“Jill of all Trades, Master of None?” Exploring Multiple Role Conflict among Women Working from Home during COVID-19

Page: 465-472
Daryanani Riddhi Navin, Priyansha Gupta, Sai Chandana Mukkamala, and Akriti Srivastava (Department of Psychology, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, Karnataka)

During a disease outbreak, it is well known that marginalized groups, such as women, are affected the most. This is no different for the COVID-19 pandemic. In India especially, women engage more in household and childcare responsibilities than men and working women are currently experiencing a greater burden as they are required to work from home and manage these different roles at once, leading to multiple role conflict (MRC). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of multiple role conflicts among women working from home in joint and nuclear families during the COVID-19 pandemic in urban India. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on six women working from home in joint families and four from nuclear families. Thematic analysis was used and the themes were compared between both family structures. Participants from both family structures were found to share similar psychological consequences as a result of the role conflict. But, women from nuclear families reported a lack of moral support contrary to joint families. This study sheds light on the need for the provision of education, facilities and supports particularly by family development planners, therapists and organizations to aid women working from home in the pandemic.