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A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia

This article explores the paradoxes relating to the intricate relationships of women, work and home in Malaysia. In general, employment activity enhances women;s economic independence and influences their negotiations about the divisions of labour in the home. But in Malaysia, the situation concerns...

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Main Author: Rokis, Rohaiza
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut Sosial Malaysia 2009
Subjects:
H10 Societies
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/41185/1/9-_Author_%28MJSPS%29.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/41185/
http://www.ism.gov.my/default.php?page=Journals
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spelling my.iium.irep.411852015-03-12T03:37:25Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/41185/ A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia Rokis, Rohaiza H10 Societies This article explores the paradoxes relating to the intricate relationships of women, work and home in Malaysia. In general, employment activity enhances women;s economic independence and influences their negotiations about the divisions of labour in the home. But in Malaysia, the situation concerns the issue over conflicts of priorities, which seems to challenge the traditional gender roles of woman, wife, mother and homemaker. What happens when family commitments come into conflict with the demands of employment? when the two seems incompatible, which one gets priority? The research proposition rests on the stance that traditional and normative values still confine female professionals in Malaysia to set the priority for family work more than professional work despite modernisation. This article therefore attempts to identify their priority when the private-traditional sphere collides with the public-modernised sphere. It is derived from an in-depth structured interview method on 34 female professionals such as engineers, chemist and geologists who work at one petrochemical company in Malaysia, as well as higher-ranking ministerial personnel and human resource managers. The study found that even though female professionals enjoy their work, they still consider family and home as the priority in life. Modernisation has not able to change women's traditional attitude towards home commitment. Though they may be modernised, educated and professional, when it collides with home affairs, these women are still traditional at heart. Institut Sosial Malaysia 2009 Article REM application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/41185/1/9-_Author_%28MJSPS%29.pdf Rokis, Rohaiza (2009) A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Social Policy and Society, 6. pp. 21-33. ISSN 1823-0865 http://www.ism.gov.my/default.php?page=Journals
institution Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia
building IIUM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider International Islamic University Malaysia
content_source IIUM Repository (IREP)
url_provider http://irep.iium.edu.my/
language English
topic H10 Societies
spellingShingle H10 Societies
Rokis, Rohaiza
A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia
description This article explores the paradoxes relating to the intricate relationships of women, work and home in Malaysia. In general, employment activity enhances women;s economic independence and influences their negotiations about the divisions of labour in the home. But in Malaysia, the situation concerns the issue over conflicts of priorities, which seems to challenge the traditional gender roles of woman, wife, mother and homemaker. What happens when family commitments come into conflict with the demands of employment? when the two seems incompatible, which one gets priority? The research proposition rests on the stance that traditional and normative values still confine female professionals in Malaysia to set the priority for family work more than professional work despite modernisation. This article therefore attempts to identify their priority when the private-traditional sphere collides with the public-modernised sphere. It is derived from an in-depth structured interview method on 34 female professionals such as engineers, chemist and geologists who work at one petrochemical company in Malaysia, as well as higher-ranking ministerial personnel and human resource managers. The study found that even though female professionals enjoy their work, they still consider family and home as the priority in life. Modernisation has not able to change women's traditional attitude towards home commitment. Though they may be modernised, educated and professional, when it collides with home affairs, these women are still traditional at heart.
format Article
author Rokis, Rohaiza
author_facet Rokis, Rohaiza
author_sort Rokis, Rohaiza
title A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia
title_short A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia
title_full A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia
title_fullStr A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed A clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised Malaysia
title_sort clash of priority between work and home: an experience of female professionals in a modernised malaysia
publisher Institut Sosial Malaysia
publishDate 2009
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/41185/1/9-_Author_%28MJSPS%29.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/41185/
http://www.ism.gov.my/default.php?page=Journals
_version_ 1643611969769439232
score 13.211869

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