Conflict Segments of Women Employees of IT Sector in India: Its Relevance with the Demographic Profile

The growth rate for women entering the workforce is expected to be greater than for men. Therefore it is possible that the financial well-being of the family may no longer fall to the male, it may be shared between the two partners or may be the sole responsibility of a single parent. These trends potentially increase the chance that work could interfere with family (WIF) or that family could interfere with work (FIW).The study is conducted to test the Impact of Organizational Commitment, Job Autonomy, Job Involvement and Climate as moderating variables on Work Family Conflict of Employed women in India. The sample size of 598 is identified and with the application of statistical tools the relationship among the said variables are estimated and its role on the Work family conflict is studied quantitatively. DOI: 10.4018/jhcitp.2012010104 International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals, 3(1), 42-53, January-March 2012 43 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. little. Research has been done on the outcomes of such benefits in the work place. The literature on work family conflict has continued to evolve over the past two decades, focusing primarily on defining the construct and exploring its antecedents and consequences. Three recent meta analysis in work family conflict (Allen, Herst, Bruck, & Sutton, 2000; Kossek & Ozeki, 1998; 1999) indicated that few exceptions including Grover and Crooker (1995), Lambert (2000), O’Driscoll, Ilgen, and Hildreth (1992), and Wiley (1987). On the other hand, Indian software exporters presently lead the global outsourcing market (Friedman, 2006). To maintain position as a leader in the software industry, Indian firms have recognized the importance of human capital as a vital knowledge resource (Mathrani & Mathrani, 2011). An important issue that the Indian women employed in information technology sector are facing is the changing work and family roles. Because so many women occupy both work and family roles their experiences as paid workers wives, and mothers represent primary social contexts for examining women’s lives (McBride, 1990). With so many women engaged in multiple roles the effect that these social roles have on women’s well being is worth examining (Repetti, 1998a; Russo, 1990) Members of dual earner families and families with young children are more likely to experience work family conflict (Kelly & Voydanoff, 1985; Voydanoff, 1988)important shifts in family structure and accompanying demands needed to be considered (Voydanoff, 1988). The vast majority of this research has focused on “family “in the domain of non work examining the specific types of work /non work conflict; work /family conflict work family occurs when work pressures and family pressures occur at the same time such that compliance with pressures in one domain (e.g., work) makes it more difficult to comply with pressures in another domain (e.g., family). Most work family conflict research to date developed and tested antecedents and outcomes of work /family conflict (Frone et al., 1992; Frone et al., 1997; Grandey & Cropanzano, 1999; Greenhaus & Beutall, 1985; Kopelman et al., 1983). Kopelman et al. (1983) were among the first to systematically examine the construct of work family conflict. They began by defining three role conflict variables, work conflict, family conflict and interrole conflict. Work conflict is the extent to which one experiences incompatible role pressures with regard to family. Interrole conflict occurs when one experiences pressures of one role that are discordant with pressures in another role. Greenhaus and Beutall (1985) articulated three potential sources of work family conflict time based conflict strain based conflict and behavior based conflict. Profound social and demographic trends and elevating the need to understand and manage the interface between work and family. Researchers and practitioners have attempted to understand the nature of these changes discover their implications for work, families and individuals and policies to address associated problems. In addition several models have also been developed that incorporate antecedents and consequences of conflict between work and non work activities (Kopelman, Greenhaus, & Connolly, 1983; Bedeian, Burke, & Moffett, 1988).