Gbajumo-Sheriff, Mariam (2016) Does work-life balance have a cultural face? : Understanding the work-life interface of Nigerian working mothers. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

With the increase in the number of women working in the formal economy, there has been a growing literature on women handling multiple roles arising from work and the home. Currently there is a gap in the literature about the activities of working mothers in emerging economies, with theories and most findings concentrated on studies in advanced economies. This study therefore intends to fill part of the gap in the literature by investigating the lives of working mothers in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria, with a view of understanding their challenges, pains and gains as they navigate between the home and work spheres.

This research adopted a qualitative approach through the administration of semi-structured interviews to working mothers, supervisors and Human Resources practitioners. Using the Greenhaus and Beutell’s (1985) sources of conflict model, this study explored the work and family lives of working mothers in Nigeria, thereby giving a detailed view of the time, strain and behaviour-based conflict they experience, as well as appropriate coping strategies that have been put in place to mitigate the effects of such conflicts.

Findings complement earlier studies on work and family in Africa focusing on the experience of strain by working mothers in Nigeria. However, analysis from this study suggests that some of these stress-related conflicts were caused by the prevalent work culture of presenteeism. In comparing evidence of a more equal sharing of domestic tasks between couples in advanced economies, the embrace of equal sharing of housework by men and a demand for such by women in Nigeria is rather limited and slow. A striking difference on the strategies employed by working mothers in the west and in Nigeria is that what working mothers in Nigeria lose by way of government support, they gain in the form of family support.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Working mothers -- Nigeria, Sexual division of labor -- Nigeria, Work and family -- Nigeria, Women -- Employment -- Nigeria, Petroleum industry and trade -- Nigeria, Work-life balance -- Nigeria
Official Date:	April 2016
Dates:	Date Event April 2016 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Institute for Employment Research
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Lyonette, Clare ; Brown, Alan (Alan John), 1950-
Sponsors:	University of Warwick. Chancellor International Scholarship ; Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Nigeria)
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	x, 304 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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