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Work, Family, and Organizational Advancement: Does Balance Support the Perceived Advancement of Mothers?

Sex Roles volume 61, pages 879–891 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Following expansionist (Barnett and Hyde 2001) and enrichment (Greenhaus and Powell 2006) theories of work and family, the current study explores the beneficial effects of work-family balance. Survey responses from a nationally representative U.S. sample (N = 3,504; 53.5% male, 46.5% female) indicate that the extent to which individuals’ home lives positively affect their work lives is positively related to their perceived advancement. Contrary to hypotheses, these effects were similar for women and men suggesting that men benefit from work-family balance as much as women. However, compared to fathers, mothers who experienced positive spillover did not perceive greater opportunities for advancement, suggesting that positive aspects of the work-family interface may not overcome all the challenges to mothers’ perceived advancement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MSN 3F5, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Eden B. King

  2. College of Business, University of Houston-Downtown, 320 N. Main Street, Houston, TX, 77002, USA

    Whitney E. Botsford

  3. Department of Psychology, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 15106, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011-5036, USA

    Ann H. Huffman

Authors
  1. Eden B. King
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  2. Whitney E. Botsford
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  3. Ann H. Huffman
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Correspondence to Eden B. King.

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King, E.B., Botsford, W.E. & Huffman, A.H. Work, Family, and Organizational Advancement: Does Balance Support the Perceived Advancement of Mothers?. Sex Roles 61, 879–891 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9692-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-009-9692-7

Keywords

  • Work and family
  • Organizational advancement
  • Mothers
  • Maternal wall