

Purpose and Research Questions

The purpose of this research is to identify issues related to work-family conflict that impact the career goals of women. The study is guided by two central research questions: (1) What factors or issues related to work-family conflict impact the career goals of women? and (2) What may be done to address these issues?

This research is important because of the knowledge it contributes to existing scholarship in this area, as well as the practical information it may provide to help women more effectively navigate the factors that affect their career goals in the context of work-family conflict.

Methodology

The methodology of this study is qualitative and phenomenological in nature, conducted in the form of a critical and extensive review of literature (Silverman, 2001) of an academic and professional character. A phenomenological approach is appropriate for understanding the experiences of a group of individuals (Stewart et al., 1998). The literature review "shapes the study and promotes cumulative advances in knowledge" (Padgett, 1998). A qualitative review of literature is appropriate for conceptualizing social reality (Punch, 2000).

The literature review is understood to "serve four broad functions: (1) demonstrates the underlying assumptions behind the general research questions; (2) demonstrates that the researcher is knowledgeable about related research and the scholarly traditions that surround and support the study; (3) shows that the researcher has identified some gaps in previous research; and (4) refines and redefines the research questions by embedding them in larger traditions of inquiry" (Marshall and Rossman, 2006).

Psychological and Time-Based Conflict

Kehrberger observes that "juggling career and family presents women with pressures, choices, dilemmas, struggles, and time crunches" (2004). Work-family conflict is a well-documented phenomenon that affects both women and men, yet its consequences fall disproportionately on women. Friedman and Greenhaus argue that "work and family, the dominant life roles for most employed women and men in contemporary society, can either help or hurt each other; they may be allies, or they may be enemies" (2000). Crucially, they contend that time is not the major problem; rather, the more "subtle and pervasive problem is the psychological interference of work with family and of family with work. Psychological interference reduces family satisfaction and satisfaction with personal growth" (Friedman and Greenhaus, 2000). Furthermore, this psychological interference "between work and family also diminishes the parental performance of both mothers and fathers" (Friedman and Greenhaus, 2000).

Bartosz, Stevens, and Stevens note that "women have learned to create a network for themselves that assists in their success" (2006). A study conducted by Unwalla (1977) of 50 married women executives, 50 unmarried women executives, and 50 housewives from the banking, marketing, and advertising industries in Mumbai, India, sought to assess whether work interfered with the family lives of women executives. Sixty-five percent of the women in the sample reported that work remained at the back of their minds, indicating psychological spillover of work into the family domain (Rajadhyaksha and Smita, n.d.).

Research by Ciabattari (2007) and Bailyn, Drago, and Kochan (2001) examined work-family conflict among low-income, unmarried mothers. Their findings indicate that "social capital reduces unmarried mothers' reports of work-family conflict, especially for low-income women. In addition, mothers who report high levels of conflict are less likely to be employed; these patterns hold for women who are looking for work and those who are not. However, even at high levels of conflict, low-income women are more likely to be employed. The results suggest that work-family conflict has two consequences for unmarried women: it keeps them out of the labor force and it makes it more difficult for women who want to work to maintain employment stability." The work of Ferber, O'Farrell, and Allen (1991) reports similar findings.