Predictors of Work-life Balance for Women Entrepreneurs in the North-

East Region of Romania

Dan Dumitru Ionescu, PhD Candidate

Alina Măriuca Ionescu, PhD

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi

4th Edition of International Symposium “Advancing socio-economic research” VIRTUAL EDITION

15th-16th of May 2015

Aim

to investigate the factors that influence the work-life balance of female entrepreneurs in the North-East Region of Romania

2

Structure

A short discussion about the particularities of work-life relationship at women entrepreneurs

Methodological issues

Results

Concluding remarks

Work-life balance

is „… about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society”

(Pocock, 2005)

Based on societal norms

Men

may concentrate on career they are not expected to participate in

household and child care breadwinners

According to societal norms

Women

must focus on family care must take a big part of responsibilities

related to household, cooking and upbringing and education of children

their participation in family life is often seen as more important than work

their involvement at the workplace „must not” affect family life

Work-life disturbance

is the result of a conflict situation between job demands and personal life duties

Female entrepreneurs: Work demands

Time requirements (number of working hours)

Requirements related to an imposed schedule the degree to which the type of business and its management

organization require a less flexible schedule

Demands resulting from meeting company’s needs financial support and business management

Responsibilities to employees

Emotional requirements need to succeed professionally, need to prove their value as

entrepreneurs, need to establish themselves as successful business women

Female entrepreneurs:Personal life demands

Parental demands parental status, no. of children, children’s age, share

of child care, time dedicated to childcare

Demands that appear in relation with marital status

Household responsibilities share of house work, time given to household duties

Caretaking of the elderly or other dependents no. of dependents, time given to caretaking of

dependents

Free time demands

Requirements concerning carrying out complementary activities to work to continue studies

to develop a talent/hobby

Emotional requirements need to have attention of family members

need of affection and support of the close ones

Female entrepreneurs:Personal life demands

Female entrepreneursFactors that help to improve work-life balance

In the workplaceautonomy flexibility

In personal life family and other close people

support

Methodological issues

Sample 50 women entrepreneurs active in the

North-East Region of Romania

Variables referring to: perceptions of own work-life balance home life work situation factors of social nature factors of psychological nature

Methodological issues:Work-life balance

perceptions of own work-life balance Work-life balance was measured by a score

given by respondents on a scale from 0 to 10 (0 – totally misbalanced, 10 – perfect balance) to balance between their professional life (work) and personal life (family, home, free time, etc.)

Methodological issues:Predictors of work-life balance

home life marital status; no. of children; no. of dependants;

no. of hours spent on household activities

work situation no. of employees; no. of hours spent at work

factors of social nature different conflict situations that may appear

between demands at home and at work

factors of psychological nature inner feelings that appear as a result of different

conflicts between work and personal life demands

Methodological issues

Methods:

Descriptive statistics

Analysis of correlation Pearson coefficient

Analysis of correspondences Correspondences maps χ2 statistic

Predictors of work-life balance

There could not be identified a relationship between variables describing woman entrepreneur’s home condition or work condition and her work-life balance

A higher concentration of scores of 8, 9 and 10 could be noted among women entrepreneurs with no children or having only one child in their care

All Pearson correlation coefficients have values in the interval (-0.2; 0) => inverse and weak relationships between the considered factors and work-life balance

There could not be identified a relationship

Between:the frequency by which women entrepreneur fail to fulfil their social obligations due to work

the frequency by which household activities of woman entrepreneur are interrupted by work-related phone calls

the frequency of appearance of the feeling of being torn between work and personal life demands

the frequency of appearance of the feeling of worrying of a woman entrepreneur related to work issues when she is at home

and work-life balance score

There is a relationship:

between the degree to which working hours of a woman entrepreneur match family and social commitments

between the frequency with which it occurs to feel the tension at home related to the amount of time spent at work

and work-life balance score

Concluding remarks

Particularly for entrepreneurs, there are additional factors that intervene in the relationship between work and life:

they need a higher working time than that of employees,

bear the responsibility of those they employed,

but also experience positive effects such as independence, autonomy, and flexibility.

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Concluding remarks

In the specific case of women entrepreneurs, an important aspect of work-life relationship is the work-family conflict, more pronounced than for men entrepreneurs, because of the roles assumed by most of women that are deeply rooted in social consciousness, i.e. assuming major responsibilities on childcare and housework.

The results show that it is not so much the amount of household duties and care putting a pressure on women entrepreneurs that produces disequilibrium of their work-life balance but the conflicts perceived by them between the demands of the two dimensions of their lives (professional and personal life) 20

Thank you!