Correlates of work‐family conflicts among managers in Egypt

Abstract

Purpose -The work-family interface has received considerable attention during the past two decades but inconsistent findings have been reported. Reasons for this include the use of different work-family conflict (WFC) measures, samples, outcomes, and countries and cultures. Carlson et al. developed and provided an initial validation of a new comprehensive measure of bi-directional WFC having three forms: time-, strain-, and behavior-based conflict. The purpose of this paper is to replicate and extended their work employing a large sample of managers working in various organizations and industries in Egypt, a large Muslim country, and including additional correlates. Design/methodology/approach -Data were collected from 242 respondents, 146 males and 96 females, using anonymously completed questionnaires, a 48 percent response rate. Measures included three forms of WFC, personal demographic and work situation characteristics, stable individual difference personality factors, job behaviors, work outcomes, after-work recovery experiences, indicators of quality of life (e.g. WFC, life satisfaction) and psychological well-being. Findings -The three measures of WFC were acceptably reliable and inter-correlated to the same extent as reported by Carlson and her colleagues in their US study. The mean values in the Egyptian sample were higher than those in the US study indicating more WFC, and the gender differences reported by Carlson et al. were not found in the Egyptian sample. Both stable personality characteristics (e.g. need for achievement) and job demands (e.g. perceptions of work intensity) were positively associated with WFC. Use of recovery experiences after work had limited and mixed effects on levels of WFC. WFC generally had negative relationships with work outcomes and indicators of psychological well-being.Research limitations/implications -The presence of country differences suggests the need for more cross-cultural research involving participants in the same occupations. Practical implications -Results suggest that both individual characteristics and job demands are associated with levels of WFC. Efforts to reduce levels of WFC need to address both. Originality/value -The paper adds to the understanding of work experiences of managers in Egypt and replicates and extends earlier work.

Culture and Leadership: Comparing Egypt to the GLOBE Study of 62 Societies

“…This influx of women into the labour force notwithstanding, Egypt still has one of the lowest wage labour participation rates for women in the world (Baron, 1994;El-Laithy, 2003;Elsaid & Elsaid, 2012). Recently, Egyptian women have been increasingly participating in the salaried labour force and are rising to managerial positions (Shami et al, 1990;Handoussa and El-Oraby, 2004;Omair, 2008;Burke and El-Kot, 2010). However, Abd El-Latif's (1988) study found that the Egyptian society has negative attitudes towards women in top managerial positions.…”

“…As far as economic activities not based on the family unit were concerned, the norms and customs were that Egyptian women could only work as wage workers in agriculture and industry when their families were in need of their financial assistance (Amin and Al-Bassusi, 2002;Burke and El-Kot, 2010). As a result, women found themselves categorized as the "reserve army of labour" despite their recent advancement in the field of education (Japer, 2001;Riddle and Ayyagari, 2011).…”

“…However, women were traditionally seen as passive, dependent, gentle, and responsible for household tasks (Baron, 1994;Mensch et al, 2003). Congruent with these traditional views, existing research conducted in Egypt (Amin and Al-Bassusi, 2002;El-Laithy, 2003) showed that throughout Egypt's history, women in particular, simply because of their sex, were discriminated against in the workplace and constrained to the roles of care givers, child bearers, and nurturers in their families (Burke and El-Kot, 2010). Egyptian women, once they became mothers, were pressured into leaving their jobs and becoming stay-at-home mothers (Mostafa, 2003).…”

“…This combination could be quite challenging for leaders. Thus, training programs for managers in organizations and academics would increasingly need to involve a combination of universal cultural dimensions with culture specific manifestations of these attributes and local traditions in mind, which is by no means an easy task to accomplish (Jamali and Mirshak, 2007;Burke & El-Kot, 2010). Peters and Waterman (1982) argued that Middle Eastern cultures are considered to be strong and coherent because they are infused with a system of values, beliefs, and ideals that are well understood and adhered to by all members of society.…”

Job Stress with Supervisor’s Social Support as a Determinant of Work Intrusion on Family Conflict

“…According to Burke and El-Kot (2010), Grandey, Cordeino and Crouter (2005) work-family conflict is considered to be an important issue in today's business world. Nowadays, there has been an increasing interest in the conflict between work and family life domains, and recent studies highlight the conflict experienced by individuals between their roles in the family and at work, which is covered under the heading called work-family conflict.…”