Family-friendly support programs and work family conflict among Indonesian higher education employees

• Date: 16 November 2015
• Pages: 726-741
• Published date: 16 November 2015
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2015-0026
• Author: Tri Wulida Afrianty,John Burgess,Theodora Issa

Family-friendly support

programs and work family

conflict among Indonesian higher

education employees

Tri Wulida Afrianty

Faculty of Administrative Science,

University of Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia, and

John Burgess and Theodora Issa

Curtin University, Perth, Australia

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of family-friendly programs at the

workplace in the Indonesian higher education sector. The focus is the impact that these programs have

on employees’work family conflict.

Design/methodology/approach –A survey of academic and non-academic staff from 30 higher

education institutions across Indonesia participated in the research. A total of 159 completed

questionnairesfrom 109 academic and 50from non-academic staff are reportedand statistically analysed

using SPSS.

Findings –Work and family experiences in Indonesia do not positively align with the findings

reported in most academic literature pertaining to western societies where the use of family-friendly

programs (i.e. flexible work options, specialized leave options and dependent care support) leads to a

reduction in employees’work family conflict. In fact, some of the programs were found to have the

opposite effect in the Indonesian context.

Research limitations/implications –The design of family-friendly support has to takeinto account

the contextin which the policies will operates;these policies are not transferableacross countriesin terms

of their effectiveness.

Originality/value –This is one of the first studies that has examined the operation and effectiveness

of family-friendly support programs in an Indonesian context.

Keywords Academic staff, Developing countries

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Organizational support to assist employees in balancing their work and family

responsibilities can take many forms under the heading of family-friendly programs

(FFPs). Previous studies (Muse and Pichler, 2011; Ratnasingam et al., 2012) indicated

that the majority of the research examining the impact of FFPs has typically examined

perceived availability of the programs while largely neglecting their actual utilization.

Few studies directly asses FFPs in non-western countries (Butts et al., 2013) and the

research findings of work and family-related issues that have been conducted in

western economies may not be applicable to countries with different underlying

cultures and forms of social organization. The aim of this paper is to examine the

impact of FFPs on work family conflict among employees in an Indonesian context.

Investigatingwork and family-related issuesin Indonesia is important fora number of

reasons. First, the family is considered as the mostcentral element in Indonesian culture

(Sat, 2012). Second, Indonesia is categorized as one of the next generation of emerging

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 34 No. 8, 2015

pp. 726-741

©Emerald Group Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-04-2015-0026

Received 19 April 2015

Revised 15 August 2015

Accepted 1 September 2015

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

726

EDI

34,8

industrialized countries and there is a growing recognition at the policy level of the

importance of addressing employees’interests (Bamber and Legget, 2001). Third,

Indonesia has experienced a significant growth in female participation in the workforce

(World Bank, 2013) which has resulted in an increasing number of dual earner families

(Ridho and AlRaysid, 2010) and which in turn makeswork and family balance important

in terms of employee attraction and retention. In addition, Indonesian labor law requires

that all employees receive equal employment opportunities and that workplaces are free

of discrimination in order to promote the well-being of employees and their families.

This research is located in the Indonesian higher education sector. Indonesia is the

largest Muslim nation globally, with a population of around 230 m. It comprises over

500 ethnic groups, 14,000 islands and 600 languages (Welch, 2007). There are around

3.5 m. students enrolled in the higher education sector. The Asian financial crisis of the

late 1990 s resulted in Indonesia requiring large loans from international financial

agencies in order to meet the effects of the crisis on national finances (Susanti, 2011).

The structural adjustment conditions imposed by funding agencies such as the World

Bank saw a shift toward the privatization of the provision of higher education and a

decentralization of responsibility toward the provinces (Susanti, 2011). Subsequently

there was reduced national funding for public higher education institutions as their

share in the sector declined. There are around 2,700 higher education institutions, but

only 3 percent (about 80) are public institutions. Total enrollments in the sector are

around 2.6 m (Susanti, 2011). Welch (2007) details the challenges facing the sector:

these include financial viability in the face of reducing public funding; pay and

retention issues around attracting quality staff; large numbers of under qualified

staff (PhDs for staff are rare); and persistent quality assur ance challenges around

degrees, staff and resources.

Recently the strategic status of higher education has been recognized with the sector

receiving additional funding for development. With the increased expenditure,attracting

and retaining a qualified workforce in higher education, including women, is one of the

aims of the Indonesian Directorate General of Higher Education (DIKTI, 2013).

The number of women participating in higher education has increased significantly and

at least 20 percent of the senior positions in the higher education sector are held by

women (Yakub,2013). This indicates the relevanceof studying work and family issues in

the context ofa growing and strategic higher educationsector. Despite the significance of

the sector, and a strong case for examining work and family-related issues in the sector,

research on the sector is limited (Fox et al., 2011).

FFPs

FFPs refer to a group of formal organizational programs and initiatives designed

with the aim of helping employees balance their work and lives (Lee and Hong, 2011).

The FFPs investigated in this paper are categorized into flexible work options,

specialized leave options and dependent care support. Flexible work options refer to

arrangements that provide opportunity for employees to vary their working hours to

better meet family commitments or others life demands (Burgess and Strachan, 20 05).

The term is often used to cover a range of programs, including reduced hours,

non-standard hours, various form of remote working, and compressed working hours

(Kelliher and Anderson, 2010). Specialized leave options refer to different leave

arrangements and time that can be taken off from work. Specialized leave options

include bereavement leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, sabbatical leave and leave

to take care for sick family member (Bardoel, 2003). Dependent care support refers

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Family-friendly

support

programs