Abstract
Individuals who have personal computers or terminals at home which they use for job-related purposes outside of regular office hours are said to use an electronic bn'efcase. This study uses Profile Analysis to examine how selection of an electronic briefcase workstyle affects employee work-family conflict. Data was collected from 359 dual-career couples with children. Seventy-three percent of the men in the sample and forty-nine percent of the women used an electronic briefcase workstyle. The rest of the sample choose not to use this work arrangement. Men and women with computers at home work significantly more hours per week and a significantly greater number of hours of overtime than do men and women who do not use an electronic briefcase. Based upon the profile analysis, a genderelectronic briefcase interaction effect appears to exist. Men and women who do not use an electronic briefcase experience essentially the same levels of work-family conflict as do men who work at home on a computer outside of office hours. However, women who use this work arrangement show a considerably different profile. Using an electronic briefcase seems to enable men to work longer hours without increasing their work-family conflict. A computer at home does not help women cope with conflict caused by dual role expectations. Women who use an electronic briefcase experience significantly more work-family conflict than do women who do not use such a work arrangement and men who do.
Recommended Citation
Duxbury, Linda and Mills, Shirley, "THE ELECTRONIC BRIEFCASE AND WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT: AN ANALYSIS BY GENDER" (1989). ICIS 1989 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis1989/5