Coping with Conflict between Professional and Maternal RolesAuthor(s): Lucia A. Gilbert, Carole Kovalic Holahan, Linda ManningReviewed work(s):Source: Family Relations, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Jul., 1981), pp. 419-426Published by: National Council on Family RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/584037 .Accessed: 22/03/2012 13:16

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Coping with Conflict Between Professional and Maternal Roles*

LUCIA A. GILBERT, CAROLE KOVALIC HOLAHAN, AND LINDA MANNING**

This study investigated how 22 female parents in dual-career families view several elements of their professional and maternal roles and compared the effectiveness of two strategies for dealing with conflict between these roles. As predicted, role con- flict is experienced when the various role elements are perceived as nearly equal in importance. Contrary to expectations, subjects using a role redefinition strategy did not differ from subjects using a role expansion strategy in self-reports of role conflict and coping effectiveness. These results are explained in terms of internal guilt from perceived neglect of the maternal role. The implications of these findings for profes- sionals working with dual-career couples or teaching in this area are discussed and a four-step model to assist women in dual-career families in dealing with their role con- flict is presented.

An increasing number of educated women are attempting to combine a professional career with marriage and child-rearing. Such women are trying to follow a cooperative or dual-career life style (Westervelt, 1973) in which career continuity occurs for both spouses. This pattern contrasts with the more traditional patterns in which the woman's career development is deferred, interrupted, or not pursued.

The cooperative style was of particular interest since we were concerned with how

*This study was supported by a grant from the Hogg Foun- dation for Mental Health, University of Texas at Austin. Appre- ciation is expressed to Marguerite Ponder for her assistance in several aspects of this research.

**Lucia A. Gilbert is Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712; Carole K, Holahan is a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Research in Women, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305; Linda Manning is a Doctoral Candidate, Counseling Psychology Program, University of Texas, Austin 78712.

Key Concepts: attitudes toward women, coping strategies, conflict, dual-career families, life satisfaction, roles, self- esteem

(Family Relations, 1981, 30, 419-426.)

women in dual-career families with children deal with conflicts that occur when they try to fulfill the roles of full-time professional and full-time parent. The term career, although sometimes used to indicate any kind of work, is defined here as those jobs which require a high degree of commitment and which have a continuous developmental character.

Previous research on dual-career families indicates that conflicts between professional and parental roles are especially stressful for the female spouse (Bryson & Bryson, 1978; Heckman, Bryson & Bryson, 1977; Holahan & Gilbert, 1979, Johnson & Johnson, 1976). Although the antecedents and consequences of such role conflict are well-documented (Booth, 1977; Burke & Weir, 1976; Millman, 1971), effective ways of handling it is much less understood. In addition, previous researchers have focused on time demands and have assumed that role conflict would not exist if people had enough time or could set priorities for their time commitments to various roles. Thus, the role strain discussed by Goode (1962) and others typically refers to problems with competing but fluctuating roles, i.e., situations where the roles tend to

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be discontinuous in time and to involve less commitment to one role than to the other(s).

An alternate and more compelling view is that role conflict emerges when an individual simultaneously needs to meet the demands of disparate and highly salient roles (Seiber, 1974). Thus the assistant professor of nuclear physics at a major university wants to publish the papers needed to obtain tenure, but at the same time she wants to devote energy to the rearing of a preschool child. Neither can wait-the tenure decision will be made in those same years that the child will grow older. Southall (1959) uses the term "role proliferation" to describe the kind of situation in which the individual encounters, and seeks to fulfill, several disparate and disassociated roles. Such proliferation, by definition, re- quires deep commitment to two or more roles that constantly pose competitive concerns and demands and that are synchronous and continuous in time.

The present study investigated how female parents in dual-career families view several elements of their professional and parental roles and compared the effectiveness of two strategies for dealing with conflict between these roles. In addition, subjects using each strategy were compared on personality and attitudinal variables typically associated with the experience of role conflict (Holahan & Gilbert, 1979).

To investigate the view that role conflict stems from role proliferation, four role elements were considered: legitimacy, mean- ing, personal relevance, and influence from others. These elements are adapted from the work of Gross, Mason, and McEachern (1958) who assume that conflict between roles occurs when the norms or behavior patterns of one role are inconsistent with those of a second role of the actor. It was anticipated that the women in our sample would rate the professional and maternal roles as high on all four elements. To investigate how they coped with conflicts between the maternal and professional roles, their strategies were coded using a modified version of a model developed by Hall (1972). Hall postulated three coping strategies that represent an intervention in the role process at each of the three levels (structurally given demands,

personal role conceptions, and role behavior) described by Levinson (1959). Because of the small sample size and the nature of the role conflict studied in our research, two coping strategies were examined rather than the three postulated by Hall. These were Role Redefinition and Role Expansion. Role Redefinition encompasses Hall's Types I and 11 coping and includes strategies in which changes in demands occur, either internally or in negotiation with others; Role Expansion encompasses Type IlIl and involves attempts to meet all role demands. On the basis of previous research (Hall, 1972), we anticipated that the women in the Role Redefinition group would report lower conflict between their professional and maternal roles and higher conflict resolution than would those in the Role Expansion group. Both groups were expected to view the conflicts between their professional and maternal roles as highly representative of the kinds of conflict experienced in this stage of their lives.

Method

Subjects and Procedures

A sample of 60 women was selected at ran- dom from a list of married women employed at a large southwestern university who had Master's or higher degrees and were employed full-time at a position commen- surate with their educational level. Each woman was mailed a copy of the research questionnaire. Assuming that these women were members of dual-career couples, their spouses were also mailed copies of the questionnaire. Although this assumption was verified by female subjects' responses, too few males responded to include them in the study. Thus only the data from women are reported. Subjects' responses were anony- mous.

Questionnaires were returned by 42 females (70% response rate). Of these, 24 were parents. Because our purpose was to study conflicts between the professional and parental roles, only responses from those 22 women who had a child living at home were relevant. (One respondent was expecting a first child and one no longer had a child residing in the home.) The average number of

420 FAMILY RELATIONS July 1981

children in these families was 2.2, the average number of years of the women's professional employment was 10.80, and the average number of years married to present partner was 13.90.

Measures

Elements of professional and maternal roles. Subjects first wrote about a personal example of a conflict between their profes- sional and maternal roles. They then des- cribed separately the maternal and profes- sional sides of this role conflict situation and rated each role (side) on (a) degree of legiti- macy of expectations for role behavior held by various people or groups, (b) degree of personal meaning derived from meeting role demands, (c) the degree of personal reward associated with the role, and (d) degree of influence felt from others for meeting role demands. Responses were made on 7-point scales with higher scores being associated with greater endorsement of the four role elements.

Degree and representativeness of role con- flict. A 7-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very) was used to respond to the questions: "How much of a conflict did this situation present for you?"; "In general, how satisfactory is the state of resolution of this kind of conflict for you?"; and "Is this particular example representative of the kind of interrole conflicts you typically experience at this stage in your life?"

Strategies for dealing with role conflict. Subjects were asked to respond to the open-ended question, "How did you deal with this conflict and what did you eventually do?" They also were urged to provide additional relevant information.

Responses to the strategies question were coded with a modified version of the model developed by Hall (1972). One of two strategies was coded for each subject's response, role redefinition or role expansion. Role redefinition was defined as altering external, structurally imposed expectations or changing one's own expectations and behav- ior in a given situation. Role expansion was defined as meeting all the role demands experienced. Responses were coded inde- pendently by two raters. A 95% rate of

agreement was obtained. Examples of coded responses are provided below.

Example of the Role Redefinition Strategy

Conflict area: Taking child to mid-day dentist appointment when committee meet- ing is scheduled, only to wait and wait.

Side 1 [Professional]: I'd just been appoint- ed to the committee. We were to make deci- sions for directions for the rest of the year.

Side2 [Maternal]: Child needing drilling for first time and is frightened. Although we discussed it, she was still scared.

Other information: New job, lots of pres- sure to prove good at it; had not asked spouse to do doctor visits or dentist visits before.

Solution: Talked with spouse and he did it, making up the time he took off on the weekend.

Perfect solution: Reschedule dentist.

Example of the Role Expansion Strategy

Conflict area: Being concerned over some work pressure (for example, classes went lousy, an article was rejected). I will be unsympathetic, just not have the required caring for the kids' emotional concerns.

Side 1 [Professional]: I need to have evidence of success and fast.

Side 2 [Maternal]: Kids need me as a caring listener, supporter, etc.

Solution: It recurs-I hang in there. Perfect solution: To be always successful,

happy, well rested, well fed, etc. Career commitment. Subjects used a

7-point scale which ranged from 1 (very low) to 7 (very high) to indicate "How committed are you to your profession?" and "How high are your aspirations in regard to professional recognition and achievement?"

Spouse's support. Subjects indicated on a 7-point scale (a) how favorable their spouse's attitude is toward their being a professional, (b) the degree of emotional support provided by their spouse for their professional work, and (c) how positive their spouse feels about their degree of commitment to their profes- sional work. High scores on these items are associated with favorable spouse attitudes.

Life satisfaction from each major role. How much satisfaction subjects received from their professional and maternal roles also was

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rated on a 7-point scale with high scores indicating high life satisfaction.

Self-esteem (SE). Self-esteem was mea- sured by nine items drawn from a study by Bachman, Kahn, Davidson, and Johnston (1967). Responses were made on a 7-point scale with high scores indicating high self-esteem. A representative item is "I take a positive attitude toward myself." Cronbach's alpha for the 9-item scale was .84.

Attitudes toward roles of women scale. This 5-item measure concerned the roles of women and men. A representative item is "Professional develoment is as essential to women as it is to men." Responses were made on a 7-point scale which ranged from 1 (disagree completely) to 7 (agree completely). High scores on the scale are associated with more liberal attitudes. Cronbach alpha for the 5-item scale was .64.

Demographic variables. Information was also gathered about the number of hours per week devoted to profession, number of years of professional employment, number of years in present profession, age and number of children, and number of years married to present spouse.

Results

Ratings of the elements of the professional and maternal roles were compared by t-tests for correlated means. One-way analysis of variance procedures were used to test for

differences between the Role Redefinition and Role Expansion groups. Since the correlations among the various dependent measures were typically low, each measure was treated as a separate variable in these analyses.

Elements of Professional and Maternal Roles

An overall picture of how subjects view this role conflict situation is provided by the ratings they assigned to the four elements of the maternal and professional roles. As can be seen from Table 1, the underlying conflict is highlighted by the strikingly similar ratings for the maternal and professional roles. The one possible exception is the personal reward rating which was somewhat higher for the maternal role than for the professional role. This difference, however, was not statistically significant.

Table 1 Ratings by Ail Women on the Elements

of the Professional (PR) and Maternal (MA) Roles in a Conflict Situation

Side 1 Side 2 Elements (PR) (MA)

Legitimacy 6.43 6.21 Meaning 6.15 6.23 Reward 5.78 6.33 Influence from others 4.00 4.12

Note: Items are rated on a 7-point scale. Higher scores are associated with higher values of each variable.

Table 2 Comparisons of Attitudinal, Personality, and Role Conflict Variables for Women

Employing Different Strategies for Coping with Conflict Between Professional (PR) and Maternal (MA) Roles

Strategy Role Redefinition Role Expansion

(n = 12) (n = 10) F

Self-Esteem 6.00 5.64 < 1.00 Attitudes Toward Women's Roles 6.76 7.00 2.25 Spouse Support 6.40 7.00 6.00* Degree of Commitment 6.00 5.60 < 1.00 Aspiration Level 5.80 5.20 < 1.00 PR Role Life Satisfaction 5.60 6.00 < 1.00 MA Role Life Satisfaction 5.40 6.80 6.53* Degree of PR vs. MA Role Conflict 5.20 5.60 < 1.00 How representative is this kind

of conflict? 6.00 5.40 < 1.00 State of Resolution 5.20 4.20 < 1.00

Note: All scores are reported in terms of a 7-point scale. Higher scores are associated with higher values of each variable.

*p < .05.

422 FAMILY RELATIONS July 1981

Comparison of Coping Strategies

The second purpose of the study was to compare individuals employing a role restruc- turing strategy to deal with conflicts between their professional and maternal roles with those using a role expansion strategy. As can be seen from Table 2, both groups considered the example they had provided as highly representative of the kind of conflict typically experienced in this area (5.70 on a 7-point scale). The degree of conflict resolution was somewhat higher and the level of conflict slightly lower for the Role Redefinition group than for the Role Expansion group, as antici- pated. However, neither of these differences reach statistical significance.

Both groups described themselves as high in self-esteem, as holding very liberal atti- tudes toward the roles of women, as having high aspiration levels and high professional commitment, and as obtaining a high level of satisfaction from the professional role. In fact, the only significant differences between the two groups were in regard to spouse support and maternal-role life satisfaction. Although both groups reported high support and satisfaction, the Role Expansion group reported higher support (p = .04) and satis- faction (p = .03) than did the Role Redefini- tion group. In addition, the Role Expansion group rated the maternal role (6.80) somewhat higher in life satisfaction than the profes- sional role (6.00) whereas the Role Redefini- tion group rated the two roles more equally (professional =5.60, maternal = 5.40).

Comparisons of responses by the two strategy groups on the elements of the professional and maternal roles resulted in one consistent difference: the Role Expan- sion group attributed significantly higher legitimacy to the role demands of both the professional and maternal roles than did the Role Redefinition group. The Role Expansion group also attributed significantly greater meaning to the maternal role than did the Role Redefinition group. Of the four role elements considered, both groups considered "influence from others" much less important than the other three elements (see Table 3).

Discussion

The results suggest that this group of high self-esteem, liberal-minded, career-motivated women derive high life satisfaction from their professional and maternal roles. Clearly, the life style of women in dual-career families can be very rewarding. At the same time, consid- erable stress is caused by conflicts between their professional and maternal roles. As one respondent noted, however, this stress is not necessarily debilitating.

"Of course there are conflicts as you at- tempt to finish law school with two children and a third on the way. Of course you're tired as you attempt to nurse your new baby, pre- pare dinner for a tired commuter husband, put cranky little ones to bed and study for an all- important exam. Again, the only way to survive is to be as flexible as possible about goals, maintain a sense of humor, and have

Table 3 Comparisons of Role Element Ratings by Women Employing Different Strategies for

Coping with Conflict Between Professional (PR) and Maternal (MA) Roles

Strategy Role Redefinition Role Expansion

(n = 12) (n = 10) F

Professional Role Legitimacy 5.00 7.00 < 10.00** Meaning 5.80 6.60 1.60 Reward 5.80 5.75 < 1.00 Influence from others 4.00 4.00 < 1.00

Maternal Role Legitimacy 5.60 7.00 12.25 * Meaning 5.80 6.80 5.56* Reward 6.00 6.75 1.30 Influence from others 4.60 3.50 < 1.00

Note: Items were rated on a 7-point scale. Higher scores are associated with higher values of each variable.

*p < .05. **P < .01.

July 1981 FAMILY RELATIONS 423

strong faith in the grace of God. / sometimes shock my students by saying that my children were and are terribly valuable to me. Having children forces one to grow up oneself and makes one a better person, lawyer, teacher, etc. " These findings are consistent with Sieber's (1974) view that for professional women the increased role conflict caused by role accumulation can be more than offset by the increased resources and privileges and the enhanced sense of personal worth accrued from the professional role.

The women in our sample reported a high commitment to both their maternal and professional roles and experienced the demands from the two roles as simultaneous and continuous in time. Thus the dual-career life style brings a different set of stresses to career mothers than to working mothers who typically hold a lower commitment to the work role than to the maternal role (Holahan & Gilbert, 1979), or to mothers who are not combining the work role with their maternal role. Two possible sources of this stress are lack of experience and attitudes.

Women choosing the dual-career life style, although well trained to handle conflicts arising from the professional role, may not be as well prepared to deal with conflicts arising from family roles. The fact that responses from women in both the Role Redefinition and Role Expansion groups consistently des- cribed demands and expectations of the maternal role, and not those of the professional role, supports this possibility. Secondly, professional women often may not recognize the degree to which they them- selves, their spouses, and/or society still hold traditional views about the maternal role (Lott, 1973). For example, the Role Redefini- tion group, unlike the Role Expansion group, made comments such as "general guilty feeling about not being a good parent" and "not spending enough time with my child- ren."

This guilt does not seem to result from explicit societal pressures since both groups, it will be recalled, rated "influence from others" as low when considering the two sides of the role conflict. Rather, the guilt feelings appear to stem from an internal value

system that these women may no longer agree with at a cognitive level, but still react to at an emotional level.

The unexpectedly high role conflict report- ed by the Role Redefinition group appears to be related to this unresolved guilt. The Role Redefinition group was older and more established in their careers than the Role Expansion group. Thus, women in the Role Redefinition group may have learned to give up "doing everything" and to redefine their role expectations in order to meet their professional aspirations. In the process, however, they may have eliminated or limited some parenting functions that they still believe (at least on an emotional level) they should be performing, resulting in consider- able internal guilt from neglecting aspects of their maternal role. The significantly lower satisfaction that the Role Redefinition group derived from the parental role and, as noted above, the content and focus of their open-ended responses are consistent with this explanation.

New child-rearing practices which focus on the importance of indirect discipline and emotional support for the development of well-adjusted children (Johnson & Johnson, 1977) may also contribute to feelings of guilt. For example, two-thirds of the professional women sampled by Johnson and Johnson (1976) attributed their role conflict to guilt and fatigue centering on the maternal role. Com- ments from women in our study strongly suggest that they too accept this model of child rearing. As one respondent emphasized, "Young children and teenagers need parents who are available, attentive, and who can be interrupted." Another stated, "Kids need me as a caring listener and supporter."

In addition, the unresolved emotional aspects of role redefinition may lead to un- realistic self-expectations concerning the ma- ternal role that, perhaps, are more demanding than the expectations of the children involved. An example is the mother who described a conflict in which she felt the need to be at home when her children returned from school and also felt the need to attend late afternoon meetings. She remarked, "Yes, there are two sides to the parenting question: our perceptions of what our children want and

424 FAMILY RELATIONS July 1981

need and theirs." When asked how she resolved this conflict, the mother confided that her youngest child had recently asked to go to an after-school nursery several days a week to play with her friends. Obviously, the need for "the mother" to be at home every afternoon grew out of the mother's expecta- tions, not the daughter's.

Finally, as expected, individuals employing the Role Expansion strategy reported high role conflict. The problems this group faces are summed up by the respondent who, when asked for a perfect solution to her conflicts, replied, "Create forty-hour days." One is left wondering, however, how long this kind of role expansion can continue, particularly if these women believe they "should" be able to meet all their role demands and, in the long run, become more harried than happy. Implications for Women in Dual-Career Families

Generalizations from our study are, of course, limited by the composition of the sample, the small sample size, and the validity of self-reported data. Nonetheless our findings are important to understanding some of the conflicts experienced by women in dual-career families.

First of all, women choosing a dual-career life style may not be prepared for the conficts arising from their deep-rooted value systems regarding the maternal role. Thus, regardless of the coping strategy employed, high stress due to role conflict may occur. In addition, their value systems may remain untested until a professional role is assumed or a child enters the family constellation. That is, women may think they have redefined their maternal role, when in actuality they have not. As Bernard (1975) states so well, "Political and economic issues are one thing; role redefinition is something quite different. It is easier for working women to accept the feminist position in the outside world than it is in the world of the family. It is easier to be for equal pay than for equality vis-a-vis husbands" (p. 188). Further complicating the situation are societal views about who should do the parenting (Lott, 1973) and inadequate community-based facilities that could per- form various parental role functions (Holm- strom, 1973).

Guidelines for Professionals Working with Dual-Career Families

Professionals working directly with dual- career families or teaching in the area cannot change the reality of their clients' or students' world. They can, however, help the women (and men) undertaking this life style to gain a more accurate understanding and assess- ment of their role conflicts so that they can act to change others, themselves, or their own adverse environmental conditions.

A four-step process might be used to assist dual-career women:

1. They should be encouraged to recognize and differentiate internal and external aspects of their role conflict both at the societal level and within their own family. External factors include employer's perceptions of the two- career family, job flexibility, opportunities for career advancement, and spouse support for the wife's professional role. Relevant internal factors are self-confidence, attitudes about life roles, and degree of career commitment.

2. They should be encouraged to evaluate the influence of social roles and norms on their personal experience and to recognize the relationship between sociological and psy- chological factors. This could take the form of helping dual-career women differentiate be- tween what they have been taught and accepted as socially appropriate for them- selves from what might actually be appro- priate. Such differentiation would be particu- larly crucial in regard to the duties and expec- tations of the maternal role. For example, do these women and/or their spouses view mothering as more important than fathering? Are their husbands and other family members supporting their role expansion or contribu- ting to their guilt about neglecting the obligations of the maternal role? Is parenting considered their purview by themselves or others?

3. Individuals in dual-career families should be asked what they consider to be major and minor parental role responsibilities. (A comprehensive list of parental role responsi- bilities is available from the first author.) They should further indicate (a) who should fulfill each responsibility-they themselves, their spouses, other family members, societal agents, etc., and (b) how willing and/or able

July 1981 FAMILY RELATIONS 425

these designated individuals or community agencies are to fulfill the responsibility. This process, by making crucial aspects of the parental role more clear, will in turn facilitate realistic role redefinitions. Spouses' willing- ness to participate in parenting will also be- come apparent, as will their own willingness to delegate certain parental responsibilities to spouses or to various societal institutions (e.g., the school, church) and community- based facilities (e.g., day-care centers).

4. Dual-career families should be educated about existing facilities that could assume certain parental role responsibilities. If few reliable facilities exist, innovative ways to meet the demands of the parental role could be explored. Establishing alternate child-care facilities that more adequately meet the needs of their life style without detracting from the quality of the parenting role is one possibility. In addition, because the dual-career life style reflects structural and value shifts at the individual and societal level, plans for appropriate collective and institutional solu- tions must also be fostered.

The four-step model proposed here could be accomplished through informal discus- sions, workshops, psychotherapy and coun- seling, or specially designed courses on role conflict and coping in dual-career families. Whatever the method, increased awareness and education in this area on the part of members of dual-career families and the professionals whose help they seek are crucial.

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