The influence of work pressure and industry on work-family conflict : a meta-analytic review of South African research

Field: Social Sciences (Social Sciences)

Research purpose \nThe purpose of this study is to examine the effects of work pressure on work-family \nconflict as reported by South African academic research. Furthermore, the study \nexamines the influence of employees working in gendered industries on the \nassociation between work pressure and work-family conflict. \nMotivation for study \nThere is currently no meta-analytic study employing just South African samples to \ninvestigate work-family conflict As researchers are often confronted with conflicting \nfindings from different studies, this study aims to make sense of work-family conflict \nin South Africa by reporting on its current status using all available published \nliterature. \nResearch design, approach and methods \nThis study followed a meta-analytic approach in order to investigate the current state \nof work-family conflict in South Africa according to the published quantitative \nacademic literature. As such, correlations between sources of work pressure and \nwork-family conflict reported in articles were used in order to calculate overall \nestimations of the association between work pressure, industry, and work-family \nconflict. Main findings \nResults indicate that various sources of work pressure, as well as overall work \npressure, are positively associated with work-family conflict. Regarding industry, \nresults indicate that the industry, that is, whether industries are numerically male- or \nfemale-dominated, moderates the association between work pressure and workfamily \nconflict in such a way that employees in male-dominated industries \nexperience increased work-family conflict compared to employees in femaledominated \nindustries. \nLimitations \nResults should be interpreted bearing in mind that the types of industries in which \nsamples were collected were very limited, and as such, results might not be \napplicable to all male- or female-dominated industries in South Africa. Also \nimpinging on the true nature of the work-family conflict relationship with work \npressure and industry, is the limited number of articles included in the study because \nthere are a limited number of published studies which have been conducted in South \nAfrica. Lastly, the manner in which samples were categorised as male- or femaledominated \ndoes not guarantee a masculine or feminine culture within those \norganisations respectively. Future research \nIt is suggested that similar studies regarding work-family conflict and industry \nconducted in the future categorise industries as male- or female-dominated \naccording to the nature of the cultures in those organisations--either masculine or \nfeminine. Classifying organisations as male- or female-dominated in this manner \nshould provide more representative results of the true nature of the association \nbetween work-family conflict and industry. Researchers should also try to obtain a \nmore representative sample of male- and female-dominated industries in order to \nmake the results applicable to a wider range of sectors. \nConclusion \nInsight was given into the current nature of work-family conflict in South Africa as \nreported by the available published academic literature. The association between \nwork pressure, industry, and work-family conflict is reported.