Date of Award

Fall 12-2015

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Program

Counselor Education

Department

Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Foundations

Major Professor

Dufrene, Roxane; Lyons, Matthew

Second Advisor

Watson, Zarus

Third Advisor

O'Hanlon, Ann

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between female counselors’ work-family conflict and their demographic (i.e., ethnicity, age, educational level, and annual household income), occupational (i.e., ethnicity, age, educational level, and annual household income), and family (i.e., marital/partner status; number of children at home under the age of 18; age of youngest child; care of elderly, ill, or disabled family members; source of support; and support) characteristics. Super’s (1990) Life-Space Life-Span theory provided a framework to understand female counselors’ engagement in multiple roles in work and family and the conflict that can result in two directions: work interfering with family (WIF), and family interfering with work (FIW) (Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992). Female counselors were contacted through electronic email communication in which they received a link to access the online survey that totaled 51 questions. Female counselors from the state of Louisiana and Alabama participated in the survey for a sample size of 266.

Pearson’s correlation indicated significant relationships for WIF and the following variables: (a) annual household income, (b) hours per week spent in employment, (c) counseling license, (d) workplace flexibility, (e) autonomy, (f) marital/partner status, and (g) source of support. For FIW, significant relationships were found for the following variables: (a) autonomy; (b) number of children at home under the age of 18; (c) age of the youngest child; (d) care of elderly, ill, or disabled family members; (e) hours per week spent in home chores and errands; and (f) support. Autonomy and hours per week spent in employment significantly predicted female counselors’ WIF scores. Autonomy; age of the youngest child; care of elderly, ill, or disabled family members; and support predicted female counselors’ FIW scores.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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