Work Life Balance: A Cross-Cultural Review of Dual-Earner Couples in India and the United States

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1 616342ADHXXX / Advances in Developing Human ResourcesMunn and Chaudhuri research-article2015 Article Work Life Balance: A Cross-Cultural Review of Dual-Earner Couples in India and the United States Advances in Developing Human Resources 2016, Vol. 18(1) The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalspermissions.nav DOI: / adhr.sagepub.com Sunny L. Munn 1* and Sanghamitra Chaudhuri 2* Abstract The Problem. Today s global workforce is rife with dual-earner couples. For dual-earner couples, finding a suitable balance between work and living is often difficult, creating a need for organizations globally to be aware of the similarities and dissimilarities that exist for dual-earner couples around the world. This article identifies the work life issues of dual-earner couples and organizational practices in both the United States and India in an effort to help organizations effectively manage work life policies affecting the gender role dynamics of today s multicultural organizations. The Solution. This article identifies themes within the work life literature for dual-earner couples in India and the United States in an effort to inform human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners about the current state and work life needs of dual-earner couples in both countries. It would be beneficial for HRD professionals to understand and appreciate better workplace demographics in terms of social, cultural, and legal requirements in the two countries to encourage the creation and implementation of work life friendly policies and environments. The Stakeholders. This research benefits HRD practitioners and scholars, employers, public policy officials, and dual-earner couples employed in the United States and India. It opens the door to a better understanding of the transferability of current research to practice. 1 Ashland University, OH, USA 2 University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA *Both the authors have contributed equally for this article. Corresponding Author: Sanghamitra Chaudhuri, University of Minnesota, Room 110 WullH, 86 Pleasant St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. chaud020@umn.edu

2 Munn and Chaudhuri 55 Keywords India, United States, dual-earner couples, work family balance, work life balance Introduction Increasing numbers of women entering the workforce, creating dual-earner couples, has created a continuous juggle between work and home in many cultures worldwide. Changing gender roles and dynamics has also generated considerable interest among human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners as it may affect employee attitudes and behaviors (Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005). Today s global workforce includes a significant proportion of dual-earner couples who are navigating the demands of the workplace, child care, and elder care issues (Hill, Yang, Hawkins, & Ferris, 2004). Finding a suitable balance between work and living is an incessant challenge for dual-earner couples not only nationally, but also globally (Aryee, Srinivas, & Tan, 2005). Work life research is common in highly industrialized countries, such as the United States, Australia, and parts of Europe (Poster & Prasad, 2005). International work life research is needed in less-industrialized countries due to converging labor patterns (Lincoln & Kalleberg, 1990; Munn & Lee, 2014) and a need to understand the effects of globalization on work life balance. Missing from the literature is work life research from less-industrialized countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Including such countries in work life research will further highlight the effects of globalization on the work life balance of dual-earning couples. Studying dual-earner couples in India and the United States will begin to close this gap. Cross-cultural studies will not only help to chart effective work life policies universally, but can also result in enhanced theory building by including a socio-cultural context (Gelfand & Knight, 2005). In both the United States and India, work life research including dual-earner couples is intrinsically tied to gender. Dynamics of both the workplace and home environment changed with the entry of women into the workforce. In the United States, issues of work life became critically important in the 1970s as women with families entered the workforce in higher numbers (Kanter, 1977). In India, the economy was liberalized around 1991, increasing exposure to global competitiveness, opportunities for economic growth, and the entry of more female employees into the workforce (Lewis, Gambles, & Rapoport, 2007). In both countries, working women created the need for organizations to address gender and diversity through work life initiatives, making it easier for dual-earner couples to balance work and life. Business is increasing between Indian and U.S. organizations, with India frequently being a preferred destination for the United States s outsourcing of technology and business services. Therefore, it would be beneficial to HRD professionals to understand the social, cultural, and legal requirements between the two countries to encourage the creation of work life policies and culturally accepting organizational environments. Given the national contexts of these two countries, a comparison of the work life needs of dual-earner couples is warranted in India, having women in the

3 56 Advances in Developing Human Resources 18(1) workforce is fairly recent. These cultural values are rooted in traditional gender roles in which women are expected to primarily be homemakers and caregivers as compared with the United States where it is the norm for women to be employed outside of the home (Lewis et al., 2007). The purpose of this article is to identify themes within the work life literature for dual-earner couples in India and the United States. Supportive organizational practices in India and the United States that facilitate the work life balance of dual-earner couples are discussed. The identification and transferability of HRD practices used to enable the work life balance of employees in both countries are also explored. Understanding the impact of workforce gender dynamics and the impact of work life programming on dual-earner couples could provide direction to practitioners and scholars in both countries working to enhance work life programs within organizations. Work Life and Work Family Balance Work family research emerged in the United States in the 1970s when Kanter (1977) identified the need for organizational and social policies to address the intersections of work and family life. Later, the term work family was re-coined work life as a means of promoting inclusivity for employees with and without family responsibilities (Barnett, 1999; Pitt-Catsouphes & Googins, 2005). More recently, Bierema (2009) has brought into question the patriarchal practices of HRD and its impact on life work and gender. The economic reform initiated in India in 1991 brought more exposure to global competitiveness and opportunities for economic growth and witnessed the entry of more female employees into the workforce (Lewis et al., 2007). Since then, India has witnessed a steep rise in burgeoning middle-class families due to fast economic growth, rapid expansion of its urban areas, and a booming software sector (Rajadhyaksha, 2012). This has substantially affected family structures in India, resulting in a demographic shift in the workforce with noticeably more female workers. Method For the purpose of this analysis, a structured literature review was used (Rocco, Stein, & Lee, 2003). First, emergent trends and issues were identified within and across the two countries by scanning the research, establishing selection criteria, creating a database of records, and using Boyatzis s (1998) content analysis. Google Scholar was chosen as the database because of its accessibility and inclusivity of a variety of databases across disciplines (Mayr & Walter, 2008; Walters, 2009) and its integration of international academic sources (Jo, Jeung, Park, & Yoon, 2009). Returned results were sorted by relevance; patents and citations were excluded from the search. Because of emerging trends in work family/work life research in the United States (Lewis et al., 2007; Ozbilgin, Beauregard, Tatli, & Bell, 2011) and the economic climate of India, this review was divided into two time periods: and Both

4 Munn and Chaudhuri 57 work family and work life were used as search terms in each country during the two time periods for dual-earner couples. Four search descriptors were used to identify the literature between 1970 and 1990: (a) work life balance and dual-earner couples in India (0 articles), (b) work life balance and dual-earner couples in the United States (3 articles), (c) work family balance and dual-earner couples in India (0 articles), and (d) work family balance and dual-earner couples in the United States (5 articles). These same descriptors were used to identify literature between 1991 and 2015: (a) work life balance and dual-earner couples in India (582 articles), (b) work life balance and dual-earner couples in the United States (3,630 articles), (c) work family balance and dual-earner couples in India (1,010 articles), and (d) work family balance and dualearner couples in the United States (3,000 articles). Because Google Scholar returns items by relevance and to keep the review at a manageable level, a preliminary analysis of the first 10 Google Scholar search pages (10 items per page) was made. All downloadable articles (books and book chapters were excluded) matching the search results were saved to a shared Google Drive folder for further review, except those that were clearly outliers based on titles. The abstracts and sometimes methods (when abstracts were incomplete) were scanned to determine if the article met the following criteria: (a) geographical location of study (must include India and/or the United States), (b) empirical study (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methodology), and (c) sample composition (inclusion of dualearners). The articles were sorted into folders based on sample composition: (a) dualearners, (b) mixed gender (no couples), (c) women only, and (d) organizations. The remaining articles were placed into an other folder because they did not meet the geography and/or methods criteria. There was one article that overlapped both the work life and work family search for India and four that overlapped in the U.S. search. Work life research continues to be more prevalent in the United States than in India, but it is gaining relevance and popularity in India. Because it was required that the sample include dual-earners, available research was more prevalent for both countries in the latter time period; regardless, samples of dual-earners are still scarcer than samples of individuals. Although 3,630 items were returned in the work life balance and dual-earner couples in the United States in search, only 50 of the first 100 items were relevant to the current study, and then only seven of those actually used a sample of dual-earners. Another example of the restrictiveness of the term dualearners shows that conducting an identical search without the term dual-earner returned 22,000 results for the United States and 11,000 for India. Results Although eight searches were conducted, the four searches did not return empirical research. Therefore, only results from the four searches are presented. As there was little differentiation in how the terms work family versus work life were used in the returned research, the results were combined and are presented by country.

5 58 Advances in Developing Human Resources 18(1) The methods used were generally quantitative rather than qualitative or mixed. The U.S. studies included mostly married, White, middle-class couples with children. Research on dual-earners in India represented mostly middle-class families or urban women (Rajadhyaksha, 2012). The U.S. research was published in sociology or family studies journals, whereas Indian studies were published in management and business journals. The dual-earner lifestyle is still an emerging phenomenon in India; therefore, the limited results are not surprising. Other identified studies in both India and the United States had women, or both men and women, in the sample and referred to dual-earners in their discussion. U.S. studies used larger samples as dual-earner families are less common in India. Dual-Earner Couples and Work Life/Work Family Balance in India There were six studies (Jyothi & Neelakantan, 2014; Kalliath, Kalliath, & Singh, 2011; Kaur & Kumar, 2014; Majhi & Panda, 2014; Rajadhyaksha & Bhatnagar, 2000; Ramadoss & Rajadhyaksha, 2012) that sampled Indian dual-earner couples. This section provides a discussion of common themes, including the identification of coping skills and gender roles. Coping skills. Children often have a major impact on the work life balance of dualearner couples. Kaur and Kumar (2014) suggested dual-earner couples with children under 5 years take a time-out alarm to allow for more quality time with their children and to decrease pressure at work. The idea behind this coping mechanism is to encourage parents to put less work pressure on themselves when their children are young. Using a qualitative study, Kalliath et al. (2011) identified several coping strategies, including religion, attitude, helping others, and getting support from family and friends, especially for women when dealing with work life conflict. In an exploratory study, Majhi and Panda (2014) tested the internal consistency of Problem-Focused Coping and Emotion-Focused Coping Scales. Results were significant for women on the Problem-Focused Scale (α =.79), and for men, on the Emotion-Focused Scale (α =.74) indicating gender differences. The authors claimed that these scales are powerful mediators between role overload and marital quality (p. 71); however, there was no connection to factors measuring work life conflict. Gender roles. For women in dual-earning families, the responsibility toward family has been as important as their commitment to work. However, for men, excelling in their careers was the priority, and family responsibility was limited to providing financial support (Kalliath et al., 2011). Similarly, women were more committed to the homemaker role than their male counterparts; commitment to occupational and homemaker roles remain unaffected with changing age for men and women (Bhatnagar & Rajadhyaksha, 2001). Given the nature of Indian social strata, where men are by default the primary breadwinners, the finding that men are more committed to their occupational role when compared with women is not surprising.

6 Munn and Chaudhuri 59 Kalliath et al. (2011) found that, due to the importance of the institution of family, it was impossible for Indian women to work without spousal and extended family support. Yet, men tended to receive more spousal and supervisor support when compared to their wives (Bhatnagar & Rajadhyaksha, 2001). Women had significantly greater work-to-parent conflict than men, given that women are typically most involved in the day-to-day activities of the house and children. Although both men and women received support from supervisors, co-workers, and extended family members, it was significantly higher for men than for women in managing work and family responsibilities. This leads to men experiencing more work-to-family conflict, where stressors and demand from work carry over to family and make it harder to duly perform family responsibilities; women experience more family-to-work conflict, where stressors and demand from family carry over to work and makes it difficult to perform work responsibilities (Kalliath et al., 2011; Voydanoff, 2005). This might occur because men have greater job variety, job complexity, and work-schedule flexibility than women (Ramadoss & Rajadhyaksha, 2012). Although women and men report differently on individual items of a Quality of Work Life (QWL) Scale, using t tests, Jyothi and Neelakantan (2014) found no significant difference in QWL by gender. Only the variable regulation and rule orientation, which measured an employee s agreement with the ability to express opinions to managers was significantly different among men and women; women were more likely to disagree, indicating that they did not feel comfortable expressing themselves to their managers. This disagreement might occur because men are more likely to be in positions of authority and tend to establish the culture of acceptability in the workplace. Traditional gender roles may also play into women feeling less comfortable stating their opinions. Dual-Earner Couples and Work Life/Work Family Balance in the United States There were 18 studies (Batt & Valcour, 2003; Butler, Grzywacz, Bass, & Linney, 2005; Chesley, 2005; Edlund, 2007; Grandey, Cordeiro, & Crouter, 2005; Haddock & Bowling, 2002; Haddock & Rattenborg, 2003; Haddock, Zimmerman, Current, & Harvey, 2003; Haddock, Zimmerman, Lyness, & Ziemba, 2006; Haddock, Zimmerman, Ziemba, & Curent, 2001; Hill et al., 2006; Huang, Hammer, Neal, & Perrin, 2004; Lee & Waite, 2005; Matthews, Del Priore, Acitelli, & Barnes-Farrell, 2006; Offer & Schneider, 2011; Pedersen, Minnotte, Kiger, & Mannon, 2009; Sweet, Swisher, & Moen, 2005; Zimmerman, 2003) that sampled U.S. dual-earner couples. This section provides a discussion of the common themes, including an examination of adaptive strategies and gender roles. Adaptive strategies. Successful marital partnerships are enhanced if couples believe in a mutually symbiotic relationship and work collaboratively to divide responsibilities in their day-to-day lives. Zimmerman (2003) reported that successful couples enter into marital partnerships to earn work family balance by sharing housework, getting

7 60 Advances in Developing Human Resources 18(1) involved in child care activities, making decisions, obtaining equal control over finances, being respectful of each other s work life goals, and sharing emotional work. Consistent with other studies, women were slightly more involved with chores related to family, including child care and organizing family life, whereas men gave more attention to their careers. Adaptive strategies representative of supportive workplaces include flexible work scheduling, non-traditional schedules, professional/job autonomy, working at home, supportive supervisors, supportive colleagues and supervisees, and firm boundaries (Haddock et al., 2006, p. 216). Interestingly, family friendly company policies and supportive co-workers were not as important as other strategies. However, for some, taking employment in places offering family friendly policies was a requirement. Employees have a more adaptive platform if organizations introduce favorable practices, including flexible scheduling to provide more control and autonomy in their job (Butler et al., 2005). Another strategy used by women was to select communities based on safety and proximity to their spouse s job (Sweet et al., 2005). Gender roles. Findings from time-use studies have interesting gender role implications in which both men and women provide overestimates based on pre-conceived notions of what a woman should be doing. Lee and Waite (2005) demonstrated that men overestimate their time spent on housework, whereas women make more accurate estimates of their husband s time. Although women do, on average, 13 more hours of housework per week than men, both men and women overestimate the time women spend on household chores. Similarly, Huang et al. (2004) found that 55% of men versus 45% of women felt that there was an equal division of labor when it came to child care in their homes. These results demonstrate a misalignment among couples in their perceptions of who cares for the children more frequently. Although Huang et al. (2004) tested for the relationships between work-to-family conflict and family-towork conflict between genders, Lee and Waite (2005) made no linkages to the role of outside employment for either men or women, but, if both partners are working and one partner is doing the lion s share of the work at home, it is most likely that there are negative implications for that partner at work. For example, Offer and Schneider (2011) found that when mothers multi-task in public, they are more likely to experience higher levels of work family conflict and family time guilt. However, when mothers multi-task in the presence of their children, they experience lower work family conflict. These experiences are not the same for fathers. Forty-two percent of women sampled felt that they had work life balance, whereas 48% were overcome by occupational work overload (Edlund, 2007). Fiftynine percent of men felt that they were balanced, whereas 30% felt occupational work overload. Given the unequal division of labor at home and the second shift taken on by women (Hochschild, 1989), it is surprising that 11% of men felt a dual-work overload in comparison with 10% of the women (Edlund, 2007). Job security was a significant predictor for lower work family conflict and lower turnover intentions for both men and women (Batt & Valcour, 2003). Households with children had significantly less control over work family management. Supervisor

8 Munn and Chaudhuri 61 support had a notable positive influence on women s work family conflict and turnover intentions, but it did not affect men. Conversely, men preferred flexible scheduling that lowered their turnover intentions. Women show weaker job satisfaction when they perceive that their job is interfering with their family responsibilities, but men do not follow the same pattern (Grandey et al., 2005). Pedersen et al. (2009) found that when the female partner works more, there is a negative relationship with family role quality, but when she uses time flexibly, there is a positive relationship with family role quality. A more positive organizational culture, family role quality, and the increased flexibility of the male partner to care for children have a significant positive impact on family-to-work spillover for women. However, for men, only family role quality significantly and positively affects family-to-work spillover (Pedersen et al., 2009). Men have more relationship tension when their partners had increasing levels of work-to-relationship conflict (Matthews et al., 2006). Women, however, reported lower levels of anxiety and relationship tension when their partners reported higher levels of work-to-relationship conflict. Chesley (2005) found that the continuous use of communications technology rather than computer-based technology resulted in high distress and decreased family satisfaction for women employees but not for men. Implications for HRD Scholarship and Practice Several observations beyond the identification of themes were gleaned from the reviewed literature that will inform HRD scholars and professionals interested in work life issues in India and the United States. This section provides a discussion of implications for HRD scholarship and practice. HRD Scholarship Implications for HRD scholarship include broadening the scope of published research within HRD and using more sophisticated research methods. Broaden the scope of published research. The Indian research examining dual-earner couples was predominantly oriented towards the fields of Human Resource Management (HRM) and business.. Of the articles identified in the U.S. search, the study in the Industrial Relations journal (Batt & Valcour, 2003) and the studies in the organizational psychology journals fit the scope of HRD the best. The majority of reviewed articles were from journals oriented toward sociology, family studies, or feminist studies. In 2003, Polach published a call to action for HRD scholars and practitioners in Human Resource Development International. Since then, there has been an Advances issue dedicated to work life in HRD (Morris & Madsen, 2007) and a few other pieces (i.e., Greer & Egan, 2012; McMillan, Morris, & Atchley, 2011; Hornsby & Munn, 2009; Munn, 2013; Munn & Lee, 2014) in the field. Yet, very few provide empirical analysis (i.e., Lane & Gibbs, 2014; McMillan & Morris, 2012; Munn, 2013) and are not related to dual-earner couples or international practices.

9 62 Advances in Developing Human Resources 18(1) Research methods. Perhaps, the simplicity of articles returned in the Indian search and use of exploratory methodologies (Cronbach s α, t test, χ 2 tests, ANOVAs, and bivariate correlations) is due to the newness of dual-earner couples and work life issues in India. Conversely, the U.S. studies used more sophisticated methodology (latent class analysis, multi-level modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, hierarchical regression analysis, participant interviews, and journaling) and sampling procedures (longitudinal and time-use data) producing more reliable and impactful results. In both countries, more empirical research representing the field of HRD is needed. Considering that work life balance is a subjective and experiential phenomenon (Moore, 2007), U.S. scholars should conduct more qualitative, in-depth, phenomenological, critical, and ethnographic studies that may help HRD professionals design better programs. Researchers in India should better model empirical quantitative research after well-constructed U.S. studies in an effort to measure the full impact of work life practices and family conditions on the experiences of dual-earner couples. HRD Practice HRD functions in a gray area where its practitioners are expected to satisfy management while serving employees (Bierema, 2009, p. 75). To maintain a focus on employee needs, implications for HRD practice include organizational benefits, culture, and gender; coping skills and adaptive strategies; and job redesign. Organizational benefits, culture, and gender. Dual-earner couples may need to find unique ways to balance work and life (Bailey, Blake, & Cooke, 2004). Indian organizations have started introducing family friendly benefits and services to address employee work life balance (Butler et al., 2005; Poster & Prasad, 2005). Benefits vary from compensation, flextime, telecommuting, and sponsored vacation, whereas services include child care facilities, social support, and employee assistance programs. Flextime and telecommuting provide dual-earner couples with more control over their work; both are also useful to employers because employees often work additional hours when telecommuting (Baral & Bhargava, 2011). Work life initiatives may increase employee productivity and retention, enhance job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and reduce employee stress (Deery, 2008). Achieving an organizational culture that is accepting of work life programs may take time, as the culture of many Indian organizations is not very inclusive (Baral & Bhargava, 2011). Understanding the experiences of employees in need of work life benefits and how they might use them in the workplace will be beneficial to HRD practitioners as they work to facilitate a positive organizational environment through employee advocacy and support in a variety of cultural contexts. In both the United States and India, there is continued support for organizational cultures that provide a family friendly environment and flexible work practices (Kalliath et al., 2011; Pedersen et al., 2009). Discussions around organizational practice in both India and the United States have stressed the need for more flexible work practices and programs that encourage a better work life balance of their employees.

10 Munn and Chaudhuri 63 Current demographic changes demonstrate increasing numbers of women and dualearning families in the Indian workforce (Bharat, 2003; Rajadhyaksha & Bhatnagar, 2000). For both men and women, a more positive work family balance is related to increased job satisfaction. Men in dual-earning couples were frequently preoccupied with work at home, whereas women professionals indicated that a preoccupation with family related matters interfered with work. Huang et al. (2004) suggested that family supportive organizational policies intended to alleviate work-to-family conflict might also be useful in remedying family-to-work conflict, thus providing support for both men and women employees. However, there are still many challenges that come with the deceptively good - HRD has been feminized, yet it continues to advance patriarchal practices and policies that marginalize women in organizations through unequal developmental opportunities, life-balance challenges, and ineffective diversity training (Bierema, 2009, p. 83). Cultural norms and the nature of traditional gender roles make no exception for women who work outside of the home and have a family. Instead, women are forced to take a double shift, working twice as hard, at work and then again at home. Coping skills and adaptive strategies. Research in both countries has emphasized coping skills and adaptive strategies as mechanisms in achieving work life balance that could be useful to dual-earner couples. HRD practitioners could work to improve employee assistance programs that aid in the development of these skills. Further research is needed to better examine the impact of coping mechanisms on work life balance. Job redesign. Long hours at work can interfere with work family balance and hinder a dual-earner couple s ability to meet multiple role demands. Job redesign options provide workers with more control over their job and skill use (Butler et al., 2005). High involvement work practices, such as including employees in the decision-making process, autonomous work teams, training and mentoring, and performance-based pay are often associated with increased commitment, satisfaction, and work life balance (Berg, Kalleberg, & Appelbaum, 2003; Valcour, 2007; Workman & Bommer, 2004). IBM has demonstrated that organizations must think outside of the box by creating work life options for dual-earner employees (Hill et al., 2006, p. 1195). Hill et al. (2006) tested the 60-hr-work week in which the combined working hours of both partners equal 60 hours per week. They found that couples who participated in the 60-hr-work week experienced a better work life fit and lower work life conflict. To facilitate work life balance, redesigning work could be a potential solution that could eventually result in more control over work time and increased job complexity, especially for hourly workers (Butler et al., 2005). Conclusion The contributions of this study are threefold. With the world s shifting and almost permeable boundaries, conducting cross-cultural research on different aspects of work life balance should equip HRD professionals with the knowledge base to design

11 64 Advances in Developing Human Resources 18(1) more family friendly policies. Second, by focusing on a sample from India and the United States, this study brings forth the influence of socio-cultural variables to the operation of the work life interface. And, finally, despite the increasing workforce participation of women, developing countries have been underrepresented in work life research. Highlighting India s sample will decrease this deficit and grow the list of research conducted in this area. Moreover, with the United States being one of India s largest trading partners to date, the findings from this research will be beneficial to scholars and practitioners from both countries. The thematic analysis could provide direction to Indian scholars and practitioners based on which they can review and redesign their present policies and practices. Likewise, with increasing Indian business partners, a glimpse into the existing state of research and practice in India could also benefit U.S. scholars and practitioners. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. References Aryee, S., Srinivas, E. S., & Tan, H. H. (2005). Rhythms of life: Antecedents and outcomes of work-family balance in employed parents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, doi: / Bailey, A. J., Blake, M. K., & Cooke, T. J. (2004). Migration, care and the linked lives of dualearner households. Environment and Planning, 36, Baral, R., & Bhargava, S. (2011). HR interventions for work-life balance: Evidences from organizations in India. International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, 2, Barnett, R. C. (1999). A new work-life model for the twenty-first century. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 562, doi: / Batt, R., & Valcour, P. M. (2003). Human resources practices as predictors of work-family outcomes and employee turnover. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 42, doi: / x Berg, P., Kalleberg, A. L., & Appelbaum, E. (2003). Balancing work and family: The role of high-commitment environments. Industrial Relations, 42, doi: / x Bharat, S. (2003). Women, work, and family in urban India: Towards new families? In J. W. Berry, R. C. Mishra, & R. C. Tripathi (Eds.), Psychology in human and social development: Lessons from diverse cultures (pp ). New Delhi, India: SAGE. Bhatnagar, D., & Rajadhyaksha, U. (2001). Attitudes towards work and family roles and their implications for career growth of women: A report from India. Sex Roles, 45, doi: /a:

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15 68 Advances in Developing Human Resources 18(1) Walters, W. H. (2009). Google Scholar search performance: Comparative recall and precision. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 9, Workman, M., & Bommer, W. (2004). Redesigning computer call center work: A longitudinal field experiment. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, Workman, M., & Bommer, W. (2004). Redesigning computer call center work: A longitudinal field experiment. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, doi: /job.247 Zimmerman, T. S. (2003). Intimate partnership: Foundation to the successful balance of family and work. American Journal of Family Therapy, 31, doi: / Author Biographies Sunny L. Munn is an assistant professor of leadership studies in the College of Education at Ashland University. Previously, she served as a postdoctoral associate for the Ohio Education Research Center at The Ohio State University, where she also received a PhD in workforce development and education. Her current research focuses on the work life system; the intersection of organizational culture, work life benefits and organizational performance; writing; and various aspects of non-traditional families. Sanghamitra Chaudhuri is a lecturer of organizational leadership, policy, and development at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Prior to joining University of Minnesota, she served as the director for curriculum and instruction at the State of Minnesota. She has also served as a senior lecturer at The Ohio State University and has been a visiting professor at Drexel University and Metro State University. She has been quoted by Wall Street Journal and the Canadian broadcasting for her research on mentoring. Besides mentoring, her research interests include training outsourcing, work life balance, cross-cultural leadership, and international human resource development.