Professional, familial conflicts more common among women than men amid COVID-19

Among health care workers, women experienced greater work-family and family-work conflicts than men during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data presented at the virtual Women in Medicine Summit.

Work-family conflict occurs when “job demands, time and strain” hinder one’s ability to perform family-related responsibilities, while family-work conflict is the opposite, Kait Macheledt, the coordinator of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health Program at the University of Minnesota, said during her virtual presentation.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, research demonstrated that medical professionals experienced greater work-family conflict, and that gender differences were evident across many fields, including medicine, within both realms of conflict,” she told attendees.

This past April through June, Macheledt and colleagues sent a 60-item questionnaire that included qualitative and quantitative questions regarding work autonomy, resilience, stress and well-being to nearly 300 faculty members at University of Minnesota health systems. Two-thirds of the responses were from women.

The data showed that women had higher work-family conflict scores than men and thus, greater conflict (5.03 vs. 4.62; score difference = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.03-0.78). Women also had higher family-work conflict scores compared with men (3.81 vs. 3.24; score difference = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.15-0.98).

“This has potential implications for retaining women in medical workforce,” Macheledt said.

The researchers will next examine “how work autonomy and other types of support systems can help mediate work, family conflict experiences and the likelihood for people to stay in their position,” she added.