THE DARK SIDE OF FAMILY SUPPORTIVE SUPERVISOR BEHAVIORS: IS GETTING HELP WITH FAMILY NEEDS DETRIMENTAL TO WOMEN'S CAREERS?

• Main Author: Howard, Gino
• Format: Others
• Published: CSUSB ScholarWorks 2019
• Subjects: Work and Family; Family Support; Career Advancement; Women's Career Advancement; Industrial-Organizational Psychology; Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/952; https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2054&context=etd

This study focuses on the negative impact that family supportive supervisor behaviors may have on career advancement for women in addition to the positive impact of family supportive supervisor behaviors in reducing work-family conflict. Data was collected using an online questionnaire through a university research management system including student participants and snowball sampling through email and social media platforms for a combined sample of 154 participants. Our results showed that increases in family supportive supervisor behaviors is associated with decreases in work-family conflict in agreement with findings in the literature. More specifically, the study showed that family supportive supervisor behaviors are only related to work-family conflict when supervisor’s hold primarily egalitarian gender beliefs. Contrary to our hypotheses, family supportive supervisor beliefs were positively related to a predictor of career advancement: Career mentoring. While our findings provide clarity for subordinate outcomes when supervisors hold primarily egalitarian beliefs, future research should further examine the potentially negative impacts of family supportive supervisor behaviors in the context of subordinates who have supervisors that hold primarily traditional gender beliefs.