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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Situation Analysis

The world has changed the way we used to live normal seems to be unclear. The

change that has taken place is our new normal and this affects work, home, and social life.

We are in the era of the new normal where wearing mask and social distancing is necessary.

The current pandemic, which is the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory

disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, first spread in Wuhan, China. Self-isolation,

physical distancing, and stay-at-home directives – the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically

changed our way of life.

The pandemic mostly affect businesses and work because they are important for

individuals living expenses. Due to government measures, many works have change. Many

individuals shifted to working from home and freelancing rather than exposed outdoor.

(Tudy, 2020). Online learning and working via zoom meetings, Google meet, and some

social media websites became the new normal. Government also implemented schemes or

work arrangements and conditions just to make sure workers will be safe. Some schemes

include a shorter hours of work, and alternative working.

Regarding the current situation due to the Covid-19, researchers have observed that

stress levels may increase during an epidemic, as people may fear for their health as well as
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the health of family members and friends, and among other problems, it may frequently

result in difficulties in concentration, changes in sleeping patterns and changes in eating

habits. The pandemic has had and will continue to have a major impact on the health and

well-being of many vulnerable groups (OECD, 2020). Women are among those most

heavily affected. Women make up almost 70% of the health care workforce, exposing them

to a greater risk of infection. At the same time, women are also shouldering much of the

burden at home, given school and childcare facility closures and longstanding gender

inequalities in unpaid work.

Working mothers continue to struggle with finding the balance needed to deal and

handle the demands of both work life and home life because work and family are the two

most important aspects in women’s lives. They give most of their time in working and for

their family. According to (Milburn, Perrakis & Martinez, 2012), A working mother who’s

beside her duties at the workplace, also has the critical responsibility to take care of her

family, inevitably faces specific challenges and imbalances to juggle the responsibilities of

work and family life. (Hadjicharalambous, Charchanti, & Dimitriou, 2020)

Throughout history, women been regarded as the weaker gender, both physically and

intellectually. As a result, women’s roles tended to centre on the home and raising children.

Over time, women have gradually entered the workforce and have gained increasingly

prestigious positions. Today’s women are once again finding themselves and their decisions

placed under the kaleidoscope, which is constantly changing. Duxbury (as cited in Lonetti,

2012) reports that the number of women in the professional world keeps growing for many
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factors such as the demand in the workplace for professional employees, the fact that more

and more women are hired in positions of power. It is more known that work-family conflict

directly affects the health of working professionals as well as their families and

organizations.

Literature has shown that most of the studies are working mothers struggling how to

balance work and family. The study of Addo (2019) showed that working mothers in Ghana

experienced some form of stress in integrating work and family roles. However, there were

great satisfaction and fulfilment in being able to balance both roles. Their major challenge

was the insufficient time they had with their children because of work and vice versa.

Another study is from Rendon (2016) he explored the way working mothers cope with

home, work, family demands, as well as self-care, and focused on the balance they have

been able to achieve in their lives as working women, wife, and mothers. Using correlation

and regression analysis, (Nezhad, Goodarzi, Hasannejad & Roushani, 2010), suggested that

there were significant positive relationship between levels of occupational stress and family

difficulties in working women. In New Zealand, the study of Harris (2007) has found that

being Maori (indigenous people of New Zealand) does have an effect on how the women

manage their lives around work, family/whanau, and community. Majekodunmi (2017)

showed that work-family-conflict was more predominant with working mother than the

family-work-conflict. There was positive significant relationship also between work-family-

conflict; family work-conflict and job performance of working mothers.

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Moreover, according to the study of (Patel, Govender, Paruk, & Ramgoon, 2006)

Married women reported significantly higher family-work conflict than unmarried women,

while women in the highest work category gained the highest job performance rating. In

spite of family support for childrearing, most of the professional working mothers are

experiencing perceived stress. (Pandey & Raje, 2018). Sharma & Dhir (2019) also stated

that challenges faced by women across nations perceived to be similar in nature. In addition

Mobeen & Gardazi (2016) show that, participants are going through the same level of stress

at the certain stage. In connection, achieving a satisfactory work‒family balance would

require the fulfilment of the role-related expectations in the family and at work, negotiating

individual’s involvement in the two life spheres (Grzywacz and Carlson 2007). Almost all

the studies about working mother also fall on how they affect their children.

According to (Alamani, Abro & Mugheri, 2012), It has been observed that emotional

development and attachment of infants suffers badly due to employment of mothers. In

addition, the study of DeJong (2010) has found that a majority of working mothers (seventy

percent) felt that their employment had a positive impact on their child. In addition, ten

percent felt that their employment had a negative effect and twenty percent felt it had no

effect. Of stay-at-home mothers, ninety percent felt that not working had a positive effect on

their children. While Singh (2018) support that working mothers create self-confidence,

social awareness and sense of commitment and struggle among children with a lot of

monetary of benefits. Moreover, Chavez (2014) has found that for interviewees the ideal

American mother is a working woman who is obsessed with her children’s success. Arpino

& Luppi (2020) show that a balanced mix of paid and unpaid childcare is associated with
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mother’s highest satisfaction. Difficulties related to the affordability and the flexibility of

paid childcare negatively relate to the satisfaction with work‒family balance. Moreover,

even after adjusting for experienced difficulties, the “mixed” arrangement guarantees the

most satisfying combination of work and family responsibilities.

The study of Hadjicharalambous et al. (2020) also examined how working mothers

reacted during the Covid-19 pandemic and how the state imposed quarantine affected their

quality of life, their health, and their resilience. It showed that the state-imposed measures of

social isolation in the form of quarantine had a negative impact on the psychological

resilience and the quality of life of younger working mothers, of single working mothers,

and of those working mothers who were residing in rural areas at the time.

Working mothers who belonged to older age groups, those who continued to pursue

activities and hobbies during the quarantine, and mothers who maintained a higher quality of

life were affected less by social isolation measures. According to R. Locke, working moms

provide positive role models, raise independent kids, and can better manage quality time

with their kids. Working moms have to listen and switch off the minute when they get home

and give a precious time to their kids.

According to National Women’s Law Center, American life has a majority of

women with children married or single with children of all ages are working and most of

them work full-time or would like to full-time work. It is to support their family and it is

essential to meet the family’s basic needs, including those low-wage jobs have to access
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child-care that provides safe and nurturing environment for their children during their

working hours.

The role of working women has changed throughout the world due to economic

conditions and economic demands. This has been resulted in a scenario that working

mothers have experienced tremendous pressure to develop career as a robust as their male

counterparts while sustaining active engagement in personal life. Thus achieving work-life

balance is necessary for working mothers to have a good quality of life. Work-life balance is

define as an employee’s perception that multiple domains of personal time, family care, and

work are maintained and integrated with a minimum role conflict (Clark, 2000; Ungerson &

Yeandle , 2005). Balancing of the two demands of their work and home lives has been a

challenge for working mothers. A study on Work-Life Balance in working women was

conduct in India by [Link] & Dr. R.P. Raya to assess the prevalence of work-life among

married working women. Work-life balance of working women finds very hard to balance

their work and personal life irrespective of the sector they are into, the age group they

belong to, the number of children they have and their spouse’s profession.

A study from work-life integration of mid-career professional working mothers of

Grady said that female participation in global workforce has grown dramatically over

decades specifically on these reported countries such USA (Auster, 2001), Europe (Paoli

and Merllie, 2001), and Ireland (Coughlan, 2002; Drew and Murtagh, 2005; Central

Statistics Office, 2006). The challenge for working mothers is how to facilitate the sharing

of roles in a more fair and equitable way in employment and domestic duties. Pressures have
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grown on working mothers as they try to find meaning in work, at home and in personal life

in competing priorities and career roles.

The study finds that a complex work-related dynamics and personal factors shaped

the meaning of competing wok, family, and individual lives. Thus, respondents seek more

self-care time and an effort to find new meaning in work, family, and self-equation.

Philippine is developing countries with 103 million inhabitants many people live in poverty,

and there is no working welfare system. Filipino known to be a family-oriented and is very

traditional which affects different genders in different ways. The study denotes that high-

income participants experience their work-life balance better compared to participants with

lower income. According to Persson and Hakansson (2018) women are stressing over their

ability to combine their work-life with their family life, including doing all the household

chores and taking care of children. They are more likely to have double burden since they

are responsible for the household and the same time engaged in a full-time job.

Thus, there are factors that affect work-life balance such gender and family-oriented

culture. According to the article of [Link], women and young mothers in the

Philippines find themselves leaving their jobs because of lack of adequate parent-friendly

working arrangements, subpar employee benefits, and poor work-life balance. From the

article written by Sofia TomaCruz (2020), Unemployment rates in the Philippines for

women fell as of January 2020, with less female employees leaving the work due to

household duties. As said also in the article if SunStar Philippines (2019), 65% of working

professionals in the Philippines said they are generally satisfied with their current work-life
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balance although 28% also said that they would like to have more options to have time on

their family and friends. However, the Philippine workforce has taken a hit due to COVID-

19 across the board, women included according to Cortez (2021).

According to Mendoza & Gpes (2018), quality of life, cultural value orientation,

organizational commitment and personality dimension is high which means that the

respondents oftentimes observe it, the study conducted in Davao City. COVID-19 has

altered what a good work-life balance looks like. As a parent, you should take good care of

your child. Some work from home and making it more challenging to balance work life

from home life. Employees, parents, families, educators, and business owners tasked to

define work and life balancing. Some gaps included in the studies are the small sample size,

limited geographic area, lack of formal statistical analysis, and accuracy of participants self-

reports. Unable to provide any research on how a working mother may impact her child’s

emotions in a negative way, unable to identify people in terms of the importance they attach

to work and family roles and then examine its relation to levels of work-family conflict and

few are conducted during this global Covid-19 outbreak and the state-imposed lockdown

measures.

The significance of this study is to have a better and a deep understanding of the

lived experiences of professional working mothers in the new normal brought about the

COVID-19 pandemic, considering the work-life balance of working mother's efforts in this

new normal, and their own perceptions and how they manage their lived experiences in the

new normal. Social work practice might enhanced by becoming more aware of the
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experiences of working women during a pandemic. Filipino mothers may gain more

understanding about raising a child in a dual-career family, and how they can effectively

balance their responsibilities as a career woman and a mother to their young children. This

study designed to explore the lived experiences of working mothers dealt with the changes

in their daily routine caused by the state-imposed quarantine measures during the Covid-19

pandemic crisis, which is now the "new normal". Participants are asked to answer questions

based on their feelings and experiences during the new normal. The purpose of our research

is to explore the experiences of professional working mothers this "new normal', either

married or single mothers which currently working in the Province of La Union.

Framework of the Study

This study revolved around the Social role theory that helps to explain why,

historically, men and women have taken on different roles. This theory recognizes the

historical division of labour between women, who often assumed responsibilities at home,

and men, who typically assumed responsibilities outside the home (Eagly, 1987). It is based

on the content of gender roles and their importance in promoting sex differences in

behaviour (Eagly, 1987, 1995; Eagly & Karau, 2002; Eagly, Wood & Diekman, 2000). As a

result, expectations of men and women governed by the stereotypes of their social roles

(Eagly, 1987, 1997; Eagly, Wood & Diekman, 2000). People associate women with

predominately-communal qualities whereas men imbued with agentic qualities. Communal

characteristics reflect a concern with the welfare of others, such as being affectionate,
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sensitive, and gentle. Agentic qualities include demonstrating assertion, control and

confident tendencies, 34 such as being assertive, aggressive, ambitious, dominant, and

independent (Eagly, 1995, 1987; Eagly & Karau, 2002; Eagly, Wood & Diekman, 2000).

Through socialization processes, each gender learns different qualities while young, which

facilitate their later social roles. Gender roles might affect the course of action that

individuals choose in adulthood. Moreover, Amstead (2015) explains that according to

social role theory, societal expectations say women must succeed in their professional and

personal lives. Professional women who are mothers face the challenge of meeting the

demands of both work and home; however, this is not easy to achieve as most of the time

they don’t have the time to fulfil appropriately each role. Gender roles have become

stereotypes because they embedded in societal beliefs. Another theory mentioned is social

construction theory. This rooted in the humanistic perspective. A well-known psychological

model, the humanistic perspective places an emphasis on an individual’s phenomenal world

and their capacity for making rational decisions (APA, 2013). It is said that people grasp

how they see and appraise themselves because of the constructs that form their social reality

(Waterman, 2013).

In connection, consideration of social role theory in the workplace led to role

congruity theory. A role congruity theory of prejudice towards female leaders extends the

social role theory of sex differences and similarities. Gender roles spill over into the

workplace (Gutek & Morasch, 1982), and people blend the gender role with the leader role

(Eagly & Karau, 2002). This theory assumes that both gender roles and leader roles

influence leadership styles (Eagly, Johannesen Schmidt & van Engen, 2003). Women who
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are effective leaders tend to violate standards for their gender when they portray male-

stereotypical agentic attributes and do not demonstrate stereotypical communal attributes

(Eagly & Karau, 2002). As a result, people hold expectations of traits that a leader should

have, and these traits are the agentic qualities that men stereotypically hold. Role theory is a

concept in sociology and in social psychology that considers most of everyday activity to be

the acting-out of socially defined categories (e.g., mother, manager, and teacher). Each role

is a set of rights, duties, expectations, norms, and behaviors that a person has to face and

fulfill. The model is based on the observation that people behave in a predictable way, and

that an individual's behavior is context specific, based on social position and other factors.

The theatre is a metaphor often used to describe role theory.

Role congruity theory is a way of explaining why leadership has been

predominantly male. While women have increased their presence in supervisory and middle

management positions a glass ceiling has existed, which is a barrier of prejudice and

discrimination that excludes women from higher-level leadership positions (Mattis, 2004).

In a study that focused on the attributes of good and bad leadership, the results indicated that

these prejudices are real, as both men and women associate leadership with masculinity. The

findings indicated that both male and female subordinates preferred a male leader, as female

bosses they do not like are bossy. They want female leaders who meet both the agentic 35

requirements of leadership and the communal requirements of femininity (Sing, Nadim &

Ezzedeem, 2010).

This study also revolves around segmentation theory. Work and family are seen as

distinct domains in which individuals operate in terms of time, place, attitudes, feelings and
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behaviour. The basic assumption here is that since energy and time are limited, resources

taken up in one role means that the other role is neglected. Greenhaus and Beutells (1985)

description of the work-family conflict as a form of inter-role conflict in which family and

work demands are incompatible in some way is an example of this theory.

Another theory that supports this study is the Spillover theory. Spillover theory

suggests that a person’s work experiences can carry over into the home and vice-versa, that

home experiences can influence an individual's performance at work. People who are

enthusiastic and committed in one role will carry over the same enthusiasm to the other role.

This study also hinged on the Compensation theory. This theory explains that if

individuals are not satisfied in one role they will seek satisfaction in the other role. As

human beings with the capacity for thought and action, we carry with us working theories

that shape and influence the way we interact, choose, problem solve, avoid danger, see

ourselves in relation to others, and much more. Working theories developed through our

experiences and interactions with the world. These experiences and interactions differ

between people and so do the working theories that guide our everyday life. We do not all

react in the same way or hold the same opinions and beliefs.

Moreover, Inter-role Conflict Theory was also connected to this study. This theory

focuses on the challenges that can often arise from competing interests of different fields. It

suggests that these competing interests create role conflict for the individual, affecting the

individual in both fields. The three participants spent most of their time working and can

have a conflict at home. Lastly, Theory of Work Adjustment, the Theory of Work

Adjustment (TWA) developed by Lofquist and Dawis (1978), describes the relationship of
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the individual to his or her work environment. Also according to the theory of Thomas B.

Scott (1960), “Work Adjustment’’ it is the adjustment of the individual to his world of work.

It includes the adjustment of the individual to the variety of environmental factors that

surround him in his work, his adjustment to changes in these factors over periods of time

and his adjustment to his own characteristics. The participants accepting and adapting

changes in order for them to survive this new normal.

It is through the lived experiences of career women in the new normal, as well their

perceptions and how they manage their lived experiences resulted on how the new meanings

of their lived experiences in the new normal will be derive. The conceptual framework of

the study is illustrated in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1. Research Paradigm

Career Women

Meaning of their perceived lived

experiences
Lived
experiences of
career women in
the new normal
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Statement of the Problem

This study sought to explore the experiences of full-time professional working

mothers in the new normal brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic. Specifically, this

study sought to answer the following:

1. What are the experiences of career women in the new normal?

2. What are the perceptions of these women to their lived experiences?

3. How do they manage their lived experiences in the new normal?

4. What meanings can be derived from the lived experiences of career women in the

new normal?

Definition of terms

Career Women refer to working mothers both married and single mothers.

Challenge refers to the struggles of career women this new normal

Community refers to the individuals who always interact by career women

Corona Virus Disease 2019 is infectious disease caused by a new strain of

coronavirus disease and now called as a respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 that first

identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China.

Full-time work refers to the employment of a person which employer gives a

minimum number of working hours often offered with benefits.

Home refers to the place where working women and her family permanently live in.

Kaleidoscope refers to a toy that is constantly changing.

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Lived Experience refers to the representation and understanding the experience of

professional working mothers throughout the new normal situation.

Manage is to handle and execute with purpose on the challenge given by the new

normal on professional working mothers

New normal refers to current situation where new way of living, working, and

interaction to people is different after the spread of the coronavirus disease of 2019.

Theories refers to the abstract thought on something such thinking and phenomenon

with the process of observation and study

Work refers to the occupation of professional working women.