Anticipated work-family conflict: Effects of role salience and self-efficacy

The current study investigated how male and female university students' self-efficacy and their role salience contributed to the variance in their anticipated work-family conflict (WFC). Participants comprised 387 unmarried students (mean age 24 years). Cluster analysis yielded four profiles of participants who differed in their attributions of importance to work and family roles: work oriented, family oriented, dual oriented, and no orientation. Of the women, 30.1% were family oriented, versus only 18.9% of the men. The work oriented participants anticipated the highest levels of WFC and demonstrated the lowest efficacy to manage this conflict. The family oriented participants anticipated the lowest levels of WFC and demonstrated the highest efficacy to manage it. Implications were raised for research and career counselling.