Black professional women in dual-career families: the relationship of marital equity and sex role identity to the career commitment of the wife

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of marital equity and sex role identity to the career commitment of black dual-career wives and to determine who does what in the family. Five research questions guided the study: a) What is the relationship of selected demographic variables (education, income, age and number of children) of husbands and wives to the career commitment of the wife? b) Is there a significant difference between husbands and wives and their commitment to pursue a career? c) Is there a Significant difference between husbands and wives in sex role identity and marital equity? d) Is there a correlation between the career commitment of wives and the extent to which marital equity exists? e) What is the relationship of sex role identity of husbands and wives to the career commitment of the wife? A sample of 200 dual-career couples were systematically selected from a predominantly Black sorority. The instruments used to collect the data were: Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), career commitment and marital equity scales (Nicola, 1980), and a demographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed using frequencies, means, percentages, correlation coefficients, analysis of variance, t-tests, and multiple comparisons. Study results indicated that while the couples' education and income were not significantly associated with the wife’s career commitment, wives were more educated. Although the number of children did not matter, the age of the oldest child was Significantly related to the mother's career commitment. The mean career commitment scores for husbands (41.03) and wives (41.61) indicated that partners shared similar attitudes about time and emotional investment in careers and family pursuits. Mean marital equity scores for husbands and wives revealed that wives did significantly more than husbands in the areas of household tasks and child care. Similarly, wives did most of the initiation for family communication and problem solving. Data supported equal sharing in decision-making (eg. vacations, relocation, financial matters). While couples' sex role identity scores were significantly different, they had no significant effect on the wife's career commitment.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Adult and Continuing Education

Department dc:contributor.department

Adult and Continuing Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1990

Author dc:creator

• Scott, Ernestine H.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Boucouvalas, Marcie

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Best, Al
• Schwertz, Courtney
• Miles, Johnnie H.
• Andrew, Loyd D.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-07282008-135512

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/38971