People tend to think of work-family conflict as something that only women experience, and assume that it pushes women to quit their jobs. But new research shows that men feel it just as much as women do, and that it also undercuts their commitment to their employer.
A recent article in Harvard Business Review looks at why both men and women feel work-family conflict, but why men's feelings on this remain largely invisible. The authors, Robin Ely of Harvard Business School and Irene Padavic at Florida State University, studied a global consulting firm for 18 months. In interviews with the research team, which also included Erin Reid of McMaster University, the men expressed profound sadness and guilt over not being there for their children and their partners.
It's not the only study to reveal that men feel work-family conflict — but it is remarkable for the portrait it paints of silent male suffering, and the way in which male silence and female openness conspire to maintain the status quo.