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Women in Business-owning Families: a Comparison of Roles, Responsibilities and Predictors of Family Functionality

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare groups of women associated with family businesses and ascertain predictors of functionality. The sample consisted of 589 women divided into five groups based on their roles in the business. Of interest were various combinations of work at home, in the family business, and outside the business and how multiple roles affect the family. The women varied on several characteristics with female business managers less likely to be married than other women and generally operating smaller businesses. The women were not significantly different on levels of family functioning. Family goal success, satisfaction with business role, and being married were positive significant predictors of family functionality. Higher levels of household tension were negatively associated with family functionality. Family therapists and family business consultants must be cognizant of the multiple role responsibilities of women associated with a family firm.

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Acknowledgements

This paper reports results from the Cooperative Regional Research Project, NE-167R, “Family Businesses: Interaction in Work and Family Spheres,” partially supported by the Cooperative States Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES); U.S. Department of Agriculture; the experiment stations at University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Illinois, Purdue University (Indiana), Iowa State University, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Montana State University, University of Nebraska, Cornell University (New York), North Dakota State University, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas A & M University, Utah State University, University of Vermont, and University of Wisconsin-Madison; and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (for the University of Manitoba).

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  1. Department of Child Development and Family Science, North Dakota State University, 283 EML Hall, Fargo, ND, 58105, USA

    Candace A. Philbrick & Margaret A. Fitzgerald

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  1. Candace A. Philbrick
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  2. Margaret A. Fitzgerald
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Correspondence to Candace A. Philbrick.

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Philbrick, C.A., Fitzgerald, M.A. Women in Business-owning Families: a Comparison of Roles, Responsibilities and Predictors of Family Functionality. J Fam Econ Iss 28, 618–634 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-007-9084-5

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