ROLE CONFLICT PROBLEM AMONG WORKING WOMEN

Women of India have marked their significant presence in the world in various fields. They have been given the status of power and prestige in India.   Indian women has got much more significance in today’s developing times. Where until lately, they were shadowed by patriarchal dominance, the contemporary women in India have moved beyond all social boundaries to emerge as triumphant leaders of tomorrow. Not only has She taken up courageous roles in society, her own individuality as a ‘woman’ has now got an improvised meaning. The world has changed for females in India now. The daughters are pursuing successful ambitions in the male dominated corporate scenario and mothers are taking up flextime jobs to showcase their exceptional managerial talent. Today, our women have stepped out to become bread earners of the family. Although the trend is yet developing in India, The IT-BPO sector is becoming a female dominated industry in India with a significant number of capable and qualified female workforce delivering exceptional performances at the corporate level. Hospitality, Retail and Financial sectors are also not lagging behind in such changing scenarios  

Emergence of middle class, women of this segment have developed to a great extent. They form the major female work force of India. In various sectors and fields of work, these middle class women have majorly been employed. Conflicts arise when one or the other party is not able to reach to an agreement. It is the stage where disagreement crops up.

Women assuming multiple roles results in work family conflict because time and energy are shared, clubbed and even extended across the two spheres of activity. When a housewife enters into gainful employment outside home she not only finds a change in her role and status within the family and outside it, but she also finds herself under increasing pressure to reconcile the dual burden of the two roles at her home and her workplace because each is a full time job. Coping up with the situation requires not only additional physical strength, personal ability and intelligence on the part of a working woman but also requires the members of her 'role set' to simultaneously make necessary modifications in their expectations. When conflict between the two life domains occurs the consequences are reflected in both organization and domestic life

Role conflict happens when there are contradictions between different roles that a person takes on or plays in their everyday life. In some cases the conflict is a result of opposing obligations which results in a conflict of interest, in others, when a person has roles that have different statuses, and it also occurs when people disagree about what the responsibilities for a particular role should be, whether in the personal or professional realms  successfully pursue her dual roles, the working homemaker has to work within a strict time schedule and arrange things more systematically which itself necessitates greater mental and physical alertness. Coupled with her interaction with the outside working world, it induces changes in her behaviour, perception and life style. She is likely to become more rational, pragmatic and individualistic in her outlook which may lead to changes in her work-division, marital relationship, and relations with in-laws and authority patterns within the family. A woman's employment outside home implies two things; her decreased availability to others and also increased demands placed upon others to enable successful performance of her two roles. In case of conflict between the job and the home roles, it is mostly the job role that gets curtailed while the wife-mother role always predominates. How rich or poor a woman may be, her primary role is towards husband, home and children. Some women do not want to sacrifice their profession to the family because of their high socio-economic status, strong job-commitment and high degree of independence but such cases are found to be rare in our study. Role conflict is an outcome of conflicts in number of roles performed by an individual working women are major victims of this issue. They perform number of roles through their lives to an extent that they fail to retain their own identity .A major problem of conflict and identity crises crops up

  As women increasingly gain occupational mobility, they are not only exposed to the same physical hazards of work environment as men but also exposed to the pressures created by multiple role demands and conflicting expectations. By fulfilling their economic needs, employment has no doubt made women independent with an identifiable social status but it has also made them to juggle into two main domains of life- work and family. They have stepped into work place but the role responsibilities women still remain the same, i.e., women

CONCLUSION It can be challenging to manage several role obligations including demands from school, work, relationships, family, and friends, A strategy to help deal with role conflict is to prioritize the things that are most important to us and deciding to eliminate things that are less important. One way to do this is to make a list and rate the things on that list from most important to least important. A woman is the world in itself. Her beauty, care knowledge etc has no substitute in the world .It is important to realize that we as woman have immense power. This power must be used efficiently. No family runs without the sacrifices or adjustments made by the women. But they must be limited in extent .She should not feel incomplete or a mere worker. Her own individual identity should never cease to exist. Husband, parents etc must realize her worth in their life and take good care of her .Middle class families make the most of the adjustment in life but these adjustments should not become the part of any ones identity. Multiplies roles, Office pressure, family pressure are part of today’s life. But these hurdles are becoming rocks in path of healthy life. In it vital to cultivate necessary reforms in today’s lifestyles for a better and healthier tomorrow.

DR RICHA SRIVASTAVA

(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR)