Review of Literature
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter reviews several studies on role conflict, job satisfaction, career
orientation and quality of work life. These studies have been carried out in the last five
decades. As defined in the introduction chapter women in Indian context are generally
perceived as home makers than career borne ones. Thus the moment women have their
career aspiration that influences other variables like job satisfaction, role conflict and
quality of work life. The review of literature traces the evidences of the relationships
among those variables including other important demographic variables.
As stated in the introduction chapter about role conflict and its relationship with
other related variables it is evident that role conflict arises when women assume dual
roles as mother/housewife as well as a worker. Since many women occupy work and
have family roles too, their experiences at work and in the family have come to represent
primary social contexts in examining women‘s lives (McBride, 1990). Working women
loyalties, interests and aims differ between one place and the other and it demands two
different types of individuals (Shameer and Soloman, 1985). Today women function in all
multiple roles simultaneously operating both work and family domains as a mother, spouse,
housekeeper and as well as maintaining a full time job outside the home (Zedeck, 1992).
The relationships between these dual roles have thus become an interested area of
research among organizational researchers. In most of the studies conducted, researchers
have found that carrying out these dual roles often leads to family conflict among
women. The profound demographic trends have elevated the need to understand and
manage the interface between work and the family. (Fraser, 2001).
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2.1. Role Conflict
It is evident that our work lives can either enhance or detract our family lives.
In the same manner, our family lives can have positive or negative influences on our
work attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes. For example, extensive and inflexible work
hours, over-involvement in work, and job stress may produce distress within the family
domain, withdrawal from family responsibilities, and adversely affect one's overall
quality of life. Similarly, extensive care-giving responsibilities and intensive involvement
with family activities can limit individuals' career choices and aspirations and negatively
affect their work involvement, job satisfaction, and intention to continue their
employment. In contrast, there are several resources derived from one's work role, such
as income, job autonomy, and social support from co-workers and/or supervisor, that can
positively influence one's experiences and well-being in the family domain. Similarly,
individuals' home and family lives can also strengthen or enrich the quality of their work
lives by providing a variety of supportive resources to draw upon.
Because work and family lives have a profound influence on one another,
understanding the linkages between work and family roles has important implications not
only for organizations and individuals, but also for educators and researchers interested in
this area. With the growing representation of women in the workforce and a blurring of
traditional gender-based roles, both men and women are confronted with the daily
challenge of handling their work and family responsibilities in a way that meets the needs
of their family as well as their employer.
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Work-family conflict or interference refers to simultaneous pressures from the
work and family domains that are mutually incompatible in some respect such that
meeting the demands of one role makes it difficult to meet the demands of the other role.
Sometimes referred to as negative spillover, work-family conflict can take different forms
and can originate either in the work domain or the family domain.
Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by which work and family life affect
each other will help individuals and their employers determine the most effective ways to
reduce work-family interference and increase work-family enrichment. For example,
human resource professionals, training and development personnel, work-family and
diversity consultants, and other decision makers can use these insights to design policies
and programs aimed at promoting a higher quality of life for employees.
Similarly, understanding different facets of the work-family interface can help
working women and men not only achieve a better balance between their work and
family roles, but also become more responsive to their subordinates' work-family
concerns. Finally, this knowledge will be helpful for educators and researchers in
management, organizational behavior, sociology, family studies, and other areas who are
interested in gaining additional insight into the nature of work-family relationships.
Lodahl and Kejner (1965) explained that major determinant of work-family
conflict is one‘s involvement at work, that is, the degree to which a person actively
participates in his or her work role which influences the time and effort one could spend
in the job. It has been found that high work involvement is associated with higher levels
of work-family conflict. The study also reveals that work involvement could be an
outcome of career salience. Objective characteristics in the workplace such as work
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conditions and job demands may also have significant impacts upon the amount of
involvement put in one‘s work. For this reason, it is believed that work involvement has
an effect upon work-family conflict above and beyond one‘s career salience.
Kala Rani (1976) in her study states that, more women are employed in new avenues
of employment and in new occupations. They enjoy more and more opportunities than ever
before as individuals, workers, wives and mothers. Their adjustment to social changes is
retarded and is generally associated with a high balance between satisfaction and tensions.
This is due to the fact that their lives are linked with the existence of the family and the
continuation of the race. The study also examines the relationship between role conflict and the
number of children among working women. The result of the study says that there is positive
correlation between role conflict and the number of children. That means working mothers with
more number of children are experiencing more conflict than those who have less children.
Gutek B.A., Nagamura C.Y. and Nieva V. (1981) studied interdependence of
work and family role among women employees. It is revealed from the study that, the
inter role conflict is likely to increase as the demands of either the work role or family
role increase. Similarly inter-role conflict can increase once the obligations to the family
expand through marriage and the arrival of children.
Greenhaus J.H. and Beutell N.J. (1985) explored in their research to know the
sources of conflict between work and family roles. The study reveals that the family-related
variable that has drawn wide attention such as number of children at home, having young
children at home, shortage of time for women to do household work are the reasons for
causing role conflict among working woman. Younger children generally require more
attention from working parents, and thus more time is needed to spend on them.
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Barnett R.C. and Baruch G.K. (1985) had conducted a study to know the
relationship among the variables like role quality, multiple role involvement and
psychological well-being of middle aged women. The result of the study explains that the
quality of a woman‘s work role was a significant predictor of her role overload, whereas
mere occupancy of the work role was not.
Frone M.R., Russell M. and Cooper M.L. (1992) have conducted a study on
antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict. Model has been tested on work-family
interface acknowledged that employees with significant dependent care responsibilities
like, employees with dependent children or dependent elders and employees with large
families tend to experience higher levels of work-family conflict. This study examined
the work-family conflict from the social as well as organizational perspective.
Aminah A. (1995) examined the conflict that married women experienced between
work and family roles, and analyzed the coping behaviour. Data from 82 professional women
from six research institutes revealed that married women experienced work-family conflict
with varying intensities in trying to meet the expectations of work and family roles.
The study also suggests that married working women experience work-family conflict, it
pertinent that employers and policy makers pay special attention to improve the welfare
of employees through improved facilities and support services such as day-care on site,
flexible-time and maternity leave to help them to cope with their multiple roles. Besides
employers, policy makers, extension planners and family development practitioners and
educators, husbands also have a role to play since spousal support is a crucial variable for
reducing the role conflict.
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Rout (1996) identified specific pressures at work and at home experienced by
general practitioners and their spouses. The finding of the study says that female physician‘s
workload and decreased interest in her family were important stressors that affected her entire
family unit. Other important stressors mentioned in the study which affects entire family are
time pressure, hours on call, lack of support and amount of paper work. This study also
identified role conflict as a major stressor for female general practitioners where many
women brought work home, spend time away from home at meetings, and family life was
constantly interrupted by telephone calls causes role conflict in them.
Frone M.R., Russell M. and Barnes G.M. (1996) conducted study on
work-family conflict, gender and health related outcomes of employed parents that revealed
the reasons for role conflicts which are many. Among these, prominent ones are age and
number of children, type of family in which a working mother lives, the nature and extent of
participation by other members of the family and more number of children in the family
meant a higher level of work family conflict. This finding indicates the possibility that highly
educated men (i.e., men with high socio-economic status) and men with several children
living at home (i.e., men with preschool children) appear to feel guilt about neglecting the
family because of work. These feelings of guilt may arise out of social expectations; men are
increasingly expected to be good husbands and fathers, and devote time to the family.
Thus the ability of men to maintain a positive family related self image is hindered.
Itshree Padhi (1999) studied the adjustment pattern of working mothers in balancing
work responsibility and house responsibility. The finding of the study reveals that married
woman who works outside her home is under various pressures and is most often engaged in
a struggle to balance her work and responsibilities inside and outside her home.
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Edward J.R. and Rothbard N.P. (2000) in their study explained that
work-family compensation can produce positive effects of one role on another. For
example, an individual who lacks the opportunity to make decisions in his or her job may
compensate by pursuing leisure or recreational roles that provide extensive opportunities
to make decisions (e.g., a little league coach). Further the study explains that work family
compensation arises from a deficiency in a role whereas work-family enrichment arises
from a strength or resource in the role. There has not been a great deal of empirical
research on compensation, further he explains that, Segmentation, the separation or
independence of work and family roles, has gained recent attention in the literature.
Segmentation is currently viewed as an active strategy to maintain a boundary between work
and family roles. Work-family role segmentation can also be viewed as a characteristic of
the two roles rather than as a personal strategy.
Ashforth B. E., Kreiner G. E. and Fugate M. (2000) believed that two roles are
segmented when their boundaries are inflexible and impermeable to one another and how
they are very different from one another in terms of role requirements. He also suggested
that segmented roles have both advantages (less blurring or confusion between work and
family responsibilities) and disadvantages (difficulty in crossing the boundary from one
role to the other).
Steven S.L., Hang-Yue N. and Anita W.N. (2001) studied the relationship
between job satisfaction and role conflict. Data was collected from a sample of
251 professional accountants employed in Hong Kong firms. The findings of the study
show that inter role conflict arises from incompatible role requirements between two or
more work-related roles. This study also examined effect of role conflict on job satisfaction
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and propensity to leave. Results from hierarchical regression analyses revealed that inter
role conflict was associated with low job satisfaction and high propensity to leave.
In addition the study also reveals that professional commitment of the professionals
moderated the relationship between inter role conflict and propensity to leave.
Kim J.L.S. and Ling C.S. (2001) studied the work family conflict of women
entrepreneurs in Singapore. They identified three dimension of conflict such as job - spouse
conflict, job-parent conflict and job-home maker conflict. The findings of the study
reveals that number of hours worked and work scheduled inflexibility had great impact
on job-parent conflict and job-house maker conflict. Work-stressor had great influence on
job-spouse conflict. Age and number of children significantly influenced job-parent
conflict. Spouse attitude and emotional support had great influence on reducing the level
of role conflict.
Sunita M. and Sapna S. (2005) carried out a study on knowing the effects of
different professions and multiplicity of social (familial) roles on the role conflict
amongst working women. For the study purpose three categories of professionals like
lectures, doctors and nurses were considered. For this purpose, a 3x3 factorial design was
used. Results revealed significant main effects of women‘s professions and social roles as
well as an interaction effect on the role conflict wherein women teachers are experiencing
low level of role conflict than women playing role as doctors and nurses. Women who
plays social role as nurse who are married and mother of child experience high
role conflict. The findings of the study highlight the importance of quality of job.
The profession of doctors and lecturers are experiencing low level of role conflict
because they provided with more variety, autonomy i.e. the freedom to make choices on
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the job, more control as compared to nurses whose job is more monotonous, and who are
also expected to follow and act according to the guidelines of the doctor with little
control over the situation.
Ujvala R. and Kamala (2010) conducted a study on Work-Family conflict in
India. In this study the author considered 405 respondents who were working as full time
employees in different type of organizations and having at least one dependent child still
living at home with them. The sample was roughly equally distributed (25 per cent)
among the healthcare, education, manufacturing and finance sectors. Path analysis was
adopted to know the work support to negative work outcomes, family support to negative
family outcomes, work demands to negative work outcomes, family demands to negative
family outcomes. They found that all these factors were significantly correlated.
Vijaya T. G. and Hemamalini R. (2012) examined how organizational commitment
and turnover intention are influenced by role ambiguity, role conflict and faculty work role
balance in engineering colleges. Role stress occurs as faculty faces the challenge of balancing
their teaching, research, and service roles while maintaining practice, knowledge and expertise.
In this study only two role stressors are taken into consideration role ambiguity and role
conflict. The findings of the study reveals that role ambiguity and role conflict is negatively
correlated with the variables affective commitment and normative commitment. Higher the
percentage of role ambiguity and role conflict there will be less commitment of the faculties
towards the college. Turnover has a positive relation with role ambiguity and role conflict.
Higher the roles stress higher the turnover condition of the faculties.
Somya P. and Shobha U. (2012) in their conceptual study defines role conflict as
―conflict among the roles corresponding to two or more status of working woman‖.
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The study also explains different types of role conflict faced by working women such as a
growing daughter, as working girl, a wife (home maker), as a working married woman.
The study also explains measures to reduce the fatal effects of role conflict faced by
middle class working women of India such as support from her parents, support from her in
laws and husband, social interaction with other females of her age group, Self Help can able to
reduce the role conflict of Indian women.
Dhaifallah O.A. (2013) examined the relationship between role conflict and job
satisfaction among academic staff in Saudi Arabian Universities. The finding of the study
revealed that there was a negative relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction.
This study revealed employees under excessive role conflict tend to be less satisfied with
their jobs. Therefore, the study also gives suggestions that educational leaders should pay
more attention to the factors that can lead to dissatisfaction. The work procedures should
be clear and every employee should know her/his role in the organization. However,
further studies are recommended to include other variables that can lead to less job
satisfaction such as work-family conflict and role ambiguity, overloaded work.
Quarat, Muhammad A.K. and Nadeem I. (2013) in their study tried to explore
direct relation of role conflict with job satisfaction and job stress in a mediating role of job
stress in role conflict and job satisfaction among employees of private banking sector in
Pakistan. An effort is made through this study to find out how role conflict act as a job
stressor which influences job satisfaction. Three step regressions was used to test hypothesis
and results indicate that there is significant positive relation between role conflict and job
stress while role conflict has negative relation with job satisfaction. The result of the study
also explains that job stress mediates between role conflict and job satisfaction.
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2.2. Job Satisfaction
Some people like to go to work and consider it an integral part of their lives.
Others do not want to work but do it only because they must, for financial or other
reasons, because there were such divergent perspectives about work as well these
perspectives had the potential to impact job performance. Job satisfaction was a topic of
great interest for people who worked in organizations and for those who studied them.
In fact, it was the most frequently studied variable in organizational behavior research
(Spector, 1997). Job satisfaction has been a topic of interest to researchers because of the
perception that it was associated with absenteeism, worker productivity, employee turnover,
and general mental health of employees. The assessment of job satisfaction, its causes,
consequences, and nature were important variables that drew the attention of researchers for
almost seventy years. The earliest studies about it focused on productivity and turnover while
later studies focused on need fulfillment. Researchers were concerned about whether or not
the job met the employee‘s physical and psychological needs for things provided by work,
such as salary (Porter, 1962; Wolf, 1970).
The assessment of job satisfaction, its causes, consequences, and nature were
important variables that drew the attention of researchers for almost seventy years.
The earliest studies of Job satisfaction, the extent to which employees are satisfied with
the various aspects of their work, is one of the most studied concepts in organizational
research. One of the earliest nurse job satisfaction studies was conducted by Nahm (1940)
and his findings supported that supervisory relations, individual adjustment, promotional
opportunities, and relationships with family and friends were determinants for job satisfaction
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Job Satisfaction Theories
Factors impacting job satisfaction could be divided into two categories (Spector, 1997).
He called them antecedents of job satisfaction. The first antecedent was the job
environment comprised of factors external to the individual such as treatment by others in
the workplace, rewards, on the job relationships, and the nature of the work. The second
antecedent comprised of individual factors that the person had brought to the job.
This included expectations, personality, the need for fulfillment, motivation, and
experiences (Chappell, 1995). Both categories of factors worked together to determine
how well the individual fits into the job and how it influenced job satisfaction.
Person-Environment Fit Theory
Person-Environment Fit Theory states that the fit between the person and the job is
an important influence on job satisfaction (Kristof, 1996). An emphasis on improving the
fit between the abilities of people and the demands of their jobs has made an important
contribution to both organizational functioning and individual adjustment. A good fit was
described as a healthy match between the worker‘s needs and the demands of the job
(Chappell, 1995). There was job satisfaction when characteristics of the job were matched to
characteristics of the individual (Edwards, 1991). The importance of the relationship between
the organization and the individual was first recognized by Argyris (1957). He pointed out
that a conflict sometimes developed when there was a discrepancy between the needs of the
organization and the needs of the individual. He also maintained that this incongruence
resulted in frustration, failure, short term perspective on the part of the employee, and conflict
within the organization. Argyris stated that employees who felt incongruence in their job
found ways to resist or deal with frustrations within the organization.
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1. They withdrew from the organization through absenteeism or by quitting.
2. They stayed on the job but developed a mental distance by becoming apathetic or
passive.
3. They resisted the organization by restricting output or through deception and
sabotage.
4. They tried to escape the present circumstance by climbing the hierarchy to a
better job.
5. They tried to create groups such as unions that tried to deal with problems
between the organization and the people who belong to it.
6. They socialized their children to believe that their work was unrewarding and
offered little chance for advancement. (Bolman and Deal, 1991)
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Employees usually wanted to have some say over matters that affected them in
the workplace and if they did not have this they were not likely to feel satisfied no matter
what other issues they were permitted to address. Personal meaningfulness, therefore,
was an important factor to consider regarding job satisfaction (Brady, 1989). Including
this dimension was not as straightforward as it appeared on the surface because personal
meaningfulness varied as people grew and changed in their lives and careers. At a
particular time in one‘s life and career a person might have been preoccupied with salary
and security needs. At a later point, the focus might have been on accomplishment and
recognition. Maslow (1970) was the first to recognize that there was a hierarchy of needs
in people. His premise was that as lower needs were met they became less of a concern
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and were replaced by higher level needs. He asserted that higher level needs could not be
addressed until lower level needs had been met. He classified human motivation into
five categories.
1. Physiological needs: need for food, clothing, and shelter;
2. Safety needs: the need to be free of fear of physical danger or deprivation;
3. Social needs: the need to belong to and be accepted within various groups;
4. Esteem needs: the need for self esteem and for esteem from others;
5. Self- Actualization needs: the need or desire to become all that one is capable of
becoming. (Galpin, 1996)
Alderfer’s ERG Theory
Clayton Alderfer (1975) considered Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs and offered a
revised and realigned version of it. He concluded that all people had three basic needs which
were existence needs, relatedness needs, and growth needs. Alderfer‘s existence grouping
corresponded to Maslow‘s basic psychological and safety needs. Relatedness corresponded to
Maslow‘s social needs. Growth needs corresponded to Maslow‘s esteem and
self-actualization (Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson, 1996). Examples of Alderfer‘s existence
needs were food, water, shelter, and pay. Examples of relatedness needs were relationships
with friends, family, co-workers, and employers. Examples of growth needs were the need to
feel good about oneself and the desire to accomplish more personally and in one‘s work.
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
Frederick Herzberg extended Maslow‘s theory of motivation by applying it
specifically to the workplace. He developed the concept of man as having two sets of
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needs, which were independently met. His studies of job attitudes revealed that esteem
and self-actualization seemed to become more important as people developed.
In interviews, he asked people from eleven industries in the Pittsburgh area what kinds of
things about their jobs made them unhappy or dissatisfied and what kinds of things made
them happy or satisfied. From this data he concluded that people had two different kinds
of needs. He observed that when people felt dissatisfied with their jobs they were
concerned about the work environment. In contrast, when they felt good about their jobs,
the feeling was about the job itself. The first category of needs he called hygiene or
maintenance factors. They were hygiene factors because they impacted the worker‘s
environment and served in preventing job dissatisfaction. They were maintenance factors
because they were never fully met and must continue to be maintained. He called the
second category of needs as motivators because they were effective in motivating people
to better performance.
Herzberg felt that matters such as company policies, quality of supervision, working
conditions, interpersonal relationships, money, status and security should be considered
hygiene or maintenance factors because they were related to the conditions under which a
job was performed (Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson, 1996). Herzberg referred to factors
that involved feelings of achievement, professional growth, and recognition on the job as
motivators. He used this term because these factors were capable of having a positive
impact on job satisfaction which often resulted in an increase in individual performance
on the job (Kern, Riley, and Jones, 1987).
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Theory X and Theory Y
According to Douglas McGregor, the traditional organization had centralized
decision making, a hierarchal pyramid, and was based on certain assumptions about
human behavior and human motivation. He assembled these assumptions into two
theories: Theory X and Theory Y. ―Theory X assumed that most people preferred to be
directed, were not interested in assuming responsibility, and wanted safety above all.
Accompanying this philosophy was the belief that people were motivated by money, fringe
benefits, and the threat of punishment‖ (Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson, 1996 p. 37). Leaders
who accepted these assumptions closely supervised their employees because they believed that
external control was the best way to deal with unreliable or irresponsible people.
McGregor believed that Theory X assumptions about human nature were often
inaccurate and felt that management styles based on them would fail to motivate people
to work toward attainment of organizational goals. As a consequence, he concluded that
management needed leadership styles based on a more accurate understanding of human nature
and motivation. His Theory Y asserted that people are not, by nature, lazy and unreliable. This
theory conceived of man as desiring to work and use his skills, to make decisions for himself,
and operating heavily on internal controls (Kern, Riley, and Jones, 1987).
Theory Z
William Ouchi expanded and modified McGregor‘s work. He believed that the
ideal organization was egalitarian, fully engaged the participation of employees in day to
day operations, and emphasized interpersonal relationships. Such an entity was
characterized by employee cooperation with the objectives of the organization. Ouchi,
mindful of McGregor‘s Theory Y, used the term Theory Z to describe a leadership
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philosophy that focused on the interdependence between people and organizations.
The most important part of this relationship was the commitment in an organization‘s
culture to its people. Theory Z suggested that humanized working conditions increased
productivity and profits to the company and enhanced the self-esteem of the employees
(Bolman and Deal, 1991).
Expectancy Theory
Based on the earlier works of Lewin (1935), Victor Vroom created the
Expectancy Theory (1964). The premise of this theory was that felt needs caused
behavior and this motivated behavior in a work environment was increased if a person
perceived a positive relationship between effort and performance. Vroom concluded that
motivated behavior was increased if there was a positive relationship between good
performance and rewards. As a consequence, he identified three relationships that
enhanced motivated behavior. These were a positive relationship between effort and
performance, a positive relationship between desired performance and rewards, and the
achievement of valued outcomes or rewards (Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson, 1996).
This theory identified the link between effort and performance and the link between
performance and valued outcomes. It pointed out that people exerted effort to accomplish
a particular objective if there was a reasonable expectation that the effort expended would
result in a desired performance or reward.
Equity Theory
This theory, created by Adams (1965) contended that people wanted to receive
equitable reward and compensation for their work. He asserted that if people felt they were
treated equitably in the work environment they would be satisfied in their jobs. If they did not
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feel they were treated equitably in the work environment they were dissatisfied about
their jobs. Evans (1996) concluded that individuals wanted to be treated equitably in the
work place. If they were, they were satisfied with their jobs. If they were not, then
dissatisfaction resulted.
When workers considered the effort they put forth on the job and the personal
sacrifices they made to an organization, they expected certain outcomes such as an
equitable salary, status within the organization, and recognition for their efforts.
Beck (1990) stated that if the perception of workers was that a discrepancy existed
between the effort put forth and the compensation received, they would be dissatisfied on
the job. In contrast, he stated that if the perception of workers was that the compensation
was equitable, there would be job satisfaction.
Witt L.A. and Myers J.G. (1992) conducted a study to know the factors
influencing the job satisfaction. The study shows factors that made impact on job
satisfaction was the amount of involvement in decision making by employees.
Their experiments involved employees from various organizations and they concluded
that when workers were involved in decision making they were more likely to be satisfied
on the job, exerted more effort, and made more sacrifices to be successful within the
organization. The perception of being involved in decisions which affected them was an
important part of job satisfaction.
Brush D.H., Moch M.K. and Podyan A. (1986) studied the relationship between
educational level and job satisfaction. The finding of the study reveals that there is no
correlation between education level of employees in private organization and job
satisfaction. The findings strongly suggest that future studies of job satisfaction should
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take education factor into account in private organizations. Along with education other
demographic variables like family, marital status, traditions can be considered to see the
relationship with the variable job satisfaction.
Agho A.O., Mueller C.W. and Price J.L. (1993) tested an empirical test of a causal
model to identifying determinants of job satisfaction and studying its effects on job
outcomes and employees' behavior towards the organization. The study was based upon the
Price-Mueller model (1986) and the factors considered for the study purpose was overall
job satisfaction, routinization, instrumental communication, autonomy, integration, distributive
justice, and promotional opportunity. The finding of the study reveals that, these variables
were significant and have been identified as determinants of job satisfaction.
Nhundu (1994) conducted a study on the job satisfaction of teachers in
Zimbabwe. From the study it is found that self-appraisals and role-clarity factors emerged
as the major predictors of overall job satisfaction. An important finding was that
self-appraisal was a better predictor of overall job satisfaction than the appraisals by the
teachers' supervisors. This could indicate that supervisors are not well informed about the
inner feelings, experiences and perceptions of an employee as they assume. In the study it is
revealed that other demographic variables such as gender, school level, and school size did
not seem to be stable predictors of job satisfaction among Zimbabwean teachers. It also
appears from this study that intrinsic factors played an important role rather than extrinsic
factors as precursors to perceived job satisfaction among this population of teachers.
Meshal (2001) conducted a study to explore the relationship between education
level and job satisfaction among Kuwaiti women employees in the Kuwaiti private
banking sector. The analysis is focused on the responses of the female employees to their
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own jobs as indicated by their level of job satisfaction The major findings of this research
indicate that a much broader approach towards increasing satisfaction than focusing on
the job itself is required. The study shows that the respondents‘ education background is
of substantial importance in affecting job satisfaction.
Watson J.J., Buchanan I., Champbell and Briggs C. (2003) conducted study
on knowing the challenges faced by employees in working life. The study further
explains that job satisfaction is the favorableness or unfavorableness with which
employees view their work. It is affected by the environment. Different aspects such as pay,
promotions, supervision, fringe benefits, co-workers support are associated with the
levels of job satisfaction.
Tasmin (2006) conducted study to know the relationship between job satisfaction
and quality of work life among primary school teachers in Bangladesh. Various factors
were considered to measure quality of work life also tested how these factors influencing
on job satisfaction. The findings of the study shows that factors such as work
environment, interpersonal relations and supervision of the head teachers influences
women teachers‘ job satisfaction, where as men teacher‘s job satisfaction is influenced by
salary and job security.
Colin G. and John S.H. (2008) investigated the influence of performance-related
pay on several dimensions of job satisfaction. This study considers the dimensions like
profit sharing, bonuses and performance pay. The findings of the study shows that,
performance-related pay is associated with increased overall satisfaction, satisfaction
with pay, satisfaction with job security and satisfaction with hours. It appears to be
negatively associated with satisfaction with the work itself.
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Robert D. M. and Cindy Z. (2008) conducted a survey to know the relationship
between job satisfaction and high involvement work practices such as quality circles, feedback,
suggestion programs and task teams in Canadian work place. They consider the direction of
casuality, identifying both reasons and work practices might affect job satisfaction. They find
that Job satisfaction is positively associated with high involvement practices.
William D.R., Tahira M.P., Swee L.C., Cesar M. and Cornelius J.K. (2010)
examined the effects of job security on three outcomes i.e. job satisfaction, work behavior
and negative emotions among the managers working in USA. The analysis reveals that
job insecurity negatively related to satisfaction and that job insecurity has both direct and
indirect effects on work behaviours of emotions.
Sharma R.D. and Jeevan J. (2010) conducted an empirical study on job
satisfaction of university teachers. The study was conducted to understand the factors
affecting job satisfaction of teachers working in University of Jammu. The researcher
considered the various intrinsic and extrinsic factors to find out the level of job
satisfaction. The study considered intrinsic and extrinsic factors to find the level of job
satisfaction and to see the effect of age, gender, marital status, education, occupation
level and length of employment on the job satisfaction of a teacher order of importance.
The result of the study shows that ages, education level length of employment are
associated with job satisfaction of working teachers.
Ishfaq A., Ahmad U. and Sahar L.R. (2011) in their study explained how job
satisfaction mediates the relationship between facets of job and citizenship behavior
in banking sector of Pakistan and specially focusing on female employees. Total 200
self-administered questionnaires were distributed among the female staff of different banks.
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188 completed questionnaires were received back with response rate of 94%. Statistical
analysis reveals that there exists significant relationship between facets of job (pay,
promotion, supervisor‘s behavior and coworker‘s behavior) and dependent variables such
as organizational citizenship behavior. Likewise, job satisfaction mediates the
relationship between facets of job and citizenship behavior.
Halagalimath and Rajeshwari (2012) carried out a study to find out the level of
job satisfaction and other factors influencing the job satisfaction among women
employees working in University of Agricultural Sciences and Karnataka University.
The study revealed the following: overall satisfaction with their job, salary, jobs itself as
it is challenging, recognition, support from superiors and the co-workers. The study also
revealed that job security and size of the family had no relation with job satisfaction level
of the respondents.
Manju C. (2013) made an attempt to trace out the level of job satisfaction
among various working women engaged in different professions in Guwahati. An attempt
was also made to compare the job satisfaction level of the working women, working in
different job environments. The sample population consists of working women of
different professionals such as Teaching, Bank employees, Private sector employees,
Advocates, Government employees and Business women. The result of the study shows
that among the working women engaged in different professions the government sector
employees have a higher level of satisfaction than the other professions and private
sectors working women have the lowest level of satisfaction.
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2.3. Career Orientation
A gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that
refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely
considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. Socially accepted
gender roles differ widely between different cultures. In Eastern cultures and specifically
in India the role of women is defined more to do with the household chores than
involving in any economical activities, though women widely participate in agriculture
and other related works traditionally. After 1970‘s the scenario started changing in India
as dual career has become a norm and steadily grown over the decades. In the current
economic opportunities women workforce has increased significantly. It is important to
note some statistics of the women participation in the world of work in India. As per the
evidence from the 61st, 66
th and 68
th Round National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)
India, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of urban women during 2009-10 was
25.4 million which increased to 28.8 million during 2011-12, Whereas reversal results
were found in case of rural female LFPR which was 105.5 million in 2009-10 and
decreased to 103.6 million in 2011-12 in to the world of work. That also shows that the
role perception and the role or career orientation is changing among women as they
equally participate in the income generation activity. Therefore, it is important to
understand the various aspects of career orientation of women in India.
The term gender role orientation is used to refer to the extent to which individuals
describe themselves according to personality attributes of instrumentality and expressiveness
(Bem, 1981; Spence and Helmreich, 1980). Attributes considered instrumental in nature
include being independent, goal oriented, objective, assertive, competitive, and logical;
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whereas stereotypical expressive characteristics include such traits as emotionality,
nurturance, and sensitivity to others (Bem, 1981; I. Broverman, Vogel, D. Broverman,
Clarkson, and Rosenkrantz, 1972; Orlofsky and Stake, 1981). Androgyny is the extent to
which individuals describe themselves as possessing high levels of both instrumental and
expressive traits (Bem, 1977).
The dominant theoretical perspectives in gender role research are the socialization
point of view (Henning and Jardim, 1977) and the social learning or structuralist perspective
(Kanter, 1977). The socialization theory asserts that individuals manifest congruent
gender role stereotypical personality traits (e.g., instrumental, expressive traits) and
behaviors (e.g., problem-solving, avoidance, negotiating behaviors) that are not readily
amenable to change. According to this perspective, women who are socialized to exhibit
stereotypical feminine characteristics will also behave in a more stereotypical feminine
manner. Research on gender differences suggests that gender role orientation is an
effective explanation and predictor of some behaviors (Arkkelin and Simmons, 1985).
The structuralist view argues that gender role traits and gender role behaviors are
relatively independent due to situational influences, Kanter (1977). For example,
contends that gender differences in work attitudes and behaviors are influenced by
organizational variables, such as job description, position in the hierarchy, and status.
Career orientation operationally defined in this study as ―refers to the positive
attitude of women teachers that women can take up career and be successful in career, and
the belief that taking up career will not affect the family responsibilities and relationships, but
it will rather help to improve family‖.
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Hall D.T. (1975) defined ―career as the individually perceived sequence of attitudes
and behaviors associated with work-related experiences and activities over the span of the
person's life‖
The other definition given by Van Maanen and Schein (1977) is ―as the pattern of
objective and subjective work-related experiences that reflect a chosen work-related life
theme over the span of one‘s life‖.
Nieva and Gutek (1981) in their study on women and work explain that
traditionally women are viewed as home makers and their entry to the world of work was
not appreciated due to meek nature and submissiveness of women. These characteristics
are valued feminine traits and it was feared to be lost if women entered the work force.
Women when they develop desires to be career oriented especially after their marriage
and off spring then the challenges and barriers are quite a task to keep in pace with the
career oriented goals. The conflict between different roles played by married women is
evident from various studies quoted in the role conflict topic. Thus the working women
have the challenge of keeping the career interests, maintain a balance of multiple roles
and achieving quality of work life.
Miguel (1993) studied the relationship between demographic variables such as age,
length of service, education level, occupation level, gender with career orientation. The study
reveals that demographic factor age is correlated with career orientation, personal career
orientation differ as people grew older.
Burke and Mc Keen (1996) explain professional women in the 20th
century have
the exceptional challenge of balancing the multiple tasks associated with their homemaker
and work roles, namely, fulfilling the responsibilities of mother, caregiver, spouse and
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employee simultaneously. It is also clear that women‘s ability to balance these roles
has a direct bearing on their physical and mental well-being, as well as their career
performance and success.
Brown and Barbosa (2001) explained that barrier is any obstacle that prevents
forward movement or any event or condition that makes career progress difficult.
The study also indicated barriers partially explain the gap between the abilities of women
and their achievements, these barriers could explain the inhibitions of women‘s career
aspirations. Women face barriers from their childhood in terms of their choice of career
and aspirations and barriers are reinforced during schooling, college and work and they
become more complex over time. Women often perceive barriers and role conflicts as
obstacles in their career development process. Childcare was another potential barrier to
career success faced by women.
Kim N. (2004) studied on stability and dominance in career success orientation
among South Korean employees. The participants in the study differed in their career
orientation in terms of age, length of work experience and employment level; however
they did not differ in terms of education level.
The scenario in India of working women was though not the same but not much
different from the US. Culturally in India defining the role of women was more to do with
house hold chores than what they do outside home. Therefore the belief and the cultural
practice for very long years kept women workforce outside the work until recent past. However
post 1990 economic liberalization in India created opportunities for women to participate in
work and the scenario changed significantly since then. The migration into urban cities and
need for dual income or careers have become a necessity for economic reasons. The World
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Bank (2013) report on women work force participation stated that only 29 per cent of Indian
women participate in work as compared to China (63 per cent), Brazil (60 per cent), and Russia
(57 per cent) among the BRIC countries. However, the sheer population of India makes the
numbers different and posses a different challenge for the working women.
Shiva (2013) conducts study on work family balance and challenges faced by
working women explains that long term exposure of workers to excessive work hours and
high levels of work to family interference elevates their risk of mental and physical health
problems. It also concludes that women face several challenges to balance work and family.
2.4. Quality of Work Life
The humanistic approach in management has begun in late 1970‘s and during this
emergence, the employees‘ need for meaningful and satisfying work and for participation
in decisions that influence their work environment were all assessed. Therefore, from a
historical perspective this concern for Quality of work life in organizations can be seen as
the latest and, in many ways, the culmination of a string of reform movements that have
attempted during the past several decades, to protect the rights and interest of workers.
The human relations movement which emphasized the importance of people element
than the machine element restored the balance and brought forth the significance of human
beings in organizations. The Tavistock institute of Human Relations using the Socio-technical
Approach emphasized the fact of job redesign and giving high importance of bettering working
life. During the same period Herzberg, Hackman and Lawler and many others have contributed
with their research on job redesign approaches, which essentially indicating the importance of
autonomy, feedback for betterment, meaningfulness of work etc., the central point of all these
approaches was the importance of treating people in organizations as human beings and
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helping them to grow, develop and take part in the decision-making processes. The goal was to
sensitize the organizations about the importance of people aspects of organizations. Various
terms such as, humanization of work, industrial democracy, workplace democracy, work
redesign, organizational redesigning, participative work and later on, Quality of Work life were
used interchangeably to describe the same thing.
Quality of work life refers to the quality of relationship between employees and
the total working environment which includes, adequate and fair compensation, safe and
healthy working conditions, opportunity to use and develop human capacities, opportunity
for career growth, social integration in the work force, work-life balance, participative
management style, recognition, reward and recognition.
The phrase ―Quality of work Life‖ (QWL) has come in use recently to evoke a
broad range of working conditions and the related aspirations and expectations of the
employees. The QWL can be described as the subjectively perceived satisfaction in one‘s
different aspects of work life as reported by the individual. It is an index of what people
find interesting and satisfying at their work. For this reason, one needs to be sensitive to
the factors related to performance, recognition, work content, responsibility, promotion
and pay, organizational policies, working conditions etc. QWL is a concern not only to
improve life at work, but also life outside work. Hence, it encompasses a wide variety of
programs and techniques that have been developed to endeavor to reconcile the twin
goals of an individual and the organization, i.e. Quality of Life and Organizational
Growth. The QWL has, therefore become key area of consideration now a days.
Interest in the area of QWL got a major boost due its importance as panacea for
organizational problems related to people in the organization. QWL sustained its
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importance from the fact that organizations started focusing on certain social responsibilities
and realized that focus only on profit making may not suffice to encounter the
organizational issues. Improvement in QWL is considered necessary not only because it
contributes to organizational efficiency and to a fall in negative employee behavior but
also because justice and fair play demand it. Moreover, the discharge of this social
responsibility by organizations is not merely a means to some end but is an end in itself
(Mullins, 1996, 535).
Many researchers have linked QWL with several other indicators such as
satisfaction with wages, hours and working conditions, describing the basic elements of a
good quality of work life as; safe work environment, equitable wages, equal employment
opportunities and opportunities for advancement (Mirvis and Lawler, 1984). Baba and
Jamal (1991) listed what they described as typical indicators of quality work life,
including: job satisfaction, job involvement, work role ambiguity, work role conflict,
work role overload, job stress, organizational commitment and turn-over intentions
Women work force now constitutes a significant percentage of the total work
force in any organization today. With major changes in the nature of work and work
arrangements, including the increasing numbers of women participating in the paid work
force, changes in women‘s career expectations, the decline of the family wage, the
disappearance of the job for life and changes in family formation, the relationship
between families and labour market participation has come under considerable scrutiny.
The pressure of career and family affects women especially at the mid-level
harder. Mid-level career women face more challenges when balancing work and life,
leading to more difficulty in career growth. The difficulty stems from the fact that there is
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a double push on these career women as they are forced to compete between two
competing ideals: of mother and devoted worker. Attracting and retaining women in the
workforce is very important and hence the organizations must give importance for quality
of work life of women employees.
Katz D. and Kahn R. (1978) viewed quality of work life more broadly as an
individual‘s evaluation of the outcome of the work relationship. They observed that an
employee may be said to enjoy a high quality of working life when he has positive
feelings towards his job and its future prospects, and it is motivated to stay on the job and
performs well and feels his working life fits well with his private life to afford him a
balance between the two in terms of his personal values.
Chelte (1983) defines quality of work life as, quality of relationship between
employees and the total working environment with human dimensions, technical and
economic consideration. He also explored his study to know the relationship among
variables such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction and quality of work life.
The study revealed that there is impact of job satisfaction and quality of work life on the
organisational commitment of employees.
Bowen H.R. and Schuster J.H. (1986) in their book ―A national resource
imperiled‖ explains the several factors which leads to the depression of faculty belongs to
thirty eight institutions which affects the quality of work life, it also characterized the faculty
as dispirited, fragmented and devalued. It was also found that faculty members are satisfied
with their intellectual lives and dedicated to their work.
Bieber J.P., Lawrence J.H. and Blackburn R.T. (1992) explains the
professional lives of faculty members within the University of Michigan. The study was
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conducted with the purpose of knowing the reasons for changing institution in their
career. In the study faculties have expressed that, factors like standard of competition,
achievement and collegiality of the campus climate are the main reasons for their shift
from one job to another job. The study was also revealed that there was increased
standard of competition and achievement but there was decrease in collegiality of
the campus climate.
Boyer E.L., Altbach P.G. and Whitelaw M. (1994) conducted a study to know
the perspective of faculties on quality of work life they experience in their work place.
The study points out that faculty were rarely satisfied with their institutions and working
conditions. Many faculties reported their perceptions of administrators as incompetent,
communication as poor based on the studies on faculty work life.
Johnsrud L.K. and Heck R.H. (1998) in their study explains three dimensions
which are important for increase in the quality of work life of faculty. These factors are,
professional priorities and rewards; administrative relations and support; and the quality
of benefits and services. They proposed and tested a multilevel structural model to
ascertain the impact of faculty work life on overall morale and the impact of both work
life and morale on intent to leave. The authors conclude that it is the quality of faculty
work life that matters most to the morale of faculty members, and it is the level of morale
that matters most to the intent to leave at the individual level.
Hossain and Tariqual I. (1999) explored study on quality of work life of nurses
working in the hospitals in Bangladesh. The study aims to know the relationship among
quality of work life, job satisfaction and performance of women employees. Statistical
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tools like correlation was adopted to know the relationship among these variables.
The finding of the study revealed that there was a significant positive correlation between
quality of work life and job satisfaction.
Sirgy J. M., Efraty D., Siegel P. and Lee D. (2001) categorized QWL into two
major need categories as, lower- and higher order needs. The lower-order QWL comprised of
health or safety needs and economic or family needs whereas the higher-order QWL is
comprised of social needs, esteem needs, self actualization needs, knowledge needs, and
aesthetic needs. For measurement, they also suggested to consider following seven
categories of needs while measuring quality of work life. They are, health and safety
needs (protection against disease and injury within and outside the workplace) the needs
of family economy (wages, job security and etc), the need for social understanding
(cooperative work between colleagues, and having free time in the workplaces) social
needs (having the cooperative work between colleagues and spare time at work place) the
need for self-esteem (recognition and appreciation of the work inside and outside the
organization), the need for training (training to improve job skills) the aesthetic needs
(creativity workplace and personal creativity and general aesthetics).
Wyatt T.A. and Wah C.Y. (2001) found that the employees are spending most of
their time in work place as it is important for them to be satisfied by their work life. Therefore
work condition affects not only their physical but also their psychological health. Thus, if
organizations are concerned about achieving a competitive advantage in the market, they
should pay attention to human resource as one of the most valuable assets of their own.
Saklani (2004) empirically evaluated the importance of various quality of work
life factors pertaining to employees and to measure the status of their existence in
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50
organization. The result of the study says that apart from monetary considerations,
employees in India accord a high value to the factors that satisfy self esteem and self
actualization need of a higher order.
Rethinam (2008) QWL is a multi-dimensional construct, made up of a number of
interrelated factors that need careful consideration to conceptualize and measure. It is
associated with job satisfaction, job involvement, motivation, productivity, health, safety
and well-being, job security, competence development and balance between work and
non work life and also he concluded as QWL from the perspective of IT professionals is
challenging both to the individuals and organization
Bharathi P., Umaselvi M. and Senthil Kumar N. (2010) conducted a study to
know the level of perception towards quality of work life among 239 college teachers in
Tiruchirappalli. The result of the study reveals that there is significant association
between departments, professional membership, the length of service and their perceived
levels of overall quality of work life. But there is no association between gender, type of
family, age, designation, income level, native place of the respondents and their
perceived levels of overall quality of work life.
Rochita Ganguly (2010) conducted a study to know the relationship between
quality of work life and job satisfaction among university employees. The result of the
study reveals that the university employees are not happy with the degree of autonomy
they are enjoying, the nature of personal growth opportunities, work complexity as well
as their control on the task and the degree of top management support in the work.
The study also reveals that there is positive relationship between job satisfaction and QWL.
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Reddy and Reddy (2010) in his conceptual paper on quality of work life of
employees describes that, The elements of QWL comprise health and wellbeing, job security,
job satisfaction, competence development and the balance between work with non work life.
In this context, for improving the QWL, different groups have been taken responsibility such
as employers, workers, professional organizations, government, and managers. Therefore,
quality circles, management by objectives, suggestion system and other forms of employees‘
participation in management help to improve QWL in the industry circles. Techniques to
improve quality of work life include job redesign, career development, flexible work
schedules, job security and the like. If any organization properly adopts these techniques, the
QWL will certainly be improved to the desired levels.
Raj Adhikar and Kumar Gautam (2010) conducted study knowing the factor
that affects the quality of work life of employees and how these factors lead to create
motivation among the employees. The result of the study shows that quality of work life
lead to create motivation, loyalty and flexibility in the workforce. All explains that these
factors are crucial for competitiveness of organizations also quality of work life lead to
reduce absenteeism, turnover rates of employees and increase their job satisfaction
Meenakshi Gupta and Parul Sharma (2011) conducted a study on the quality
of work life for the employees of telecom sector. The aim of this study is to determine
how the quality of work life affects the satisfaction level of employees of telecom
employees. Factors such as adequate income & fair compensation, safe & healthy working
conditions, opportunities to use & develop human capacity, opportunity for career growth,
social integration in the work force, constitutionalism in work organization, eminence of
work life and social relevance of work were considered in the study. The result of the
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study shows that employees of telecom sectors are experiencing high level of quality of
work life. All the factors considered to measure the quality of work life were positively
and significantly correlated with quality of work life.
Drobnic S., Behan B. and Prag P. (2010), conducted a study on how working
environmental factors are affecting the quality of work life of employees in a European
company. The result of the study explains that those employees who have secured better
jobs and good pay structure would feel comfortable at the work place and this affects
their quality of work life.
Hossein (2012) conducted survey with the purpose of assessing the role of job
satisfaction as the intervening variable in determining the quality of work life among the
staff who are information technology users in selected universities based in Iran.
For this purpose, the author used the model of QWL developed by Rethinam and Ismail,
which consists of elements such as health and well-being, job security, competency
development, balance between work life and non-work life. The result of the study
reveals that there is a significant direct correlation only between job satisfaction and
health and well-being.
Indumathy R. and Kamalraj S. (2012) In their study on knowing the factors
influencing on quality of work life of workers of textile industries, reveal that the workers
are most satisfied with work environment and safety measures in the company. Workers
are not much satisfied with the relation and cooperation with co-workers and job security
and they are least satisfied with Salary. He also gives the suggestions that, Quality of
work life can affect such things as employee‘s timings, his or her work output, his or her
available leaves, etc. Work life balance must be maintained effectively to ensure that all
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employees are running at their peak potential and free from stress and strain. So it is up to the
organization to focus on their workers and improve their quality of work life so that attrition,
absenteeism and decline in workers‘ productivity can be checked.
Chitra D. and Mahalakshmi V. (2012) conducted study with the aim of knowing
the perception of quality of work life and how the factors of quality of work life is
influencing on job satisfaction. Ten variables of quality of work life are examined namely
support from organization, work-family conflict, relationship with peers, self competence,
impact on job, meaningfulness of job, optimism on organizational change, autonomy, access
to resources and time control. All these variables are tested the relationship with job
satisfaction. The test indicated that only three variables like meaningfulness of job, optimism
on organizational change and autonomy are significantly related to job satisfaction.
Zare H., Haghgooyan Z. and Zahra A.K. (2012) undertook a study on quality
of work life to identify its dimensions library method was used to gather information on
theoretical basics, literature and to identify aspects and scales. Field study method was
used to gather information through questionnaires distributed among 30 experts. The data
collected was analyzed using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and it is found that
QWL can be explained by four factors as given under:
1. Work life balance - Fair working hours, Work-life atmosphere, Opportunity for
doing religious ceremonies, Ergonomics, No physical and mental damages, Distance
between workplace and home.
2. Social factors - The importance of work in the society, social integration in
organization, Social networks in work, respecting employees, Self-esteem feeling in
the organization, Good colleagues.
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3. Economic factors - Salary, Health service, Insurance, Retirement, Job security.
4. Job content - Team working, independence, meaningful work, rich and challenging
work, ownership feeling in work, the need of creativity in work, growth opportunity.
Ayesha T., Tasnuva. and Kursia J. (2012) studied the perception of quality of work
life of the faculty members of private universities in Bangladesh. A quantitative survey of
72 full-time faculty members from 11 private universities was conducted. The result of the
study revealed that there is significant relationship between QWL and its dimensions like
safe and healthy working condition, social integration, opportunity for continuous growth and
security, adequate and fair compensation, opportunities to use and develop human capacities.
The results also revealed that there is significant differences about the perception of QWL
exist in terms of gender and faculty of different department of the university.
Barka and Anukool (2013) conducted a study on managerial employees‘
perspective on quality of work life – a comparative study consists of 150 employees of
nationalized and a private bank. The result of the study revealed that there is no significant
difference between gender; experiences; age; income and total mean scores of managerial
employees of nationalized and private banks on QWL. Since managerial employees, equally
get benefits of the organization irrespective of gender, experiences, income in banks, both are
enjoying same level of QWL. The study also reveals that improved QWL helps to improve
the family life of the employees and also improves the performance of the organization.
Nitesh S. and Devendra S.V. (2013) studied the perception of quality of work
life of employees of small scale industries. Several factors were considered to measure
quality of work life such as, good working environment, chance of growth, fair
compensation, job satisfaction, employees motivation, communication flow, flexible or
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suitable working time. The study revealed that employees are not happy with the
working environment of the organization also the study reveals that quality of work life is
not highly prevalent in the industries as per the view of the employees.
All the above studies quoted under the topic of QWL proves that it plays an
important role in employee overall physical & psychological wellbeing, satisfaction,
productivity and the like. Therefore the QWL as a variable gains attention among the
researchers to explore more on its impact on various other variables either as dependent
or independent. The present study uses the QWL as dependent variable while role
conflict, job satisfaction and career orientation as an independent variable. Also the study
developed a conceptual model incorporating all the variables mentioned along with the
demographic variables too.
2.5. Research Gap
Review of earlier studies on quality of work life, job satisfaction, role conflict and
career orientation helped the researcher to identify the research gap. The previous studies
have just focused on various issues related to working women like nurses and corporate
women employees. It has been found that only few studies have focused on women
teachers in higher education. It is also observed that the earlier studies have focused only
on factors contributing to quality of work life, job satisfaction, role conflict and career
orientation. However no study has been conducted showing the relationship among all
these variables and how each influences the other. Therefore, an indepth and
comprehensive study is needed in the present context where working women population
is increasing significantly in education sector. Hence, the present study aims to fill the
gap and also would finding the meaningful relationship among these variables.
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