{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35943"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35943","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The work-family balance experiences of production couples operating Chinese Cut, Make and Trim factories in Newcastle, South Africa","abstract":"The purpose of this study was to develop a deep understanding into the unique work family balance experiences of women in production couples in cut, make and trim factories in Newcastle, South Africa. A production couple is first and foremost a business partnership that involves joint ownership of a clothing factory, however the relationship is also a strategy the women use to satisfy their emotional needs and over time the relationship plays an important role in their return migration intention. Using a phenomenological research design, eight in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with women in a production couple. Though the study set out to explore both the male and female partners, all the male partners eventually declined, citing Covid-19 related reasons such as having the only male in the researcher network dropping out, significantly lowering the likelihood of recruiting willing male participants. A potential reason for this is that men in Chinese culture are expected to carry the family name and with the persisting patriarchal gender roles (Sun & Chen, 2014), they are confronted with greater risk of losing face if exposed that they are in this type of relationship. Thematic analysis conducted on the data revealed three key themes: (1) Factors affecting the work-family balance of women in production couples, (2) Transnational care practices and, (3) Boundary management practices used by the women to maintain work-family balance. The findings challenged the nuclear family ideal and contributed new knowledge on how work family balance is perceived and maintained from a transnational perspective.","abstract_html":"The purpose of this study was to develop a deep understanding into the unique work family balance experiences of women in production couples in cut, make and trim factories in Newcastle, South Africa. A production couple is first and foremost a business partnership that involves joint ownership of a clothing factory, however the relationship is also a strategy the women use to satisfy their emotional needs and over time the relationship plays an important role in their return migration intention. Using a phenomenological research design, eight in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with women in a production couple. Though the study set out to explore both the male and female partners, all the male partners eventually declined, citing Covid-19 related reasons such as having the only male in the researcher network dropping out, significantly lowering the likelihood of recruiting willing male participants. A potential reason for this is that men in Chinese culture are expected to carry the family name and with the persisting patriarchal gender roles (Sun & Chen, 2014), they are confronted with greater risk of losing face if exposed that they are in this type of relationship. Thematic analysis conducted on the data revealed three key themes: (1) Factors affecting the work-family balance of women in production couples, (2) Transnational care practices and, (3) Boundary management practices used by the women to maintain work-family balance. The findings challenged the nuclear family ideal and contributed new knowledge on how work family balance is perceived and maintained from a transnational perspective.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ma, Yuh-Wen"],"institution":"Organisational Psychology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Jaga, Ameeta"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021","date_published":"2021","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:44Z","subjects":["Production couple","transnational family","boundary work tactics","WFB"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35943","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Jaga, Ameeta"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ma, Yuh-Wen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-03-06T16:17:49Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-03-06T16:17:49Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Organisational Psychology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters","MCom"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Production couple","transnational family","boundary work tactics","WFB"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35943"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to develop a deep understanding into the unique work family balance experiences of women in production couples in cut, make and trim factories in Newcastle, South Africa. A production couple is first and foremost a business partnership that involves joint ownership of a clothing factory, however the relationship is also a strategy the women use to satisfy their emotional needs and over time the relationship plays an important role in their return migration intention. Using a phenomenological research design, eight in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with women in a production couple. Though the study set out to explore both the male and female partners, all the male partners eventually declined, citing Covid-19 related reasons such as having the only male in the researcher network dropping out, significantly lowering the likelihood of recruiting willing male participants. A potential reason for this is that men in Chinese culture are expected to carry the family name and with the persisting patriarchal gender roles (Sun & Chen, 2014), they are confronted with greater risk of losing face if exposed that they are in this type of relationship. Thematic analysis conducted on the data revealed three key themes: (1) Factors affecting the work-family balance of women in production couples, (2) Transnational care practices and, (3) Boundary management practices used by the women to maintain work-family balance. The findings challenged the nuclear family ideal and contributed new knowledge on how work family balance is perceived and maintained from a transnational perspective."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The work-family balance experiences of production couples operating Chinese Cut, Make and Trim factories in Newcastle, South Africa"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Jaga, Ameeta"],"dc:creator":["Ma, Yuh-Wen"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-03-06T16:17:49Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-03-06T16:17:49Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2021"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to develop a deep understanding into the unique work family balance experiences of women in production couples in cut, make and trim factories in Newcastle, South Africa. A production couple is first and foremost a business partnership that involves joint ownership of a clothing factory, however the relationship is also a strategy the women use to satisfy their emotional needs and over time the relationship plays an important role in their return migration intention. Using a phenomenological research design, eight in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with women in a production couple. Though the study set out to explore both the male and female partners, all the male partners eventually declined, citing Covid-19 related reasons such as having the only male in the researcher network dropping out, significantly lowering the likelihood of recruiting willing male participants. A potential reason for this is that men in Chinese culture are expected to carry the family name and with the persisting patriarchal gender roles (Sun & Chen, 2014), they are confronted with greater risk of losing face if exposed that they are in this type of relationship. Thematic analysis conducted on the data revealed three key themes: (1) Factors affecting the work-family balance of women in production couples, (2) Transnational care practices and, (3) Boundary management practices used by the women to maintain work-family balance. The findings challenged the nuclear family ideal and contributed new knowledge on how work family balance is perceived and maintained from a transnational perspective."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35943"],"dc:publisher.department":["Organisational Psychology"],"dc:subject":["Production couple","transnational family","boundary work tactics","WFB"],"dc:title":["The work-family balance experiences of production couples operating Chinese Cut, Make and Trim factories in Newcastle, South Africa"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters","MCom"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:44Z"}