The impact of work-Family conflict on job satisfaction of female lecturers in universities in Vietnam

refers to the provision of support tools, emotional attention, information of colleagues to increase the satisfaction of the lecturer (House in 1981; Michel and associates in 2011) Social support from the field of work provides support tools and interest in workers’ emotions that alleviate time conflicts, strain and work pressures due to overloading in both job and family roles. When employees can be aware of social assistance can minimize work pressure, they will lessen the sense of accountability and create positive attitude towards their work (Buonocore and Russo in 2013). In this opinion, the author analyzes the secretion of social support can reduce the negative relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction of the workers (Allen and associates in 2000; Shockley and Singla in 2011; Amstad and associates in 2011). From the above analysis, the author theorized the following: Hypothesis 3: The support of colleagues will reduce the negative impact of work to family conflict (WIF) to job satisfaction; Hypothesis 4: Support of the family will reduce the negative impact of work to family conflict (WIF) to job satisfaction; Hypothesis 5: Support of colleagues will reduce the negative impact of family to work conflict (FIW) to job satisfaction; Hypothesis 6: Support of the family will reduce the negative impact of family to work conflict (FIW) to job satisfaction. 2.5. Research Model and Hypothesis Based on the results of the above research overview, the author suggests hypotheses and research models to have a better understanding the effects of both WIF and FIW to the job satisfaction of the female lecturers, especially in the context of university education in Vietnam. Hình 1.5: Mô hình nghiên cứu CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS 3.1. Research process 3.1.1. Methods of scientific research 8 According to Creswell and Associates in 2003, when studying science in the field of business, there were 3 commonly used research methods: quantitative studies, quantitative and mixed studies (including quantitative and quantitative studies). Figure 3.1. Research process 3.2. Qualitative research 3.2.1. Qualitative research objectives I conducted qualitative research with in-depth interview method. The first objective of the qualitative research through in-depth interviews was to explore and examine the perceptions of female lecturers about work-family conflict, overloading of roles in work and roles in the family which influenced on job satisfaction, thereby i could show the appropriateness of the application of role theory in the implementation of research objectives. 3.2.2. Qualitative research methods To accomplish the research objectives, the author conducted many interviews with 3 target groups: Experts group, university leadership group and female lecturer group. The interviews were conducted independently at home or at the workplace of the interviewees, the interview time for each subject is about 60 minutes. Interview technique is observation and hand-to-hand discussion. In qualitative research, the author had designed a discussion framework of open- ended questions with content related to the research model and scale. The content of the interviews was recorded in paper or in audio (if the interviewes were allowed by the interviewees). 3.2.3. Qualitative research results 9 The results of qualitative research through in-depth interviews in consultation with experts, department leaders and female lecturers were as follows: Relevance of role theory and scarcity theory in the study of work-family conflict: The results showed that role theory and scarcity theory were assessed as suitable theories in considering the dimensions of work-family conflict, the role of women in the family and their role at work. The research model of job-family conflict was considered appropriate and was a new perspective to learn and study its impact on job satisfaction of female teachers in the university education context. 3.3. Preliminary quantitative research 3.3.1. Preliminary quantitative research objectives In the preliminary quantitative research, the author conducted a research and discovery at a public university in Hanoi. Discovery research at Trade Union University aimed at clarifying the current state of work-family conflict (WFC) issue of female university lecturers and its impact on job satisfaction. 3.3.2. Methods of conducting preliminary quantitative research The author conducting preliminary quantitative research based on the survey of 140 managers and lecturers who had been working more than 3 years of teaching in the content related to the research model and research hypotheses to assess the reliability of the adjusted scales and correct in qualitative research steps. 3.3.3. Development scale The author based on the theoretical basis and the previously published research results related to job role conflict and family role and job satisfaction. In order to develop a suitable scale for testing hypotheses based on the proposed research model, I had developed the scale according to the following steps: • Overview of research related to the research variables in the proposed research model. • Conduct qualitative research through interviews and group discussions with female lecturers and experts in the field of research. • Preliminary quantitative research through conducting discovery research at a university in Hanoi. • Adjusting and completing the scale to serve the large-scale research process. 3.3.3.1. Scale for work and family roles conflict In this study, the author used a multi-dimensional scale of Carlson et al. (2000) to measure work-family conflict (WFC). Each direction of WFC (WIF - work to family conflict or FIW - family to work conflict) is nested in three forms of WFC (time, strain, and behavior). Each form of 6-dimensional model consists of 3 observed variables forming 18 observed variables in total and using a scale from 1 to 5, from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). For example, for each form, WIF over time, "I don't have much time take care of family members because of my work". 3.2.2.2. Job satisfaction scale 10 Job satisfaction is an overall measure of how well an individual is satisfied or dissatisfied with his or her job. In order to measure job satisfaction, Spector in 1997 divided two common measurement methods for Global job satisfaction and Composite job satisfaction. The Hackman and Oldham evaluation questionnaire in 1975 and the Michigan organization (Cammann et al. in 1979) were used to assess overall job satisfaction. It included observed variables to measure general satisfaction. In this study, the author used the Global Job Satisfaction Scale to measure the overall job satisfaction level of female university lecturers. 3.2.2.3. Social support scale The Social Assistance Scale of Caplan et al. 1980 assessed three aspects: family support, supervisory support, and co-worker support. Each aspect consists of 4 observed variables forming 12 observed variables in total and using a scale from 0 to 4, from strongly disagree (0) to strongly agree (4). In this study, the author assesses the aspect of social support that are peer support and family support as variables that regulate the relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction of female university lecturers. 3.4. Official quantitative research 3.4.1. Designing research samples 3.4.1.1 Overall sample According to statistics of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, there were 242 universities in 2017-2018 period. The number of non-public universities is 49 (accounting for 20%), the number of public universities is 80%, which is 193 (including financial autonomous public universities). The total number of lecturers at public universities is 59,232 people. In particular, female lecturers are: 29,942 people, accounting for 50.6% of the total lecturers of public universities in the country. 3.4.1.2 Method of sampling Official quantitative research with samples of the whole country and the purpose of this study is to clarify the conflict of work and family roles of female lecturers in public universities in Vietnam and I want to conduct research in groups of female lecturers in financial autonomous public universities and non-autonomous universities. To ensure the reliability of the research data, which is representative of the whole population with the 95% confidence level and the research quality shown by the allowed tolerance level of +/- 5% as well as the requirement of the number of research samples for exploratory factor analysis (CFA) and linear structure model (SEM) Wolf et al. (2013) was at least 5 times the size of the total number of indicators in the scales. The questionnaire of this study includes 35 indicators used in factor analysis. Therefore, the minimum sample size to achieve is: 35 * 5 = 175 observations. 3.4.2. Questionnaire design and data collection 3.4.2.1. Process of building a questionnaire The questionnaire was built in the following order: 11 (1) Defining the theoretical concept of variables and how to measure variables in the theoretical model based on previous studies. (2) Developing a Vietnamese version of the questionnaire by translating the scales from English into Vietnamese. (3) Together with native speakers who have deep expertise in the field of research to translate the Vietnamese version into English for comparison, then to edit the Vietnamese version. (4) Vietnamese questionnaires are discussed and consulted by lecturers at public and private universities to evaluate and comment in order to ensure there is no misunderstanding about the language and content of questions. (5) Adjusting the original questionnaire and sending it to 140 lecturers in an online and direct form to verify the reliability of the scales. (6) Final modification to finalize the official questionnaire. 3.4.2.2. Data collection The author conducted the survey by sending the questionnaire directly (the questionnaire was sent to universities by sending paper copies by mail to a contact point at each university or distributed and retrieved via direct surveys of the author) and online to 900 lecturers working at autonomous and non-autonomous public universities in Vietnam. Each university, the author asked for the opinion of 25 - 40 female lecturers. 3.5. Analyzing and processing data 3.5.1. General process Based on preliminary quantitative research results, the author made some adjustments in the questionnaire and conducted official quantitative research. The official questionnaire was sent to 900 female university lecturers in Vietnam via direct and online form. The questionnaire after being collected would be conducted to clean the data, encoding the necessary information in the questionnaire, entering and analyzing data using SPSS software version 22. 3.5.2 Data description Statistics Through the data collected from a total of 624 lecturers of 27 universities across the country, the value of inclination (Skewness) and sharpness (Kurtosis) are within the allowable limits respectively in the range. +/- 2. The minimum and maximum values of the scale are from 1 to 5 and the values fluctuate around the equilibrium value of 2.9. 3.5.3. Evaluating reliability and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) EFA discovery factor analysis aimed to test the value of variables to assess the convergence of the scales of each factor. Observed variables with load factors <0.5 would be removed. Next, the author evaluated the reliability of the scale based on Cronbach's coefficient alpha> 0.6 and the scale would meet the requirements when the total variance were more than 50% according to Hair et al. in 2006. The author then explored Factor Analysis with Principal Axis Factoring method, Promax rotation. 3.5.4. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) 12 The author conducted an EFA-scale test to help with preliminary screening and identify the structure of the scale used in the study. To ensure the reliability and quality assurance of the measurement scale, the author continued to use the CFA affirmative factor analysis method to verify the structure of each factor according to the measurement scales of variables in the research model (Nguyen Dinh Tho and Nguyen Thi Mai Trang in 2008). CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS 4.1. Research background 4.1.1. Higher education and career characteristics of lecturers In the recent period, when knowledge economy is the choice of most countries, education, in particular, higher education plays an vital role as a key factor and a driving force for economic development. Education and training contribute to social and political stability, improving the human development index and contributing to the labor market. In particular, lecturers are an important resource in higher education institutions because they play an important role in achieving the goals and successes of higher education institutions (According to Sharma and Jvoti in 2009). 4.1.2. Characteristics of management in universities in Vietnam According to statistics as of April 2017 of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, there has been 242 universities in the country, including 193 public universities (accounting for 80%). For public universities in Vietnam, the Ministry of Education and Training manages all professional activities on enrollment, training, examinations and education quality assurance. Resolution No. 14/2005 on the comprehensive renovation of Vietnamese higher education and the main objective of the Resolution 77/NQ-CP have clearly stated to “encourage public higher education institutions to actively exploit, rational and effective use of resources to improve the quality of university training and reduce costs for the state budget” (Government in 2014). According to the current resolution on public universities, there are two financial mechanisms: state control (non-autonomy universities) and autonomy activities through state supervision (university autonomy). 4.2. Descriptive statistics research sample The results of the survey data collection are as follows: I have conducted the survey by sending direct and online questionnaires to 900 lecturers who have been working at autonomous and non-autonomous public universities in Vietnam. The survey period was from September 2018 to August 2019. The number of votes collected was: 715 votes (79.4%). The number of valid votes was: 624 votes (reaching 87.2%). In particular, the direct votes were 479 votes (76.8%), online votes were 145 votes (23.2%); There were 624 lecturers from 27 public universities who were autonomy and not self-sufficient in the survey. 4.3. Situation of level of work-family conflict and job satisfaction of female lecturers in universities in Vietnam 13 Through the survey data collected, the comments of 624 lecturers from 27 autonomous public universities and non-autonomous public universities across the country. The author has synthesized and analyzed the evaluation opinions according to all collected data and the autonomous and non-autonomous university governance model according to Table 4.4 below. The individual opinions indicated that the overall average value of the work to family conflict (WIF) factor was 3.445. In particular, the average value of the autonomous school group was higher than the average value of the non-autonomous school group, namely 3.516 and 3.380. The evaluation of family to work conflict (FIW) factor with an overall average of 2,886 showed lower than the overall average of the work to family conflict (WIF). At the same time, the mean value of the family to work conflict (FIW) of the autonomous university group was 3.033, which was also higher than that of the autonomous university group of 2.750. This result showed that the level of conflict among female teachers in autonomous schools was higher than that of non-autonomous group teachers. At the same time, the mean value of the family to work conflict (FIW) of the autonomous university group was 3.033, which was also higher than that of the autonomous university group of 2.750. This result showed that the level of conflict among female teachers in autonomous schools was higher than that of non-autonomous group teachers. The overall average value of the “Co-worker support” variable was 2.571, in which, the average value of the group of lecturers who were in non-autonomy public universities was 2.773 - higher than that average value of the group of autonomously public universities lecturers which was 2.353. Meanwhile, the average value data of the Family Support variable also showed similar results, the group of lecturers in non-autonomous public universities has received more support from the family than that group in autonomous public ones with corresponding figures of 2.773 and 2.353 respectively. 4.4. Test results of research hypotheses 4.4.1. The impact of work-family conflict on job satisfaction In ordet to test the research hypothesis after testing the scales, the author used the SEM linear structure model to examine the relationship between the study variables in the model. 14 Figure 4.1. The results of SEM analysis through the theoretical model The results of the linear structure analysis of the research model show that the model is consistent with the survey data with the parameters: Chi-square / df = 2.002; df = 239; GFI = 0.942; TLI = 0.965; IFI = 0.970 are both more than 0.9 and RMSEA = 0.040. The results of estimating standardized and non-standardized parameters, standard errors and critical values in the theoretical model are presented in the following Table 4.7: Table 4.7. The results estimate the impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable Impacts Estimating by the Maximum Likerhood method Standardized error (SE) Critical value P value Non- standardized Standardized JS <--- WIF -0,380 -0,344 0,047 -8,056 0,000 JS <--- FIW -0,247 -0,233 0,044 -5,611 0,000 The above estimation results show that the estimates are statistically significant (P <0.05). The standardized regression coefficients in Table 4.7 show that the work to family conflict (WIF) and the family to work conflict (FIW) have a negative impact on job satisfaction with the corresponding values are -0,344 and -0,233 respectively with P <0.05, the standard errors are 0,047 and 0,044 respectively. That means hypotheses 1 and 2 are supported by the research data. 4.4.2. The impact of social support on the relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction The author has examined the influence of the variables regulating the co-worker support and family support respectively on the relationship between work to family conflict and job satisfaction; The relationship between family to work conflict and job satisfaction will be used in a regression-hierarchical technique - MMR (Nguyen Dinh Tho in 2011). 15 Table 4.8. Regulating regression results of effects of colleague support Job Satisfation β Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Step 1 Controlation variable Age -.032 -.026 -.001 .003 Degree .113* .088* .036 .037 Income .150* .149* .089* .087* Experience .017 .023 .011 .011 Job position .126* .100* .034 .037 Step 2 Independent variable WIF -.305* -.197* -.210* Step 3 Moderator variable SSW .613* .611* Step 4 Support WIF * SSW .066* Model F 5.444 15.919 84.037 74.660 F Change 5.444 65.455 426.824 5.101 R2 .042 .134 .488 .493 Note: *p<0.05 The results of the regression analysis in Table 4.8 show that support for colleagues regulates the relationship between work to family conflict (WIF) and job satisfaction. Specifically, the relationship between work to family conflict (WIF) and job satisfaction will become less negative as the support of colleagues increases. The estimated coefficient of the interaction variable WIF * SSW is β = 0.066 *; p <0.05. Hypothesis 3 is accepted. . 16 Figure 4.2. The graph of the regulatory effect of co-worker support on the relationship between work to family conflict (WIF) and job satisfaction (JS) It can be seen that, along with the increase of WIF, the slope of the regression line reflects the relationship between JS and WIF becomes more comfortable when SSW is high, and the slope is also in a lower position when SSW is low. This means: when there is good co-worker support, even though the WIF is high, the level of JS reduction is limited; and vice versa, when co-worker support is not positive, when WIF increases, JS decreases at a more significant level. Table 4.9. The results of the regressive influence of family support Job satisfation β Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Step 1 Controlation variable Age -.032 -.026 -.036 -.030 Degree .113* .088* .085* .084* Income .150* .149* .126* .124* Experience .017 .023 -.011 -.016 Job position .126* .100* .073* .071 Step 2 Independent variable WIF -.305* -.231* -.245* Step 3 Moderator variable SSW .419* .420* Step 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Low WIF High WIF H à i l ò n g c ô n g v i ệ c ( J S ) Co-worker support (SSW) Low SSW High SSW 17 Job satisfation β Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Support WIF * SSW .067 Model F 5.444 15.919 38.056 33.925 F Change 5.444 65.455 148.102 3.801 R2 .042 .134 .302 .306 Note: *p<0.05 On the other hand, the regression analysis results in Table 4.9 show that family support is not statistically significant. The estimated coefficient of the interaction variable WIF * SSF is β = 0.067 with p> 0.05. This reflects the relationship between work-family conflict (WIF) and job satisfaction (JS) which will be no less negative when family support increases. Or when work to family conflict decreases, the support of the family will not affect to increase the job satisfaction of female teachers. Therefore, hypothesis 4 in the research model is not supported by research data Figure 4.3. The graph of the regulatory effect of family support on the relationship between work to family conflict (WIF) and job satisfaction (JS) Co-worker support will reduce the relationship between family-work conflict (FIW) and the job satisfaction of female trainers. This is shown by the estimated coefficient of interaction between FIW and SSW (the SSW variable modified the relationship between FIW and JS), The estimated coefficient of the interaction variable FIW * SSW is β = 0.086 *; p <0.05 (Table 4.10), so this result shows that the role of family to work conflict when the regulation of the SSW variable affects job satisfaction (JS) in the direction will become less negative when the support of colleagues increases. In other words, when there is support from colleagues (SSW variable), family roles conflict will decrease, job satisfaction of female teachers will increase. This shows that hypothesis 5 is accepted. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Low WIF High WIF H à i l ò n g c ô n g v i ệ c ( J S ) Family Support (SSF) Low SSF 18 Table 4.10. Regulating regression results of effects of co-worker support Job satisfation β Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Step 1 Controlation variable Age -.032 -.045 -.009 -.002 Degree .113* .085* .042 .043 Income .150* .145* .087* .084* Experience .017 .038 .014 .007 Job position .126* .102* .041 .042 Step 2 Independent variable FIW -.254* -.090* -.094* Step 3 Moderator variable SSW .625* .625* Step 4 Support WIF * SSW .086* Model F 5.444 12.159 74.593 67.113 F Change 5.444 43.845 401.811 8.440 R2 .042 .106 .459 .466 Note: *p<0.05 It can be seen that, along with the increase of FIW, the slope of the regression line reflects the relationship between JS and FIW becoming more comfortable when SSW is high, and the slope is also in a lower position when SSW is low. This means: when there is good SSW support, even though FIW is high, the JS reduction is limited; and vice versa, when SSW is not positive, FIW increases, JS decreases at a more significant level. Family support will reduce the relationship between family to work conflict (FIW) and job satisfaction. Specifically, the relationship between work to family conflict (WIF) and job satisfaction (JS) will not diminish negatively as family support increases. This result is