A

SYNOPSIS ON

BALANCE BETWEEN WORKING LIFE AND PERSONAL

LIFE : STUDY OF INDIAN WORKING WOMEN

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR

REGISTRATION FOR THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSHOPY

IN MANAGEMENT

SUPERVISOR: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. KAVITA RANI NIDHI GEHLAWAT

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Ph.D SCHOLAR

Dept. of Management
Contents
 Introduction
 History of women
 Modern Era
 Rules for equality at workplace
 Rules for married women
 Obstactles faced by Women
 At Home
 At Workplace
 Facilities women actually want at workplace & home
 Laws made for Equality
 Struggle of women at workplace & home
 Review of literature
 Research Methodology
 Need for study
 Objectives of study
 Scope of study
 Research Design
 References
INTRODUCTION

“Woman” is a word which furl so many roles.

A Daughter, A Wife, A Mother but Employee?

Can a mother or wife be a good employee. Still a question for us. Why is it so
because if a woman pursue her career after marriage or after motherhood then
society puts question on her potential. If a woman pursue her career after her
motherhood then question arises is she a good mother? It is really very difficult to
break wreck stereotype. Sometimes, its hard to get family support at home or at
workplace forget about equity she is not even get equality at workplace. If you are
a woman you have to struggle for your survival. Woman life is full of hardship,
hurdles from very beginning, she have to prove herself everytime . Women had to
suffered in periodic time still the condition is same.

No doubt a woman is blessed with managerial skills. She can manage lots of things
at some point of time.Today along with handling tough clients at office,they
successfully multitask at home too. Being a wife she have to work 24x7, being
mother she is never off duty along with that she is an employee who faces lots of
mess at workplace and moreover, no excuses are allowed neither at home nor at
workplace. Being a woman is not a easy job.

History of Women in India:

The Rig vedic women in india enjoyed high status in society.The women were
provided opportunities to attain high intellectual and spiritual standards.Even status
of women during Epic period had given respectable place for women.During
period of Dharmashastras and Puranas the status of women gradually declined and
underwent major change. The Medieval period (between 500A.D. to 1500A.D.)
proved to be highly disappointing for Indian women. Medieval India was not
women’s age it is supposed to be “dark age” for them. When foreign conquerors
like Muslims invaded India they brought with them their own culture.For them
women was sole property of her father,brother,husband and she does not have any
will of her own. This type of thinking crept into minds of Indian people and they
began to treat their own women like this.They were not allowed to move freely and
this lead to further deterioration of their status. Thus vicious circle started in which
women was receiving end and all this gave rise to new evils such as child
marriage, sati,jauhar and restriction on girl education.

During British Raj, many reformers such as “Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar & Jyotirao Phule’’ fought for Betterment of Women.In 1917, first
Women’s delegation met secretary of state to demand women’s political rights
supported by Indian National Congress. The All India Women’s Education
Conference was held in Pune in 1927 it became major organization in movement
for Social change.

Modern Era:

The 21st century has brought a new hope and has empowered women in positive
manner. Earlier they were under the shadow of husband and father but now they
have established their own identity.The role of women has changed tremendously
and have been able to create positive impression.From housewives to CEOs,the
transition can be seen at an accelerating rate.Moderization and advent of latest
technology have widened hope and opportunities for them.They have established
themselves socially,politically and economically in almost every field.The journey
of liberation of women has crossed many milestone and society has indeed come a
long way.
Rules for Equality:

In the corporate world, the number of employed women arises but faced lots of
problems like Exploitation, Gender gap, Unequality & the list is going on and on.

Many laws are made to protect against these discriminations.The first sexual
harassment law for women introduced in 2013, it is legislative act in India that
seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work. Constitution
of India guarantees to all Indian women equality (Article 14) no discrimination by
state {Article 15(1)} Equality of opposition (Article 16) Equal pay for equal work
{Article 36(d)}. In addition, it allows special provision to be made by state in
favour of women & children Article 15(3) renounces practices derogatory to
dignity of women Article 51 (A) (e). The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013
introduced changes to Indian Penal Code making sexual harassment an expressed
offence under Sec 354-A which is punishable upto 3 years of imprisonment and
with fine.

Rules for Married Women:

In 2014- An Indian family court in mumbai ruled that husband objecting to his
wife wearing a kurta & jeans & forcing her to wear a sari amount to cruelty
inflicated by husband & can be ground to seek divorce.

The wife was thus granted a divorce on ground of cruelty as defined under Section
27 (1) (d) Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Obstacles faced by Women:

At Home At Workplace
 Unshared responsibilities  Extended / odd working hours
 Disappointment  Official travel within short notice
 Control over income  Non supportive attitude of superior /
colleagues
 Health constraint  Prevalent mindset about lower
 Lack of recreation capability of women
 Women and social interaction  Low awareness of women rights
 Husband’s outlook  Pregnancy

Benefits women actually want at work:

1) Equal Pay:- There is no women’s empowerment without women’s

economic empowerment equal pay motivate the women & gives assurance
that they are paid without discrimination.
2) Flexibility:- Women- friendly employer won’t go far these days without
offering the highly sought after benefit of flexibility. For women, flexibility
has been proven to correlate to higher levels of ambition.
3) Paid parental leave for both Parents:- More than 75% of expecting moms
report being excited to return to work & yet 43% end up leaving their jobs.
The factors behind this alarming statistic are manifold, but one thing is clear,
companies must do a better job of supporting employees, of all gender in
their desire to start a family and most obvious place to start is by
incorporating better, longer and paid parental leave policies.
4) Paid sick leave: - Offering paid sick leave shows that employee’s wellness
is true priority at a company and while there may be punchier ways of
 imparting the same message like say on – site yoga classes – the cornerstone
of promoting employees, health is giving them the knowledge they won’t be
financially punished if they or child get sick. Paid sick leave is something
that stands out favorably to female jobseekers.
5) Professional development opportunities:- May feel like a buzzword
nowadays but its impact is anything but ephemeral. Women need mentors &
they need to be shown examples of career paths where women like them
have seen success in advancing. Companies can make this reality by offering
female employees designated mentors & sponsorship initiatives.
6) Mensuration Leave:- Periods are reality of women life and it become really
difficult to work during these days. Lots of changes faced by women during
these days whether it they are physically emotionally or psychologically. It
is really hard to work with pain so the mensuration leave is must for women.
7) Pick up & drop service
8) Creches for children
9) Day care
10) Counseling
11) Regular health checkups

Facilities provided by family:

1) Motherhood should become Parenthood:- A Child is not only the

responsibility of a mother. He is the equal responsibility of both the parent
equal contribution reduces the burden of mother.
2) Personal space should be given to women:- Everybody needs personal
space for growth and being a woman is not easy job. So, it is must for a
woman to enjoy her personal space for growth & development.
3) Helping hand:- A woman works 365 days nonstop & even without
complaints. A helping hand supports woman in household chorus. That
reduces the half of her burden.
4) Family Support:- A woman can’t become successful employee without the
support of family members. Family is the one who never leaves us in our
good or bad times. Family provides strength, motivation & happiness.

Laws made for Equality:

1) Maternity Benefit Act, 1961:- Provides for prenatal & postnatal benefits
for a female employee in an establishment Post – 2017 amendments, the
duration of paid leave for a pregnant female employee has been increased to
26 weeks, including eight weeks of postnatal paid leaves.
2) Provident fund:- is national organization which managers this retirement
benefits scheme for all salaried employees. Any organization with more than
20 employees is legally required to register with EPEO.Any employee can
option out of scheme provided they do it at beginning of their career. The
rules limit the withdrawal amount & term of years is service.
3) Gratuity:- Payment of gratuity Act, 1972 provides a statutory right to an
employee in service for more than 5 years to gratuity.It is one of the
retirement benefits given to the employee. It is lump sum payment made in
gesture of gratitude for their service.
4) Timely & Fair Salary:- Article 39 (d) of Constitution provides for equal
pay for equal work. The laws under The Equal Remuneration Act, The
Payment of Wages Act mandates timely & fair remuneration of an
employee. If an employee is not receiving his her remuneration as per
employment agreement can approach the Labour Commissioner or file a
civil suit for arrears in salary.
5) Appropriate working hours & overtime:- All employees have right to
work in safe workplace with basic amenities & hygiene. Under the most
recent laws, an adult worker shall work over 1 hours per day or 48 hours per
week & overtime shall be double the regular wages. A female worker can
work from 6 am to 7 pm. Apart from this weekly holiday, half an hour break
& no more than 12 hours of work on any given day is mandated. The
working hours for child workers are limited to 4.5 hours a day.
6) Right to leaves:- An employee has right to paid public holidays & leaves
such as casual leave, sick leave, privilege leave & other leaves. For every
240 days of work an employee is entitled to 12 days of annual leave. An
adult worker may avail one earned leave every 20 days whereas its 15 days
for young worker.
7) Prevention of sexual harassment :- At workplace (Prevention Prohibition
& Redressal) Act 2013 protects women at workplace from sexual
harassment. The Indian Penal Code also provides a penalty of upto 3 years
imprisonment with or without fine for sexual harassment.For organization
with ten or more employees, there has to be an internal complaint committee
constituted for aid of victims of sexual harassment.
Struggle of Women:

At Home At Workplace
 Unsupportive family  Gender wage gap
 Dominating husband  Role overload
 No time for family  Job not given to pregnant female
 No household help  Mental / Physical harassment
 Family Duties  Gender Bias
 Lack of Promotion

Review of Literature

Alan D. Berkowitz (2007) The author studied that women generally received
more personal social support than work based social support & instrumental than
express. Examining the relationship among the full network of social support, work
family balance & work related outcome as well as nature of this support for
working women.

Klavern et. al (2009) the report provided information on South Africa on behalf
the implementation of project aims to raise awareness amongst young female
workers about their employment opportunities career possibilities, family building
& the work family balance. This report is part of inventories to be made by the
University of Amsterdam, for all 14 Countries involved. It focuses on gender
analysis of work & employment.

Jennifer Fereday, Candice Oster Midwifery (2010) explored how a group of

midwives achieved a work life balance working within a caseload model of care
with flexible work hours & on call work, it is important for midwives, to actively
manage flexibility of their role, with time on call organizational team & individual
structure influenced how flexibility of hours was managed; however a period of
adjustment was required to achieve this balance.

Linda Thiede Thom and Daniel C Ganster (1995) examined the direct &
indirect effects of organizational polices & practices that are supportive of family
conflict & psychological, physical & behavioural measures of strain. Supportive
practices, especially flexible scheduling & supportive supervisors had direct
positive effects on employee perception of control over work & family matters.
The result suggest that organization’s can take steps that can increase employee’s
control over family responsibilities & that this control might help employees better
manage conflicting demands of work & family life.

Chris Higgins, Linda Duxbury and Karen Led (2000) suggested in their study
that the differential response of women to part time work as opposed to a career
may be a function of motivational & work content differences between career &
non-career women. Part time work was associated with lower work to family
interference, better time management ability & greater life satisfaction or women
in both career & earner type position. Role overload family to work interference &
family time management, however were dependent on job type with beneficial
effects for earners but not for career women.

Stephen A. Stansfeld and Martin Shipley (2011) examined role of personal

social support & psychosocial work environment as predictor of well – being in an
occupational cohort study. Policies designed to improve workplace should focus
not only on minimizing negative aspect.
Elisa J. Grant – Vallone, Ellen A. Ensher (2011) This study focused on career
choice that women make after having children. The authors found that many
mothers neither opt in nor opt out but successfully function in between those two
choices or opt in between by working flexible hours, by working flexible hours, by
working part – time by being involved with home based entrepreneurial endeavors.

Dr. Pamele Adhiambo Raburu (2015) The study revealed that 16 women
academics interviewed are juggling with combining family responsibilities and
career expectation which resulted in evitable conflicts & tensions. This study
confirmed that women academics still struggle to overcome deeply embedded
socio-cultural & structural challenges to survive in particular universities.

Caityln Collins (2019) The study highlighted the work family conflict that
mothers experience today is national crisis. Women struggle to balance
breadwinning with the bulk of parenting & stress is constant. Social policies don’t
help. The author explored how women navigate work & family given the different
policy supports available in each country. Mothers in Western Germany & Italy
where materialist values are strong are stigmatized for pursuing career. Meanwhile
american working mother stand apart for guild & worry. Policies alone can’t solve
women’s struggle. Easing them will require a deeper understanding of cultural
beliefs about gender equality, employment & motherhood.

Naik Manoj Kumar Jaysing (2019)explained about human rights & also
highlighted the human right has its universal application to all. In this article the
situation of women as it is vulnerable & marginalized, lacking full enjoyment of
wide range of rights, including right to equality, securing, political participation,
nutrition, health hygiene, education & freedom of utilizing their full potential for
overall development. Women need physical & mental protection in society.
Research Methodology

Need for study:- Women are meant to be emotionally weak and they are treated as
household labour. While the primary thrust of this synopsis is women’s work for
struggles face by them just because they are women. Why is it so, if society will be
fair then there is no need to fight for equality. “Being perfect” is pressure &
nobody can be perfect . If you want to be good employee then you need
corporation from home but being a wife or mother you can never “off duty”.

If you choose career over family then you are ambitious and selfish or choose
family them you loose your identity and dreams. What to do, how to do still
dilemma for many. Only one thing is constant in women life i.e. struggle from
starting till end it’s just there with every woman. Starting from going to outside
alone, work in male dominating society from marriage to raise a child it’s just
increasing with every phase of life. Moreover after doing everything with smile on
face. They are considered weak than males why she is not equally paid, why not
get promotion and the worst thing happened at time of ‘Pregnancy’ – A myth to be
ruled that a woman lost her abilities to do work.
Females like Indira Nooyi (CEO of Pepsi Co’s) & Marissa Mayer (Yahoo
CEO) wreck this stereotype by working in 6 months there of pregnancy phase.
Many other women on list. It is evident that child & pregnancy had nothing to do
with work.Every woman is special in her own way Today we have women like
Dipa Karmarkar, Gita Gopinath, Tessy Thomas, Latika Nath who set an example
for every girl that it is not easy to set mile stone but nothing is impossible in front
of your dreams. This study is must to know the struggle behind a woman life, how
the manager life and work.

Objectives: the main objective of this study to know the struggle behind a women
life and how she manages her life and work simultaneously.

The other objectives are as follows:

 To study the need for management of worklife & personal life of

working women in India.
 To study the obstacles facing by working women in their personal life
and working life.
 To analyse the various govt. policies regarding working women at
workplace.
 To analyse how flexible working hours help to achieve balance.
 Strategies used by professional women with children to balance work
and family.

Research Design

In present study descriptive design will be used to examine balance between

working and personal life of working women in Haryana.
Sampling Plan & Size:- The target population for present study including working
women in colleges of Haryana.

Data Collection

The present study will use the data from the available secondary & primary
sources. The primary data will be collected by using the questionnaires based on
objectives of study. The questionnaire will be addressed to the working women of
colleges of Haryana. The secondary data will be drawn from various magazines,
journals, newspapers, articles, text books, the data available on web sites etc.

Statistical Tools & Techniques

In order to extract meaningful information from the data will be analyzed. The
collected data will be edited, coded & tabulated. For the purpose of analyzing data
the simple percentage, standard deviation, one way ANOVA and other tools as per
requirement will be used.

Proposed Chapter Framework Indian

Chapter 1 : Conceptual framework of working women life in Haryana

Chapter 2 : Review of Literature

Chapter 3 : Research Methodology

Chapter 4 : Analysis of Indian Working Women life in Haryana

Chapter 5 : Findings & Suggestions.

Reference

Annexure (Questionnaire)
References

Alan D. Berkowitz. H. Wesley Perkins Relationship of Social Support to work

family balance & work outcome of Midlife Women, Women in management
Review

Jennifer Fereday, Candire Ostel, Managing a work life balance : the experience of
midwives working in agroup practive setting 2010, Midwifery 26 (3), 311-318.

Linda Thiede Thomas, Daniel C Ganster, “Impact of family supportive work

variable on work family conflict & strain : A control perspective, Journal of
applied psychology 1995, 80 (1), 6

Chris Higgins, Linda Duxbury, Karen Led Johnson, “Part Time work for Women :
Does it really help balance work & family, HRM : Published in Cooperation with
the school of Business Administration, The University of Michigan & in alliance
with Society of Human resource, 2000

Stephen A. Stansfeld, Martin Shipley, “Work Characteristics & Personal Social

Support as Determinants of Subjective well Being 2011, PLOS ONE 8(11) : e
81115

Elisa J. Grant – Vallone, Ellen A. Ensher, “Opting in Between : strategies used by

Professional Women with children to Balance work & family, 20 Journal of Career
Development 2011, 38(4), 331-348.

Dr. Pamele Adhiambo Raburu, Motivation of Women Academics & Balancing

Family & Career, MCSER 2015

Caityln Collins, Making Motherhood work : How women manage Careers and
Caregiving, Prinecton University Press, 2019.