Doing it all: The Effects of Gender, Rank, and Department Climate on Work–Family Conflict for Faculty at Liberal Arts Colleges

Abstract

Purpose – This research examined the effects of gender, home demands, and work demands on work–family conflict (WFC) for faculty at two liberal arts colleges.

Methodology – A work climate survey was sent to the entire population of 341 tenured and tenure-track faculty at two small highly selective private liberal arts colleges, one formerly all male and the other formerly all female. The response rate was 70%, yielding 237 respondents. Faculty were compared by gender using t-tests and by gender and discipline using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Multiple regression was used to examine factors contributing to faculty WFC.

Findings – Gender, rank, and department climate were significantly associated with WFC. In contrast, caregiving responsibilities, college of employment, and discipline did not have significant relationships with WFC. Controlling for caregiving, employment at a formerly all-male college, working in a STEM discipline, and department climate did not reduce the effect of gender on WFC. Women faculty reported more WFC than their male counterparts, while full professors reported less than their junior colleagues. Good department climate overall as well as high scores on all three subscales individually (affective, instrumental, and cognitive) reduced WFC.

Research limitations – This research project is a cross-sectional, observational study, which limits the interpretation of direction of effect in most cases.

Practical implications – Results suggest that more supportive department climates could reduce WFC for faculty struggling to balance their personal and professional lives.

Citation

White Berheide, C. and Anderson-Hanley, C. (2012), "Doing it all: The Effects of Gender, Rank, and Department Climate on Work–Family Conflict for Faculty at Liberal Arts Colleges", Texler Segal, M., Ngan-Ling Chow, E. and Demos, V. (Ed.) Social Production and Reproduction at the Interface of Public and Private Spheres (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 165-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-2126(2012)0000016011