Studies among coaches have attempted to capture the impact of the intersection between work and family, especially on how it has affected the retention of coaching parents, especially mothers (Bruening & Dixon, 2007). While anecdotal work suggests that negative impacts of work and family roles have had consequences on mothers, little quantitative work on coaches has been offered (Sagas & Cunningham, 2005). The purpose of this study was to compare work-factors and work-family variables by gender, with further exploration comparing mothers and fathers to their non-parenting colleagues.
Ecological theory suggests that the fit between a person and his/her environment may be impacted by 4-distinct work-family factors. Work Interference with Family (WIF) and Family Interference with Work (FIW) are the more commonly studied conflict domains. However, Work Enriching Family (WEF) and Family Enriching Work (FEW) have emerged as part of the work-family fit. These factors measure how participation in one role enhances membership in another role, andwere explored for differences between, and within, gender. Likewise, differences were expected between work-variables of autonomy, supervisor support, and working hours.
Method
NAIA coaches were surveyed online with 601 (43%) coaches responding with usable surveys (301 parents). To examine differences within the work variables, MANOVA analyses were run.
Analysis/Results
The first analysis, comparing mothers and fathers, found significant results (Pillai's Trace=.03, F[3,298]=3.04, p<.05). Further examination found that fathers reported more supervisor support than mothers (F[1,300]=8.51, p<.01) with no other significant work-factors. A second multivariate-test found a significant difference on the four work-family variables (Pillai's Trace=.04, F[4,298]=3.05, p<.05) with mothers reporting more WIF (F[1,301]=4.75, p<.05) and WEF (F[1,301]=4.87, p<.05) than fathers.
Finally, MANOVA analyses used to compare women without children to mothers were not significant for the work predictors (Pillai's Trace=.001, F[3,205]=.85, ns), but significant for work-family outcomes (Pillai's Trace=.70, F[4,204]=3.04, p<.01) with mothers reporting more FIW (F[1,207]=8.52, p<.01) and WEF (F[1,207]=5.77, p<.05).
For fathers, a significant MANOVA analysis examining work-factor differences (Pillai's Trace=.03, F[3,385]=3.49, p<.05) suggests that fathers report more supervisor support than non-fathers (F[1,387]=9.92, p<.01). Significant differences were found within the work-family variables (Pillai's Trace=.03, F[3,385]=8.08, p<.01). Like mothers, fathers reported more FIW (F[1,388]=7.76, p<.01), but fathers reported more FEW (F[1,388]=9.14, p<.01).
Conclusions
Results suggest that parenting coaches perceive that family responsibilities interfere with the work role, but additionally, the work role enriches family-life, especially for mothers. Alignment with ecological theory is discussed, and further research elucidating the role of the four work-family factors is recommended.
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