Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Job Satisfaction of Female Teachers of Universities

Abstract

The present correlation study was aimed to examine the relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction among female teachers in the universities of Lahore. The population of the study was female teachers of public and private universities in Lahore City. The total number of female university teachers was one thousand four hundred and ninety-seven. Four hundred and fifty female university teachers (30% of the total population) were selected as a sample of the study. The questionnaire developed by Carlson, Kacmar, & Wayne (2000) was used to measure work-family conflict, and the questionnaire developed by Hayat (1998) was used to measure job satisfaction. Multiple regression, independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Independent sample t-test was applied to compare the two groups, such as type of institution, and One-way ANOVA was used to compare the groups on the basis of designation of the teachers. Major findings revealed that there was a significant and negative relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction. It was recommended that training, seminars should be arranged for teachers to deal with their work and family-related problems.

Key Words:

Work-Family Conflict, Job Satisfaction, Female University Teachers

Introduction

Work and family are the two major components of an individual’s life. Before the beginning of the 21^st-century, males were responsible primarily for earning and providing for their family, but with the changing times as wives, roles as a breadwinner along with the husbands increased their roles (Marks, 2006). According to Abbott (2005), the number of females working to support their families is increasing day by day since the 2^nd world war. As the women are getting more and more employment, so has the WFC increased considerably. Females struggle to accomplish the increasing work role along with the family responsibilities, which leads to work-family conflict (Kaye & Gray, 2007). WFC arises were husband and wife both are working in the family (Livingston & Judge, 2008). It affects women more as compared to men. Working females experience the burden of two types; one is from work at their workplaces which is their paid work, and the other from work at their home which is unpaid work. If they cannot handle it properly, it can lead to lower efficiency, which can affect the whole organization (Topper, 2007).

Armstrong et al. (2015) expressed that WFC has a significant association with job satisfaction and job stress. Job satisfaction is a strong predictor of the well-being of an individual. According to Locke (1969), job satisfaction can be analyzed by the workers perceive their jobs in accordance to their likings or disliking. Job satisfaction can be explained as an important attitude having cognitive, affective and behavioural facets of an individual’s work and family lives (Judge et al. 2001). Hayat (1998) stated that a worker who is happier will always be a better worker with more good output, whereas a dissatisfied worker will never be able to perform well. He concluded that happy workers are the better workers. It can be said that if an employee is satisfied with the job, he/she can carry out the duties better, whereas a dissatisfied employee can’t carry out the duties at his/her best. Ahmad (1996) stated that women who have to perform a number of roles and responsibilities at one time face very less

job satisfaction.

Professionally satisfied and committed teachers are the fundamental component to produce a proficient and successful nation. In the teaching profession performance of the teachers is highly dependent on the level of satisfaction of the teachers (Jamal, 2017). Job satisfaction of teachers has a key role in enhancing the quality of the education of a country. Job satisfaction can be described as the good and bad feelings of an employee towards his job (Robbins, 2005). It is evident from the literature that job dissatisfaction can be the cause of negative outcomes such as reduced job performance, turnover of the employees (Judge et al., 2001; Kinicki et al. 2002). So the research attempted to investigate the correlation between work-family conflict and the job satisfaction of female teachers of universities.

Literature Review

Work and family are two essential fields of an individual’s life. These two may not balance smoothly as the relationship between the two is complicated and multi-dimensional. Inter-role conflict is the result of irreconcilable requirements and requirements arise due to different roles from work and family lives (Netemeyer et al. 1996). Researches on work and family have tried to illuminate WFC from diverse theoretical viewpoints, predominantly role theory. Role theory provides a conceptual framework that includes much of the WFC literature (Khan et al. 1964). Role theory advocates that an individual’s involvement in several roles results in difficulty in satisfying the requirements of these roles and leads to conflict.

People at the beginning of the 21^st century faced a devastating problem regarding then work and family and ever-increasing demands for employees and their families. These problems sprang out of the fact that men and women were working in fields different from each other. Nowadays, the percentage of female employees is constantly on the rise than it was in the past (Kafetsios, 2007).

There have always been difficulties with regard to work and family life. People have to adjust themselves vigorously to cope with family demands as well. In earlier times, the correlation involving work and family has resulted in many changes which have been classified according to different social structures. The work-family is one of the major issues in modern times (Pitt-Catsouphes, 2006).

Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) stated that WFC has three dimensions; conflict arises due to time, strain and behaviour. The last few years’ research stated the balancing of WFC and the responsibilities related to it are more difficult to be handled by full-time employees.

WFC significantly has an impact on various work-related attitudes. Among these attitudes job, satisfaction is an important attitude (Martins et al., 2002). It significantly affects not only organizational efficiency but individual performance too. Results of some of the researches have explained a significant association of WFC with job satisfaction, whereas some found no relationship. For example, Parasuraman et al. (1989) explained a significant correlation between WFC and job satisfaction, whereas no significant association was explained by Carlson and Kacmar (2000). Kossek and Ozeki (1998) explained that WIF has a more significant correlation with job satisfaction than FIW.

The objective of this research was to observe the correlation between WFC and job satisfaction. The study was carried out in Pakistan as the modern revolutionization in the labour force, which is dominated by the males; there is a quick rise in working females, so the need to carry out the researches on WFC in developing countries was inevitable (Spector et al., 2007).

Objectives

Objectives of the research were to:

· Find out the relationship of work-family conflict with job satisfaction of female teachers of universities.

· Find out the difference between the levels of WFC of teachers in private and public universities.

· Investigate the difference in the levels of WFC of female teachers according to their designation.

· Investigate the difference between WFC of unmarried and married female teachers.

Hypotheses

H₁: There is a relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction of female teachers of universities.

H₂: There is a significant difference between the levels of WFC faced by the female teachers in private and public universities.

H₃: There is significant differentiation in the levels of WFC of female teachers according to their designation.

H₄: There is significant differentiation in of WFC of married and unmarried female teachers.

Methodology

Research Design

Correlational research design, quantitative research, was used to conduct the study. It is used to measure the extent of association between two variables. To explain the relationship between variables, coefficient ‘r’ is used. It ranges from +1.00 to -1.00 (Gay, 2012).

Population

Female teaching faculty of private and public universities of Lahore was taken as population. The total number of universities in Lahore was thirty-four, from which fifteen were public and nineteen were private universities, according to the Higher Education Commission website (29^th January 2019). Five universities from the public sector and six universities from the private sector universities were selected as the accessible population.

Sample

Proportionate stratified random sampling was selected to choose the sample of the study. Strata were created by using the designation of the teachers of female teachers of public and private universities. Then 30% of teachers from each stratum were selected randomly (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003).

Table 1. Sample from Public Sector Universities

	Population	Sample
Professor	33	09
Associate Professor	45	13
Assistant Professor	384	116
Lecturer	364	110
Total	826	248

Table 1 shows that 09 (30%) professors were included in the sample from public universities. 13 Associate Professors, 116 Assistant Professors and 110 Lecturers were in the sample. Thus, 248 teachers were included in the sample.

Table 2. Sample from Private Universities

	Population	Sample
Professor	17	04
Associate Professor	26	07
Assistant Professor	245	75
Lecturer	383	116
Total	671	202

Table 2 shows that the sample consisted of 4 (30%) professors, 7 associate professors, 75 assistant professors and 116 lecturers. Thus, 202 teachers were included in the sample from private sector universities.

Instruments

To collect information on demographic variables, designation, type of institute, marital status, a general information sheet was used. WFC was measured by a five-point Likert type scale developed by Carlson. el, (2000). It has 18 -items with two directions: conflict resulting from work interfering family (WIF) and conflict resulting from family interfering with work (FIW). To measure job satisfaction a scale developed by Hayat (1998) was used. It consisted of 22-items determining on a five-point Likert type scale. Questionnaires were pilot tested by collecting data from sixty female teachers.

Data Analysis

Table 3. Regression Analysis: Relationship b/w WFC and JS

Model	R	R-Square	Adj R Square	Std. Error
1	.859^a	.731	.727	10.69816

Predictors: (Constant), TB(FIW), SB(FIW), BB(FIW), TB(WIF), SB(WIF), BB(WIF)

Table 3 shows that seventy-three percent variance can be seen in job satisfaction by work-family conflict (R square value = .731*100= 73.1). It indicates variance contributed in dependent variable by the predictor.

Multiple regression analysis explained the variation in dependent variable by each individual predictor. The investigated predicting variables were WIF (TB, SB, BB) and FIW (TB, SB, BB). By assigning coefficient to each predictor variable, the unique contribution of the predicting variables was assessed.

Table 4. Beta Coefficients

Model		Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	t	sig.
Model		B	Std. Error	Beta	t	sig.
1	(Constant)	122.307	1.265		96.576	.000
	WIF (TB)	-1.395	0.351	-0.252	-4.379	.001
	WIF (SB)	-0.221	0.361	-0.045	-0.610	.539
	WIF (BB)	-1.073	0.313	-0.178	-3.489	.000
	FIW (TB)	-0.576	0.338	-0.085	-1.682	.064
	FIW (SB)	-1.133	0.347	-0.196	-3.342	.002
	FIW (BB)	-0.978	0.346	-0.166	-2.835	.004

Dependent Variable: JS

Table 4 showed the beta weight and p values. Beta weights and p-values for the predictors for the study were (TB WIF = -0.252 (p = .001), SB WIF = -0.045 (p = .539), BB WIF = -0.178 (p = .000), TB FIW = -0.085 (p = .064), SB FIW = -0.196 (p = .002), BB FIW = -0.166 (p = .004). Beta values indicated the negative relationship of the components of WFC with JS. The p-values show that WIF (TB, BB) and FIW (SB, BB) are significantly related to job satisfaction whereas WIF (SB) and FIW (TB) are not significantly related with job satisfaction.

Table 5. Analysis

Model		Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	sig.
1	Regression	129207.035	6	21278.003	191.595	.000
	Residual	48654.389	442	112.112
	Total	177861.414	448

The F ratio is taken up to find out that how reliable the measures are in structuring an excellent fitted model. The p-value .000 < .05 indicates that the model is well fitted.

Table 6. Difference in WFC of Teachers of Private and Public Universities

Teacher’s Academic Qualification	N	Mean	SD	t	df	sig (2-tailed)
Private	202	59.4358	12.87764	0.75	418.648	.387
Public	248	59.4074	12.29944		48

Table 6 indicates the outcome of the independent sample t-test. It indicates no significant difference between the level of WFC perceived by female university teachers of private and public universities as t-value (0.75 < 1.96) and the p-value (.387 > .05) shows no significant difference at the level of significance.

Table 7. Difference in WFC According to their Marital Status

Marital Status	N	Mean	SD	t	df	Sig (2-tailed)
Married	271	58.5987	12.28393	1.524	437	.106
Unmarried	174	58.6047	12.50783		327.313

Table 7 shows no differentiation in the levels of WFC perceived by unmarried and married teachers as t-value (1.524 < 1.96) and the p-value (.106 > .05) shows no significant differentiation between the level of WFC of married and unmarried female teachers.

Table 8. The difference in WFC of Teachers According to the Designation

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig
Between Groups	10348.835	3	3315.635	11.675	.001
Within Groups	152508.935	445	318.741
Total	152858.880	448

Table 8 shows the result of one-way ANOVA. It indicates a significant difference found between WFC of female university teachers according to their designation as indicated by F-statistics (10.675 > 1.96) and p-value (.001 < .05). To further check the deference between the groups Pos-Hoc (LSD) test was used.

Table 9. LSD

(I) Designation	(J) Designation	Mean Difference (I-J)	Std. Error	sig
Professor	Associate Professor	-14.22710	5.04608	.013
	Assistant Professor	-4.98719	3.80141	.011
	Lecturer	-13.86741	3.76418	.003
Associate Professor	Professor	14.22710	5.04608	.013
	Assistant Professor	8.23881	3.12874	.024
	Lecturer	0.31868	3.07533	.003
Assistant Professor	Professor	4.98719	3.80141	.011
	Associate Professor	-8.23881	3.12874	.024
	Lecturer	-7.78021	0.76851	.000
Lecturer	Professor	13.86741	3.76418	.001
	Associate Professor	-0.31868	3.07533	.003
	Assistant Professor	7.78021	0.76851	.000

Table 9 indicates the group-wise comparison of WFC of female university teachers working on the different designation. The p-value (.001 < .05) shows a significant difference in the level of WFC of lecturers and professors. In the same way, the difference is found in the WFC of associate professors and lecturers as the p-value (.003 < .05) at the level of significance demonstrates the significant difference in both groups. And p-value (0.000 < .05) shows a significant difference also between assistant professors and lecturers.

Conclusion

The research aimed to investigate the association of WFC with the job satisfaction of female university teachers. The results of the research revealed that WFC was significantly but negatively related to the JS. Results also pointed out that no significant difference was found in WFC of female university teachers from the private and public sector. Furthermore, it was shown that lecturers have more conflict in their work and family lives than Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors. It can be due to less experience and having an additional workload at the workplace, along with more household tasks.

Discussion

The research aimed at exploring the relationship between WFC and job satisfaction amongst female university teachers in Lahore. Results of the study showed a negative relationship between the WFC and JS of the female university teachers. Zulfiqar (2013) conducted a study showing similar results. Bhuian (2005) and Wayne (2004) also concluded that WFC and jab satisfaction is negatively related. Another study conducted by Almutairi (2017) on female teachers of Saudi Arabia revealed similar results.

The results of the research proved no considerable difference in the levels of WFC of female university teachers from private and public. Rehman (2012) showed similar results, whereas Erdamar (2014) showed dissimilar results.

The findings of the study showed no considerable divergence in the levels of WFC perceived by married and unmarried teachers. Erdamar (2014) also found no difference in WFC on the basis of marital status, whereas Rehman (2012) and Bellavia (2005) found a significant difference. They expressed that married teachers have more work-family conflict than unmarried teachers.

Recommendations

1. Training, workshops and seminars should be arranged for teachers to deal with their problems and to retain the equilibrium between work and family responsibilities. It may also result in enhanced job satisfaction.

2. By providing facilities to the female teachers such as childcare facilities and bendable working timetable, work-family conflict can be reduced. Teachers should be endowed with the resources which are important to accomplish the requirements of the job. It can result in reduced WFC and improved job satisfaction.

3. A qualitative study should be carried out to check the role of responsibilities at home in work-family conflict and to get more information about the causes of WFC at the workplace.

Sections
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