Work-to-personal-life conflict among dual and single-career expatriates: Is it different for men and women?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore if an expatriate’s career situation at the level of the couple (single career couple (SCC)/dual career couple (DCC)) is related to the expatriate’s work-to-personal-life conflict (WLC) and if the expatriate’s gender is related to WLC. The authors also investigate if the level of WLC is different for men and women in a DCC or SCC (interaction).

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted among 393 Finnish expatriates who were in a relationship and were working. A moderated hierarchical regression was utilized in the data analysis.

Findings

Gender or DCC/SCC status was not separately related to WLC but an interaction effect between gender and a couple’s career status on WLC was significant. In DCC couples, women experienced more WLC than men. In SCC couples, women experienced less WLC than men.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that organizations should develop practices to support both DCCs and SCCs, for instance, by providing mentors for expatriates and their family members, or through organizing family events for company employees. Couples should also negotiate their roles and responsibilities in both the personal life and work-life spheres before moving abroad and also during the time they live abroad, especially women involved in a DCC and men involved in an SCC.

Originality/value

This is the first study focusing on expatriates’ WLC that simultaneously takes account of how the gender and career situation of the couple are related to it.

Citation

Mäkelä, L., Lämsä, A.-M., Heikkinen, S. and Tanskanen, J. (2017), "Work-to-personal-life conflict among dual and single-career expatriates: Is it different for men and women?", Journal of Global Mobility, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 304-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-12-2016-0065