Study on the conflicts between work and family at the Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Abstract

With both professional and personal responsibilities, employees often conflict when reconciling the demands of family and work. The study aimed to investigate whether work to family conflict experienced by employees of Kashan University of medical sciences differed from family to work conflict.A cross sectional study was carried out in 2014. A random sample of 202 employees in the four schools affiliated with Kashan University of medical sciences located in central of Iran was selected and responded to items of the questionnaires using a 7-point Likert scale. Work-family conflict was measured using Carlson et al.'s 18 items scale. Higher values indicate higher levels of work to family conflict and family to work conflict. Analysis was carried out using SPSS 16.Employees experienced work-family conflict in the two directions. Work to family conflict with mean of 31.5510.68 was significantly (t=9.87, P<0.001) more than family to work conflict with 25.588.77. They experienced different time-, strain-, and behavior-based work to family conflicts than time-, strain-, and behavior-based family to work conflicts (P<0.01).Work to family conflict was more than family to work conflict. Therefore, University authorities should try to improve working conditions through changing the working culture and re-looking into their work structure and employment policies to moderate the experience of work to family conflicts encountered by the employees.