Do Women in Highly Qualified Positions Face Higher Work-To-Family Conflicts in Germany than Men?

Anne Busch-Heizmann and Elke Holst

No 1658, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: Changing employment conditions lead to new chances, but also new risks for employees. In the literature, increasing permeability between occupational and private life is discussed as one special outcome of this development that employees must face, especially those in highly qualified positions. Drawing on existing research, we investigate in how far women and men in those positions differ in their perceived work-to-family conflicts (WFC), considering the mediating role of gender specific job opportunities. Referring conflicting theoretical arguments, we hypothesize that in Germany - as a conservative welfare state - women, especially those with family responsibilities, will perceive higher WFC than men in those positions. Our analysis is based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). Using the Siegrist instrument on effort-reward imbalance we find that women in highly qualified positions perceive higher WFC than men. This association is explained by women’s lower willingness to take risks, and also party explained by lower job rewards women receive. It gets visible even more strongly if women’s lower time-based burdens in the job are controlled for. Mixed results are observed concerning associations between family responsibilities and WFC, which is in line with ambivalent results in the literature.

Keywords: Work-to-family conflict; highly qualified positions; managers; gender; SOEP (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B54 I3 M1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 p.
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-gen
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Do Women in Highly Qualified Positions Face Higher Work-To-Family Conflicts in Germany than Men? (2017)
Working Paper: Do Women in Highly Qualified Positions Face Higher Work-to-Family Conflicts in Germany Than Men? (2017)
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