Role conflict, enrichment, sense of balance, and well-being among working students who are parents

This study aimed to explore the relationship between role conflict, role enrichment, and the balance among roles, and their effects on the well-being (both positive and negative affect) of parents who are simultaneously working and studying. The sample included 256 Israeli Jewish participants (161 women) who operate simultaneously in three systems: family-work, family-school, and work-school. The most intense experience of role conflict was found in the interfaces between school and family and between work and school, and the least intense between family and work and between school and work. The lowest sense of balance was found in the family-school system. Men experienced a higher sense of role balance compared to women. The findings highlight the family’s contribution to enriching working and studying parents, and the relative impenetrability of the work area to the demands of the family and school.