WORK-HOME ROLE CONFLICT OF FEMALE ADMINISTRATORS IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE CENTRAL AND GREATER ACCRA REGIONS OF GHANA. by Janet A. Koomson. (PhD)

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY  In Ghana, female professionals have two roles to perform: 1.primary role – domestic responsibilities 2. secondary role - professional duties

Domestic responsibilities  Child bearing and rearing responsibilities  Domestic tasks - care of husband - child care - cleaning - cooking - washing of clothing - taking care of the sick etc.

Professional duties  Headmistress  Assistant Headmistress  Senior Housemistress  Subject Teacher In Senior High Schools

Balancing these two roles might bring about a dilemma for the female administrator as conflict of loyalty often arises. With such conflicts, the administrator is bound to falter in one or the other of her roles, which might affect her productivity and output.

WHAT IS WORK- HOME ROLE CONFLICT?  Thompson (2003) defined role conflict as the extent to which experiences in the work role result in diminished performance in the family role. This definition explicitly recognizes that work-family conflict represents cross-role interference in performance  Greenhaus and Bentell (1985) define work home conflict as a form of inter-role inconsistency in which the role pressures from work and home domains are mutually incompatible in some respect.

Statement of the problem  Considering the problems of African women as they work outside the home, the study examined whether female administrators experienced any conflicts as they tried to balance their professional duties with their home responsibilities.

Research Questions  Is there an existence of work-home role conflict? What is the nature of the conflict?  What are the problems that work- home role conflict creates?  How do the problems of work- home role conflict affect administrator effectiveness and work output?

Research Questions-cont’d  How do the problems of work-home role conflict affect household responsibilities of the female administrator?  How do the school administrators manage work-home role conflict?

Hypothesis  Ho: There is no significant difference of work-home role conflict for the Headmistress, the Assistant Headmistress, and the Senior Housemistress.  H 1 There is a significant difference in work-home role conflict for the Headmistress, the Assistant Headmistress, and the Senior Housemistress.

Research Design  A descriptive survey -Hypothesis formulation and testing -Analysis of relationships between non-manipulative variables.

Sample. Headmistress- 18 Assistant Headmistress- 37 Senior Housemistress- 25

 RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Research Question 1: Is there an existence of work-home role conflict? What is the nature of the conflict?  That there was a work-home role conflict was evident from the findings. Majority of respondents had difficulty combining administrative work with home duties.

Table 1:Difficulty in Combining Administrative Work with Home Responsibility PositionResponseFrequency% Headmistress Total Often No Assistant Headmistress Total Often No Senior housemistress Often No Total

Nature of Conflict  The nature of the conflict was such that, majority of female administrators will abandon their home responsibilities for their administrative work (see Table 2). This means that if the administrator has to make a choice, she would choose administrative work against household duties.

Table 2: Abandoning Household Work for Administrative Duties ResponseNo.% Often Seldom Total

Research Question 2: What are the problems that work-home role conflict creates? There was evidence that work-home role conflict created three main problems.  Periods of fatigue,  Periods of emotional exhaustion  Excessive time demands for both administrative and household chores

Table 3: Problems of Work-Home Role Conflict Periods of Fatigue Periods of Emotional Exhaustion Excessive Time Demands Often Seldom No % Often Seldom No % No % Often Seldom No % Headmistress Assistant Headmistress Senior Housemistress

Research Question 3: How do the problems of work-home role conflict affect administrator effectiveness and work output? TT hat the problems of work-home role conflict affect administrative effectiveness and output was evidenced from the study. AA n examination of the Table 4 indicates that, majority of respondents (63.0%) listed various effects of the problems of the conflict on administrative effectiveness and work output.

Table 4: Effects of Problems of Work-home role Conflict on Administrative Effectiveness Effects)No% Administrative work has to be deferred or slowed down Stressful and lack of concentration Too tired therefore neglect duties56.3 Do extra time to finish uncompleted administrative work45.0 Not available for consultation by students and teachers33.8 Leaving administrative work undone to care for sick child33.8 Late for work33.8

Table 4 Continued: EffectsNo% No good supervision therefore teachers may shirk responsibilities33.8 Delegate duties22.5 Does not affect work Total 80100

Research Question 4: How do the problems of work-home role conflict affect household responsibilities of the female administrator? II t was evident from the study that the problems of work-home role conflict not only affect administrative work but also household duties of the female administrator (see Table 5).

Table 5: Effects of Work-home Role Conflict on Home Responsibilities EffectsNo% Less responsibilities Husband and children are neglected. No quality time with them Have to abandon household chores and attend to students Household problems are left for husband and children to solve45.0 Abandon sick child and attend to administrative work22.5 Household chores are left in the hands of house helps11.3 Total80100

Research Question 5: How do the school administrators manage work-home conflict? FF rom the study it was realized that female administrators have found various ways and strategies, though not very successfully, at managing work home role conflict.

Table 6: Management of Work- home Role Conflict StrategyFrequency% Planning Pursuing leisure Help from house helps, children, husband and students Delegation of duties78.8

Table 6 Continued: StrategyFrequency% Distinction between administrative and household responsibilities Bulking cooking and storing78.8 Praying and reading the word of God 56.3 Use of time and labour saving devices 22.5

Table 6 Continued: StrategyFrequency% Doing most household chores during the weekends 22.5 Bulk purchasing11.3 Eating well11.3 Working late or early in the day 11.3 No response33.8 Total

HYPOTHESIS  Ho: There is no significant difference of work- home role conflict for the Headmistress, the Assistant Headmistress, and the Senior Housemistress.  H 1 There is a significant difference in work- home role conflict for the Headmistress, the Assistant Headmistress, and the Senior Housemistress.

Chi- Square Test Result Value dfAsymp Sig (2- sided) Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear –by- Linear Association N of Valid Cases 80

Reporting on hypothesis  Using 3x2 Independent Pearson Chi- square, (N=80, 2) =1.693,α = 0.429, there is no statistically significant difference among the headmistress, assistant headmistress and senior mistress in relation to work-home role conflict.  Thus the null hypothesis cannot be rejected.

CONCLUSIONS  Work-home role conflict exists, as women administrators try to balance administrative work with household activities  Work-home role conflict creates problems for female administrators  The problems of work-home role conflict affect their work output.

RECOMMENDATIONS  Female administrators should go through formal training in educational administration, as this will expose them to effective management skills in the performance of their duties.  Allowances and incentive packages should be provided for female administrators. Allowances for house helps should not only be given to Heads of schools, but also to Assistant Headmistresses and Senior Housemistresses  The reduction of teaching periods for Assistant Headmistresses and Senior House Mistresses

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