| Abstract [eng] |
The relevance of the topic. The dynamic of the modern world strongly influences and modifies traditions or established norms. The changing environment, changing values, and even an unexpected global pandemic lead to changes in women‘s attitude towards a career-family relationship in life. However, the prevailing stereotypes in society about women's responsibilities for caring for households and children, as well as limited time, physical and mental resources for some women, especially those who have reached or are pursuing career and managerial positions, can lead to work-family conflict. It is also important to highlight the dramatic global COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, which led many women in managerial positions to work remotely with children whose kindergartens and schools were closed. The work-life balance is important not only for a person, his family, but also for organizations, as a work-family conflict causes depression and stress, an employee is more likely to fall ill, his job and family satisfaction decreases, and an organization suffers from lower employee involvement, increased willingness to change jobs, worse job performance. As the COVID-19 pandemic is a new phenomenon, there are very few studies about the impact of it. In this work, the expression of the conflict between work and family will be examined precisely by looking at the experiences of women in managerial positions. The results of the study are expected to help reveal how work-family conflict affects women in managerial positions during a pandemic. The object of the project and research - the expression of work and family conflict of women in managerial positions. The aim of the project - to reveal the expression of work and family conflict of women in managerial positions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The tasks of the project are as followed: 1. based on the scientific literature, to reveal the work and family conflict of women in managerial positions and it’s changes during the COVID-19 pandemic; 2. to create a theoretical research model of the expression of work and family conflict of women in managerial positions during the COVID-19 pandemic; 3. to empirically investigate the expression of work and family conflict of women in managerial positions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research methods. Several research methods are used in this paper: the scientific literature review method is used to analyze how the scientific literature defines barriers that prevent women from getting managerial positions and how to define work and family conflict, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on organizations, workers and managers; applying the method of secondary data analysis, statistics and research on spousal responsibilities and other trends in Lithuania are analyzed; the semi-structured interview method aims to find out expression of work and family conflict of women in managerial positions during the COVID-19 pandemic; the method of qualitative content analysis was used to examine the answers to the open-ended interview questions. Main results of the project. The study shows that the expression of work - family conflict of women in managerial positions during the COVID-19 pandemic took place in two directions: "work to family" and "family to work". This study shows that there are two categories behind “work to family” conflict: working conditions interfere with family and relationships with the employer and colleagues interfere with family, and behind “family to work” conflict there are two categories: children interfere with work and partner interfere with work. Each of these categories has at least two subcategories that extend and explain it. Evidence for other categories were observed in the study. Women in managerial positions during the COVID-19 pandemic were more affected by family interference to work. The study found that not all women felt negative changes in work and family conflict and said that during the pandemic they felt that the situation had improved due to the free time saved when not having to travel to and from work. |
