Work-family conflicts and satisfaction among Italian women entrepreneurs

The key contribution of women entrepreneurs to the socio-economic development of nations is widely recognized and, from an academic perspective, women entrepreneurship is increasingly investigated. Scholars are focusing on a widely variety of issues including women’s motivations (e.g. Langowitz and Minniti, 2007; Kirkwood, 2009; Kariv, 2011), business finances (e.g. Kon and Storey, 2003; Orser et al., 2006; Wilson et al., 2007; Becker-Blease and Sohl, 2007, 2011) business performance (e.g. Rosa et al., 1996; Du Rietz and Henrekson, 2000; Fairlie and Robb, 2009; Marlow and McAdam, 2013; Powell and Eddleston, 2013), characteristics of entrepreneurs (DeMartino and Barbato, 2003; Kirkwood and Tootell, 2008; Malach-Pines and Schwartz, 2008), work-family balance (Jennings and McDougald, 2007; Parasuraman et al., 1996; Parasuraman and Simmers, 2001; Poggesi et al., 2015 and 2017), networking (Foss, 2017). But there are still few studies that address the work-life balance and the conflicts that affect the overall wellbeing of women entrepreneurs. This chapter aims to bridge this gap. We analyze how work-family conflicts (WFC) affect women entrepreneurs’ levels of job, family and life satisfaction – the three indicators of well-being examined in this work. Work–family conflict occurs when work and family demands are in conflict. Conflict may start because work responsibilities interfere with family responsibilities (WIF) or/and when family responsibilities interfere with work demands (FIW). We study if and how WIF and FIW affect women entrepreneurs’ wellbeing conducting a questionnaire that was completed by 511 Italian women entrepreneurs. Italy was selected because, on average, the number of women undertaking self-employment is higher than in other European countries (OECD, 2017). This is the result of two different reasons. Firstly, women in Italy face more difficulties in finding satisfying employment opportunities or overcoming issues related to the so-called “glass-ceiling” phenomenon; secondly, Italy shows less gender equality in the division between domestic and family roles than other European countries and lack of adequate and affordable public services. In view of these constraints, opening a business presents a good opportunity for Italian women to contemporarily work, take care of family and attain personal and professional satisfaction. However, Parasuraman and Simmers (2001) clearly claim that “entrepreneurship is not a panacea” to achieve unequivocal work – family balance because of the long working hours, and the stress related to the huge amount of work responsibilities that women entrepreneurs have to manage.