Work-family conflict in Indian academic context

Pages: 150-153
Shayani Sengupta and Rama Shankar Yadav (Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh)

This study aims to explore the understanding of the concept of work-family conflict among teachers in the Indian academic context. Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate the meaning, antecedents and consequences of work-family conflict. Further, the roles of organizations, co-workers and government to reduce work-family conflict were also analyzed. A sample of 13 teachers from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh was drawn. Content and thematic analyses of the responses were done. It was revealed from the interviews that the majority of the participants perceived work-family conflict as a state of misbalance between work and family domains. The major antecedents of work-family conflict include scarcity of time and mismatch of personal ambitions, expectations from others and role ambiguity. The major consequences of work-place are stress, discontentment, alienation from family and work, lack of work-life balance. The study ultimately suggests possible methods to reduce work family conflict at four level, Government level, organizational level, colleague level and self level.