Trouble at the Border?: Gender, Flexibility at Work, and the Work-Home Interface

Using data from the 2002 National Survey of the Changing Workforce, this article examines the effects of schedule control and job autonomy on two forms of work-home role blurring: receiving work-related contact outside of normal work hours and bringing work home. Schedule control is associated positively with the frequency of receiving contact and bringing work home, although those effects are stronger among men. Job autonomy is associated positively with contact among men only, but it is associated positively with bringing work home among both women and men. Schedule control and job autonomy also modify the association between these forms of role blurring and work-to-home conflict: (1) contact is associated positively with work-to-home conflict among individuals with low job autonomy; and (2) bringing work home is associated positively with work-to-home conflict among individuals with greater schedule control. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings for the linkages among gender, work conditions associated with control, and the work-home interface.