Women and men experience virtually the same level of work-family conflict according to a new study, which challenges the prevailing idea that it's women who struggle most with "having it all."

The research, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, found that when it comes to work-interference-with-family (WIF) and family-interference-with-work (FIW), men and women "appear to be more similar than different."

"We essentially found very little evidence of differences between women and men as far as the level of work-family conflict they report," lead author Assistant Professor Kristen Shockley said.

"This is quite contrary to the common public perception. The way this issue is presented in the media frames the way we think about it, and it creates a perpetual cycle. Women hear that other women are struggling with this issue, so they expect they will experience greater work-family conflict."

As part of their study, Prof Shockley and her team reviewed 350 studies spanning three decades, and incorporating over 250,000 people from all over the world. And while the level of work-family conflict reported was similar overall, some differences were still evident among certain groups:

Mothers reported slightly greater family interference with work than fathers, as did women in dual-earner couples.
Men in dual-earner couples reported greater work interference with family
When both men and women had the same occupation, women in dual-earner couples reported slightly greater work interference with family than men.
The first difference, that of mothers reporting greater family interference with work than dads, won't be breaking news to many mums currently juggling meetings with the school run. "The presence of children significantly increases family time demands," the authors note, "and research suggests these demands tend to fall disproportionally upon women."

Prof Shockley also believes that while men and women may experience the same level of work-family conflict, they may perceive it differently.

For example, women, she says, may feel more guilt around work interference with family, "because of traditional expectations that mothers are caretakers." On the other hand, men, she explains, have traditionally been the primary breadwinner, and therefore, "may feel they are fulfilling their family responsibilities by working, resulting in less guilt."

"There also is some socialisation for it being OK for women to talk more about [work-family conflict] than men," Prof Shockey said of the findings.

"I do think it's harming men, who are silently struggling and are experiencing the same amount of work-family conflict, but no one is acknowledging it,"

The researchers believe the results have important implications - for family and for workplaces.

"There are many culturally embedded and communicated stereotypes within society that influence assumptions about work-family conflict as a feminine issue," they argue.

"Based on the findings of the present study, this seems to be a largely inaccurate assumption.

"Challenging such inaccurate stereotypes, would not only better facilitate men's use of available work–family resources and eventually achieve better work–family outcomes, but it could also shift norms for all employees.

" Specifically, if the use of work–family benefits became standard practice among working men and women alike, "punishment" as a result of these actions might be greatly reduced. This has the additional potential benefit of promoting greater gender parity overall in the workplace."


http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/baby/life-with-a-baby/dads-also-struggle-to-have...

It took a study to determine that?

Where have they been for the past few hundred years?

The stupid feminist nonsense that 'you can have it all' drove many women to think they could have a 'career' (the reality is most don't have  a 'career' - they have a JOB), home and family and all that entails and lose nothing.

Was never going to be reality and never will be, and is just one more nail in the coffin of what has become the greatest social engineering disaster of the West over the past forty years, with escalating gender wars, savage disparities in 'rights' in many ways but particularly with family, violence on all sides, abuse, abandonment on whim, destruction of families and family values, impoverishment of many to suit an agenda, calculated oppression of men and driving them out of many opportunities in life to suit this crazed agenda, distortion in the school and academic systems, proliferation of unemployed and under-employed, massively growing divides within society, and the consequent near-total control of the nation and any genuine economic worth by the select groups of insiders on both 'left' and 'right', to the detriment of this nation and its people as a WHOLE.

If you can't follow that - then god be with you.. and I'll see what's left of you on the beach....

mothra wrote on Aug 4^th, 2017 at 11:18am:

Thirty years of po-faced, tendentious BS  research has been found to be... er... po-faced and tendentious. No shite.


ANd men don't want to 'have it all'. What a stupid thing to say.

My wife is a nurse and a darn good one.

Her career has always come first.

I had my own business and I did a lot of the parenting single handed.
Even when my youngest daughter was a tiny baby my wife had to spend two 3 months doing country work.

I fitted childcare into my business.

I have no complaints and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

What does annoy me is when I and men in general get bombarded with this unfair to women message.
We are not all like that.

The real insult was when I was told by the Agriculture Department in WA that they had to balance the gender gap and they would not be promoting any men for the foreseeable future. (I left)

Why do they always try to box people in all the same box, let alone think that there should be only 'one' right answer to everything??

Just because eldest sister (Dad's daughter) wanted to become career orientated, get a few degrees, make a great achievement for humanity, not have kids, probably enjoys celibacy ...all for being labelled a FEMINIST.

While the youngest sister (Mum's daughter) wanted to just have kids and a good family that shows that you don't have to behave like someone from Mt Druitt to be poor.

As for the Middle-sister (the People's daughter)...