ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT, WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT AND JOB TENURE AS PREDICTORS OF JOB COMMITMENT AND SATISFACTION AMONG WORKING MOTHERS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The search for factors that contribute to working mothers’ job commitment and satisfaction in organisations is an ongoing one in view of the fact that they are crucial to working mothers’ well-being. This study extended the frontiers of this search by investigating the contributions of organisational support, work-family conflict and job tenure to the job commitment and satisfaction of working mothers in public universities in South-West, Nigeria. The study employed a survey research design of an ex-post-facto type. The target population of the study consisted of all working mothers in the thirteen (13) public universities in South-West, Nigeria from which a sample of 1,456 working mothers was selected through a multi-staged stratified random sampling technique. Four validated instruments namely; Job Commitment Scale (r = 0.93), Job Satisfaction Scale (r = 0.70), Organisational Support Questionnaire (r = 0.92) and Work-Family Conflict Scale (r = 0.88) were used to obtain responses from the participants. Data were analysed using Canonical Analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated a significant joint contribution of organisational support, work-family conflict and job tenure on working mothers’ job commitment and satisfaction (Rc = .383, F = 47.706; p <.05; Rc = .171, F = 21.773; p <.05). It was found that 76.6% of the variance in working mothers’ job commitment and satisfaction was accounted for by organisational support, work-family conflict and job tenure. These findings are attributable to the nature of women and their unique gender roles which predispose them to desire for an appreciable level of support from management, reduced work-family conflict and longer job tenures to engender their job commitment and satisfaction. It was recommended that university management should endeavour to improve staff retention, provide childcare facilities in every unit, implement flexible resumption and closing times for nursing mothers and extend maternity leave to 16 weeks in order to enhance their commitment and satisfaction.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0056/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>