The role of marital status, family composition, role commitment, family support of career, and role conflict in women business owners' success

The consequences of work-home role conflict on working women have been well documented. However, the effect of this interrole conflict on women business owners has gone virtually unnoticed. Since work-home role conflict has been associated with increased stress and lower levels of life satisfaction, it is possible that this conflict would also be associated with lower levels of women business owners' success. Furthermore, marital status, family composition, role commitment, and family support have been shown to moderate work-home role conflict. It was predicted that these factors would contribute to the level of success, both financial and personal, that the woman business owner achieves.;A questionnaire consisting of established scales designed to measure the variables under investigation was mailed to 145 Cincinnati women business owners. Responses from 118 women business owners resulted in a response rate of 81%. After the initial analysis of data, follow-up interviews were conducted on a sub-sample of the respondents.;Overall, the results suggest that being married is associated directly with higher levels of family support of career and indirectly with lower levels of role conflict. However, having children between the ages of six and 16 living at home is associated with lower levels of family support and higher levels of role conflict. Higher levels of family support of career were associated with lower levels of role conflict. Finally, both higher levels of family support and lower levels of role conflict were associated (directly and indirectly) with financial and personal success.;In support of the findings, interviews with women business owners indicated that family responsibilities, family support, and role conflict affect both personal and financial levels of success. These variables also impact the growth and direction of the business.;The current research provides a clearer understanding of the relationship between being married, family support of career, and role conflict with success. Less is understood about the sources of support used by non-married women. Future research areas suggested include: an examination of the sources of support used by non-married women, exploring the interrelationship between adult development and business development, and cross-validating the proposed model of women's entrepreneurial success.