1. A Work-Life Balance and Gender Study of Two Career Paths
Justin Keeler, Ouachita Baptist University
Robert Webster, Ouachita Baptist University
Arkansas College Teachers of Economics and Business
University of Central Arkansas
Conway, Arkansas
Friday, September 30th, 2016

2. Research Topic
Work-life balance…an offset, neutralization, equilibrium between work and life?
Zedeck and Mosier (1990) and O’Driscoll (1996), five models to explain work-life relationship:
Segmentation: work and non-work are distinct and separate spheres
Spillover: one sphere influences the other
Compensation: a lack in one sphere (demands/satisfaction) made up in other
Instrumental: one sphere facilitates success in the other
Conflict: many demands in both spheres creates overloads on individuals

3. Background & Context
Depending on career path, it can be difficult to step away from demands/satisfactions.
Possible explanation, border theory (Clark, 2000)…people are daily border-crossers between home and work, they integrate the spheres.
Reality is many workers still answer s and texts long after they have left their jobs = unaccounted overtime hours
Are some career paths oriented towards a particular model – segmentation, instrumentality, etc.?
Do mindfulness activities play a role in adjusting work-life balance for a career because of conscientiousness (Giluk, 2009)?

4. Research Questions
Is their evidence to support discrete differences in work and non-work life dimensions based on career path?
Do mindfulness activities make a difference in work-life balance related to career path?
Does gender significantly make a difference between work and non-work life dimensions?

5. Hypotheses
H1: University faculty with advanced degrees balance work-life differently compared to business executives with advanced degrees.
H2: Mindfulness activities impact university faculty and business executives differently in work-life balance.
H3: Gender significantly impacts work-life balance.

6. Research Design - Sample
Group 1 (n = 41)
University faculty
Advanced degrees
All located in Arkansas
Group 2 (n = 41)
Business executives
Advanced degrees
Various throughout U.S. and world

7. Research Design - Sample
Group 1 (n = 41)
Demographics
20 Females
*Age 45.47, SD 11.01
All Caucasian
Single (4), Married (16)
21 Males
**Age 53.05, SD 9.22
Asian (1), Caucasian (20)
Single (3), Married (18)
Group 2 (n = 41)
Demographics
11 Females
Age 47.64, SD 8.22
Asian (3), Caucasian (6), Other (2)
Single (5), Married (6)
30 Males
**Age 45.79, SD 6.98
Asian (4), Caucasian (19), African (3), Other (5)
Single (2), Married (38)
*Missing 3 respondent values, **Missing 1 respondent value

8. Research Design - Procedures
Study was IRB approved, survey administration through Qualtrics.
Respondents assured confidentiality and unique ID used to mask identities.
Data collection was cross sectional but multiple time intervals.
Group 1 – single survey
Group 2 – multiple surveys
None of the groups were incentivized.

9. Research Design - Measures
Categorical Variables
Description
GNDIFM
Gender: Female = 1, Male = 2
MEDINY
Do you practice a daily form of meditation? No = 0, Yes = 1
JRDINY
Do you keep a “thought” journal, paper or electronic –based and make notes in it consistently? No = 0, Yes = 1
ERCR15
Cognitive Reappraisal
Continuous Variables
Description
OTHRPW
Estimated hours of overtime, per WEEK
SLHRPD
Estimated hours of sleep, per DAY
TVHRPW
Estimated hours of watching TV, per WEEK
EXHRPW
Estimated hours of exercise, per WEEK
SMHRPD
Estimated hours of spending time on social media, per DAY
RBHRPW
Estimated hours of reading books, per WEEK

10. Research Design – Analytic Plan
Group means difference test (SPSS)
Comparison of continuous variables by groups and dichotomous variables.
Most appropriate for identifying significant differences and related effects to test hypotheses.
Independent T test allows for equal variance testing or not.

11. Findings RQ 1
Is their evidence to support discrete differences in work and non-work life dimensions based on career path?

12. Hypothesis 1 Impression
H1: University faculty with advanced degrees balance work-life differently compared to business executives with advanced degrees.
Impression:
University faculty work less overtime, sleep more per day and watch more TV per week.
Business executive work more overtime, exercise more per week and have increased cognitive reappraisal.
Neither group showed significant differences of daily hours on social media or weekly hours reading books.

13. Findings RQ 2
Do mindfulness activities make a difference in work-life balance related to ones career path?

14. Findings RQ 2
Do mindfulness activities make a difference in work-life balance related to ones career path?

15. Hypothesis 2 - Impression
H2: Mindfulness activities impact university faculty and business executives differently in work-life balance.
Impression:
University faculty that engage in meditation, a mindfulness activity, they significantly indicated working less overtime but exercising more than business executives that meditate.
Business executives that perform some form of meditation have significantly higher tendencies of cognitive reappraisal than university faculty.
Meditation did not evidence significance support for daily sleep, weekly TV, daily social media, or weekly reading of books.

16. Hypothesis 2 - Impression
Impression - continued:
University faculty that engage in some form of journaling, a mindfulness activity, they significantly more likely to work less overtime than a business executive and exercise less as well. working less overtime but exercising more than business
Journaling activities did not indicate any other difference in work-life balance.

17. Findings RQ 3
Does gender significantly make a difference between work and non-work life dimensions?

18. Hypothesis 3 Impression
H3: Gender significantly impacts work-life balance.
Impression:
Gender by itself is not significantly supported to explain a difference in weekly overtime hours, sleep, TV, exercise, social media, reading books, or cognitive reappraisal.

19. Discussion
Career path may shape how an individual balances their work and non-work related activities.
Mindfulness activities possibly involved in adjusting work-life balance of workers.
Results from this study did not find support for gender to solely impact work-life balance.

20. Next Steps
Conduct additional studies with different samples to have greater comparatives.
Primary/Secondary education in process.
2 medical institutions have granted IRB approval for this study.
Qualitative research to identify trends of what individuals may resort to as coping/integrating/balancing of work-life?
Open-ended questions to learn more about group tendencies.
Analyses of career paths to be adopters of specific tendencies and why i.e. segmentation, spillover, compensation, instrumentality, or conflict.
Greater understanding of cultures and climates may lead to more productive organizations.
Possible intervention insights for job design and understanding stressors.

21. Q&A
Questions?

22. Bibliography
Clark, S. C. (2000). Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/family balance. Human Relations, 53(6), Giluk, T. L. (2009). Mindfulness, Big Five personality, and affect: A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(8), O'Driscoll, M. P. (1996). The interface between job and off-job roles: enhancement and conflict. International review of industrial and organizational psychology, 11, Zedeck, S., & Mosier, K. L. (1990). Work in the family and employing organization. American Psychologist, 45(2), 240.