Barbara Beham and Sonja Drobnič
The paper seeks to examine the relationships between various work demands and resources and satisfaction with work‐family balance in a sample of German office workers…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to examine the relationships between various work demands and resources and satisfaction with work‐family balance in a sample of German office workers. Work‐to‐family conflict is expected to mediate several relationships between dependent and independent variables.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 716 office workers from two service sector organizations in Germany participated in a comprehensive online survey. Hierarchical multivariate regressions were used to test the predicted relationships.
Findings
Perceived high organizational time expectations, psychological job demands and job insecurity were found to be negatively related to employees' satisfaction with work‐family balance. Work‐to‐family conflict partially mediated those relationships. Social support at work and job control revealed positive relationships with satisfaction with work‐family balance, but contrary to predictions this association persisted after controlling for work‐to‐family conflict.
Research limitations/implications
The study used a cross‐sectional design and employees' self reports which may be problematic in drawing causal conclusions.
Originality/value
The majority of studies in work‐family research look at either work‐family conflict, or more recently, at work‐family facilitation/enrichment, but little research has been conducted on employees' overall assessment of satisfaction with work‐family balance. By investigating relationships between various work demands and resources and the mediating role of work‐to‐family conflict in a sample of German office workers, the study extends previous research and contributes to the work‐family literature by clarifying the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and satisfaction with work‐family balance.
Details
Keywords
This commentary is a reflective discussion of how to use simple social media tools in college-level writing courses, and contains research elements such as effective examples of…
Abstract
This commentary is a reflective discussion of how to use simple social media tools in college-level writing courses, and contains research elements such as effective examples of what is attainable and possible when incorporating blogs (e.g., Posterous) and Twitter in the college classroom. In order to do this, it uses reflective writing with a focus on failures/successes in past courses, and also incorporates students' own comments on blogging and Twitter. The chapter's findings include the following: The overall ease of use and relative simplicity of certain social media tools make for low barriers of entry for a majority of students. The mobile accessibility of these online communicative technologies should also be of specific appeal. These characteristics should encourage student participation in ways that content management systems like Blackboard do not. The convenience of and allowance for quick and easy sharing of information via blogging and microblogging can also mean that each is often quicker than email for contacting someone. What makes both better than Blackboard concerns how they, when taken together, sustain class discussion, keeping it alive, present, and continuous. If proper affordances are made in terms of framing and timing, social media can make for successful additions to college-level courses. Simple tools allow and encourage students to document and reflect on their own learning in ways that are meaningful and unique as they are.
Emilie Giguere, Karine Bilodeau and Louise St-Arnaud
This paper aims to examine the work experiences of female executives and the challenges of their visible and invisible work activities, considering the operating modes they…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the work experiences of female executives and the challenges of their visible and invisible work activities, considering the operating modes they develop to carry out their work activities.
Design/methodology/approach
This study relies on a materialist feminist perspective and a critical experientialist work theory, which considers both the visible and invisible dimensions of the work performed by female executives. The methodology is based on a qualitative research design involving individual and group interviews with 51 Canadian female executives.
Findings
The results reveal the hyper-efficiency operating mode mobilized by female executives, which combines strategies to take over and delegate work activities from the domestic sphere to reconcile the managerial work with their different life spheres.
Originality/value
A key finding emerging from these results relates to the invisible but omnipresent part of the work activities from the domestic sphere throughout the lives of female executives.
Details
Keywords
Yin Lee and Amit Kramer
Many employees do not use work-family practices to their full extent, even when they are in need of them. Drawing on the concept of psychological safety the authors propose a new…
Abstract
Purpose
Many employees do not use work-family practices to their full extent, even when they are in need of them. Drawing on the concept of psychological safety the authors propose a new construct: psychological accessibility– employees' sense of embracing the benefits of work-family practices without experiencing a fear of using them. The authors argue that the psychological accessibility of work-family practices could explain the variations in the utilization of work-family practices among employees with similar levels of family needs. Furthermore, the authors propose multilevel contextual factors that could affect the psychological accessibility of work-family practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a theoretical multilevel framework for work-family practices that places psychological accessibility at its core and addresses accessibility of work-family practices from a macro level that includes institutions and the different attributes of the national culture, a meso level that includes work time norms in organizations, and a micro level, that includes the social context at the team level in organizations.
Findings
As part of the conceptual development the authors offer 10 propositions.
Originality/value
The authors' multilevel model of psychological accessibility could explain the variations in the utilization of work-family practices across different national, organizational and group contexts. This paper refocuses scholarly attention to the psychological antecedents of the utilization of work-family practices. The authors offer some practical recommendations to make the utilization of work-family practices a psychologically safe activity.
Details
Keywords
Irma Rybnikova and Annkathrin Weigel
Organizational diversity training is designed to enhance employees' skills and competencies regarding diversity and its management. The question of its effectiveness, and the…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizational diversity training is designed to enhance employees' skills and competencies regarding diversity and its management. The question of its effectiveness, and the conditions under which it thrives, remains a matter of debate. Unlike previous studies that have predominantly focused on the perspective of training participants, this study shifts the lens to the viewpoints of diversity training providers in Germany – a country where the formal requirement for diversity management was implemented relatively recently. The primary objective is to ascertain the critical factors influencing training effectiveness from the providers' perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This research draws upon case studies based on document analysis and qualitative interviews with diversity training providers across Germany.
Findings
The investigation reveals that the effectiveness of diversity training, as perceived by providers, hinges on several key factors: the organizational environment (including the widespread recognition of diversity issues and the presence of an organizational diversity framework), the attributes of diversity trainers (notably their personal familiarity with diversity) and the setting and design of the training (such as venue, duration and a blend of instructional approaches). A notable barrier to achieving effective training outcomes is the lack of supportive conditions within client companies, exemplified by limited training budgets, which impedes the accurate assessment of training effectiveness.
Originality/value
This study marks a novel contribution to the field by explicitly focusing on the perspective of diversity training providers in Germany. It provides new insights into the importance of the organizational context surrounding diversity education within the private sector.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to address notions and practices relating to work–life balance for native German scholars and researchers who have migrated from the former Soviet…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address notions and practices relating to work–life balance for native German scholars and researchers who have migrated from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Issues will be explored from a cultural perspective, identifying culturally based interpretations of work–life balance.
Design/methodology/approach
Foregrounded in a diversity approach, this empirical study draws upon explorative interviews to discuss work–life balance in German academia. To overcome monocultural observations, 25 German scholars and 11 researchers originating from the FSU were interviewed, all of whom are highly skilled female scholars.
Findings
Findings demonstrate that individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds can perceive huge differences in identical working conditions. The study links meanings of work–life balance with individual practices and identifies key components of work–life balance within this population. It also discusses the decisions that scholars make about starting families or remaining childless for the sake of their careers.
Originality/value
This study is the first of its kind in Germany, and represents a strong implication for policies and their evaluation. It identifies the crucial role played by culturally rooted notions relating to work–life balance practices.
Details
Keywords
Meguellati Achour, Shahidra Binti Abdul Khalil, Bahiyah Binti Ahmad, Mohd Roslan Mohd Nor and Mohd Yakub Zulkifli Bin Mohd Yusoff
This study aims to examine the relationship of work–family demands with employees’ well-being, and the role of management/supervisory support in this relationship. The following…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship of work–family demands with employees’ well-being, and the role of management/supervisory support in this relationship. The following hypotheses were proposed: work–family demands would be negatively related to employees’ well-being; management/supervisory support would moderate the relationship of work–family demands with employees’ well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers used 250 working female academicians as respondents, working in the research universities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Their ages ranged from 30 to 60 years.
Findings
The findings of the present study proved that the work–family demands were negatively associated with employees’ well-being. Results also revealed that management and supervisory support strengthens the relationship between work–family demands and employees’ well-being. Thus, management and supervisory support plays an important role in balancing work demands and family roles and also in increasing working female academicians’ well-being.
Originality/value
In this study, management and supervisory support was found to be directly related to well-being, including life satisfaction, job satisfaction and family satisfaction. However, the direct relationship between management/supervisory support and well-being was positive and significant. This study also found that management/supervisor support reduced work–family conflict and work–family demands. Also, supervisory and management support was found to have a significant and positive relationship with well-being. Given these findings, supervisory and management support plays a very important role as a moderator of work–family demands and in developing and improving well-being in working women.
Details
Keywords
François Bry and Alexander Yong-Su Pohl
Several challenges of today’s higher education were motivations to reconsider the contents and formats of lectures and tutorials and to conceive the classroom communication system…
Abstract
Purpose
Several challenges of today’s higher education were motivations to reconsider the contents and formats of lectures and tutorials and to conceive the classroom communication system Backstage, a social media platform supporting a novel form of large-class teaching. The purpose of this paper is to report on the challenges met, on the novel teaching form and on an evaluation of this teaching form.
Design/methodology/approach
The use of Backstage in two courses is evaluated. One of the courses has been specially adapted to promote student participation, the other course has been held in a traditional way. To investigate the usefulness and acceptance of Backstage in the given settings the data collected on Backstage and student responses in surveys are analyzed.
Findings
The results indicate that Backstage can foster interactivity and awareness in large-class lectures when used in combination with a teaching format that provides opportunities for and encourges lecture-relevant communication. Furthermore, students appreciated the use of Backstage.
Research limitations/implications
This paper reports on a case study which lacks generalizability. Further studies under controlled conditions and of the learning effectiveness of the approach are still outstanding.
Practical implications
This paper describes an approach fostering a form of Active Learning in large classes. Since large classes are widespread in higher education, the approach has a considerable practical potential.
Social implications
The paper describes an approach to large class higher education teaching in using social media.
Originality/value
Similar results have not been published so far.