International Journal of Business and Society, Vol. 14 No.

1, 2013, 149 - 162

COMPARING WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT AND

FACILITATION AMONG MALE AND FEMALE
ENTREPRENEURS IN MALAYSIA

Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin♣

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Noor Hazlina Ahmad

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Siti Rohaida Mohamed Zainal

Universiti Sains Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This study tested for gender differences with regards to the four dimensions of work-
family balance proposed by Frone (2003). The sample comprised of 228 married Malaysian
entrepreneurs of which 126 were males and 102 were females. Results of the independent
sample t-tests revealed no significant gender disparities. It appears that experiences of conflict
and facilitation did not conform to the traditional gender role perspective as hypothesized.
In other words, the levels of conflict and facilitation encountered by the male and female
Malaysian entrepreneurs sampled in this study tend to be similar. Our findings seem to
suggest the existence of changing cultural values concerning work and family responsibilities
in Malaysia. Limitations of the findings and recommendations for future research are also
highlighted.

Keywords: Work-family conflict, work-family facilitation, gender, entrepreneurs, Malaysia

1. INTRODUCTION

Over the years, interest in work-family balance has continued to grow in importance. This
interest has been sparked by the realization that unbalanced work-family relationships can
result in reduced health and performance outcomes for individuals, families, and organizations
(Kalliath & Brough, 2008). Besides, striking changes in the nature of the workforce and
families, such as the rising trend in the entry of women, dual-earner couples, single parents,
and greater caregiving needs of an aging population (Grant-Vallone & Donaldson, 2001),
have further increased the household and work responsibilities likely to be experienced by

♣ Corresponding author: Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin, Professor, School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang,
Malaysia, Tel: 04-6532548; E-mail: aizzat@usm.my
150 Comparing Work-Family Conflict and Facilitation among Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Malaysia

employees of both genders. Given the need for a balanced life, understanding how work and
family roles can be integrated becomes imperative.

Traditionally, much of research has concentrated on work-family conflict, its causes, and
consequences (see Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005). Conflict has been
the dominant paradigm due to the application of the scarcity theory which assumes that
an individual’s personal resources relating to time, energy, and attention are finite (Van
Steenbergen, Ellemers, & Mooijart, 2007). As a result, devotion to one role (e.g. work)
implies that lower resources can be spent on another role (e.g. family) (Greenhaus & Beutell,
1985). However, there has been a growing recognition that the focus on conflict represents
not only a partial view of an individual’s experiences in negotiating work and family demands
(Aryee, Srinivas, & Tan, 2005) but has resulted in a negative view of the work-family interface
(Voydanoff, 2004).

Indeed, a review of recent literatures have demonstrated that work and family experiences
may enrich the lives of individuals (Butler, Grzywacz, Bass, & Linney, 2005; Greenhaus &
Powell, 2006; Voydanoff, 2004; Wayne, Grzywacz, Carlson, & Kacmar, 2007). In other words,
individuals may actually derived social psychological benefits and an increase in the quality of
life by simultaneous participation in their work and family roles (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006).
This new construct relating to the positive side of the work-family interchange is referred to
as work-family facilitation.

In their review of the “work-balance” construct, Kalliath and Brough (2008) argued that despite
being discussed in the literature, a formal definition of this term remains elusive. Nevertheless,
Frone (2003) viewed work-family balance as reflecting an absence of conflict and a presence
of facilitation. According to Frone (2003), work-family balance can be tested by assessing
the dimensions associated with the conflict and facilitation constructs. Work-family conflict
is a form of inter-role conflict that occurs as a result of incompatible role pressures from the
work and family domains (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). Work-family conflict is posited to
be bidirectional, such that work can interfere with family (work-to-family interference, WFI)
and family can interfere with work (family-to-work-interference, FWI) (Frone, Yardley, &
Markel, 1997; Netemeyer, Boles, & McMurrian, 1996). On the other hand, Voydanoff (2004)
used the term work-family facilitation to characterize positive spillover, whereby participation
in one role (e.g. work) creates resources that make easier participation in the other role (e.g.
family). Again, work-family facilitation can occur in two directions, meaning that work can
provide gains that enhance the functioning of the family domain or family can provide gains
that enhance the functioning of the work domain (Wayne et al., 2007).

Research on work-family has predominantly focused on the negative side of combining

multiple roles. These studies concerning work-family conflict were overwhelmingly confined
to Western settings using organizationally-employed individuals as subjects (Anderson,
Coffey, & Byerly, 2002; Carlson & Kacmar, 2000; Carnicer, Sanchez, Perez, & Jimenez, 2004;
Cinamon, 2006; Elloy & Smith, 2003; Greenhaus, Parasuraman, & Collins, 2001; Wallace,
2005). This body of literature has explored the prevalence, antecedents, and outcomes of
conflict emanating from work-to-family and family-to-work. Similarly, researchers have
 Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin and Noor Hazlina Ahmad and Siti Rohaida Mohamed Zainal 151

begun to give greater attention to the positive side of the work-family interface (Beutell, 2010;
Carlson, Kacmar, Wayne, & Grzywacz, 2006; Hanson, Hammer, & Colton, 2006; Stoddard &
Madsen, 2007). Given the growing realization that people desire a balanced life, there is a need
to explore the work-family interface by including both components of conflict and facilitation
as suggested by Frone (2003). Despite its potential as an acceptable conceptual measure of
work-family balance, research using Frone’s (2003) four-fold taxonomy is relatively sparse
(Aryee et al., 2005).

In Malaysia, despite the importance of balance for the health and wellbeing of individuals
and families (Eby et al., 2005), no known research has explored the occurrence of work-
family balance using Frone’s (2003) four-fold perspective. Therefore, this study contributes
to the existing knowledge base in two ways. First, by drawing on a sample of Malaysian
entrepreneurs, this study addresses the glaring underrepresentation of samples from developing
economies in the literature on work-family issues. Second, this study is considered timely
judging from the fact that entrepreneurship has become an increasingly attractive career option
in a work context dominated by widespread organizational restructuring and downsizing
(Parasuraman, Purohit, Godshalk, & Beutell, 1996). This claim is further supported by the
rising trend in the number of people who are self-employed (Parslow, Jorm, Christensen,
Rodgers, Strazdins, & D’Souza, 2004; Prottas & Thompson, 2006; Tuttle & Garr, 2009;
Volery & Pullich, 2010). This trend is also prevalent in Malaysia since small and medium-
scale enterprises (hereafter labeled as SMEs) are initiated and run by entrepreneurs and
these firms constitute 99.2 percent of business establishments and contribute 56.4 percent
to total employment in Malaysia (Ministry of Finance Malaysia, 2010). Given the myriad of
difficulties faced by Malaysian entrepreneurs in areas such as securing financial assistance,
access to information, exposure to good management practices, heavy regulations, and poor
command of information technology (Abd. Samad, Abdullah, Jusoff, Mohamad, & Nair,
2010), an understanding of their work-family balance would be helpful to policy-makers in
designing more effective programs. Consistent with the literature and evidences gathered from
previous studies concerning conflict (e.g. Aycan & Eskin, 2005; Duxbury & Higgins, 1991;
Eagle et al., 1998; Fu & Shaffer, 2001; Hill, Martinson, Hawkins, & Ferris, 2003; Hill, 2005)
and facilitation (e.g. Beutell, 2010; Van Steenbergen et al., 2007) in the work-family interface,
it would be expected that such experiences would be different for men and women. Against
this backdrop, and given that very little attention has been directed towards those who are self-
employed (Beutell, 2007), the purpose of this study is to test for gender differences in terms
of conflict and facilitation experiences emanating from work and family domains among a
sample of Malaysian entrepreneurs.

1.1. Work-Family Conflict and Work-Family Facilitation

Work-family conflict is a type of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures associated
with work and family roles are incompatible in some way such that participation in one role
(e.g. work) becomes more difficult by virtue of participation in the other role (e.g. family)
(Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). The scarcity of resources theory has been used to explain work-
family conflict. This theory advocates that the demands of work or family life are bound to
deplete personal resources, such as time and physical or mental energy, leaving the individual
152 Comparing Work-Family Conflict and Facilitation among Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Malaysia

with inadequate resources to carry out activities in other domains (Goode, 1960). Under these
circumstances, individuals are likely to experience role strains, resulting in conflict between
the work (family) and family (work) domains. As previously noted, conflict between work
and family is posited to be bidirectional. That is, work may interfere with the family domain
and family can interfere with the work domain. Work-family conflict results in a variety of
negative outcomes for the individual such as diminished satisfaction (Adams, King, & King,
1996; Netemeyer et al., 1996; Thomas & Ganster, 1995, Zhang, Griffeth, & Fried, 2012),
lower level of mental health (Frone, 2000; Frone et al., 1992; Grzywacz & Bass, 2003), as well
as lower level of physical health (Allen & Amstrong, 2006; Demerouti, Geurts, & Kompier,
2004; Major, Klein, & Ehrhart, 2002; Thomas & Ganster, 1995).

Work-family facilitation refers to a form of synergy whereby resources gain from involvement
in one domain (e.g. work) can positively enhance one’s involvement in the other domain
(e.g. family) (Voydanoff, 2004). Greenhaus and Powell (2006) conceptualized the facilitation
construct as the extent to which experiences in one role improve the quality of life in the other
role. This perspective relied on the role expansion-enhancement theory whereby participation
in multiple roles (such as work and family) does not deplete one’s physiological and
psychological resources (Aryee et al., 2005; Karatepe & Bekteshi, 2008). Instead, since human
energy is assumed to be abundant and expandable, participation in one role can have a positive
effect on other role performances. Consistent with the role enhancement perspective, Wayne et
al. (2007) defined work-family facilitation as the extent to which an individual’s engagement
in one life domain (i.e. work/family) provides gains (i.e. developmental, affective, capital,
or efficiency) which contribute to increased functioning of another life domain (i,e. family/
work). According to Wayne et al. (2007), facilitation can occur in two directions meaning
that work can provide gains that enrich the functioning of the family domain (work-to-family
facilitation, WFF) or family can provide gains that enrich the functioning of the work domain
(family-to-work-facilitation, FWF). Work-family facilitation has been shown to be related to
positive work outcomes such job performance (Karatepe & Bekteshi, 2008), satisfaction (Hill,
2005), and commitment (Gordon, Whelan-Berry, & Hamilton, 2007).

1.2. Gender Differences in Work-Family Conflict and Work-Family Facilitation

The traditional division of labor is gender-based, with the wife responsible for the family and
the husband assuming the role of a breadwinner (Higgins, Duxbury, & Lee, 1994). According
to Gutek, Searle, and Klepa (1991), domestic responsibilities have been a large part of the
female domain whereby women are expected to provide a stable home to their families. In
response to this differential role demands, women are more likely to allow family demands
to intrude into their work domain. In addition, women tend to spend more hours than men
on family and household chores (Nieva & Gutek, 1981). If the number of hours spent in an
activity translates directly into perceived conflict as argued by Gutek et al. (1991), women
should report more of family-to-work interference than men. Despite the fact that women
are now more educated, participate more in the workforce, and have more equal employment
opportunities, evidence continues to suggest that women still carry the primary responsibility
for family chores (Voydanoff, 1988; Wiersma, 1994; Eagle, Icenogle, Maes, & Miles, 1998; Fu
& Shaffer 2001). According to Hochschild (1989), among dual-earner couples, women seem
to bear the burden of adapting to work and family demands. Evidence has shown that married
 Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin and Noor Hazlina Ahmad and Siti Rohaida Mohamed Zainal 153

women continue to bear a heavier burden of housework and childcare than their male partners
(Voydanoff, 1988, Wiersma, 1994). Thus, under such circumstances, one would expect women
to experience greater family-to-work interference than men.

On the other hand, working long hours in a demanding job is part of the “good provider role”
(Bernard, 1981). Hence, since men spend more hours in paid employment than the average
employed women (Pleck, 1985), they should report greater work-to-family interference than
their female counterparts. Several researchers found proofs of significant gender differences
when examining work-family conflict. For instance, the findings by Aycan and Eskin
(2005) on a sample of dual-earner families in Turkey lend partial support to the gender role
hypothesis. Although both men and women allowed greater interference from work-to-family
than from family-to-work, their findings also revealed that women experienced more work-to-
family conflict than did men. Duxbury and Higgins (1991) noted the existence of significant
differences in 11 out of 17 comparisons made between married male and female professionals
across several antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict. Similarly, Hill et al. (2003)
and Hill (2005) found that working fathers reported lower levels of family-work conflict than
working mothers. Kinnunen and Mauno (1998), however, proved otherwise. They reported
no gender differences in the levels of work-to-family interference and family-to-work
interference on a sample of employed men and women in Finland. In a recent study, Beutell
(2010) concluded that there was no significant difference in the two forms of work-family
conflict for working mothers and fathers. Accordingly, we proposed the following:

H1a: The level of work-to-family interference will be greater for men than women.
H1b: The level of family-to-work interference will be greater for women than men.

In a similar vein, the internalization of gender role ideology suggests differences in facilitation
between men and women. Since the average employed woman spend more time on family work
and home maintenance than the average employed man, it is likely that the positive experiences
she gains from spending her time with the family can help promote the functioning of her
work activities. In contrast, since men are often expected to provide financial security for the
family, they tend to spend more time in their paid work. Under such circumstances, men stand
to experience greater positive spillover from the work domain than their wives, resulting in
higher levels of work-to-family facilitation. However, despite the increasing number of studies
on the positive interactions between work and family, empirical evidences remain scarce and
divided. For instance, Van Steenbergen et al. (2007) found that women experienced higher
levels of facilitation than men. Similarly, Beutell (2010) reported that men scored higher on
both types of work-family facilitation as opposed to women. Their t-test results indicated that
family-to-work facilitation was statistically significant. Conversely, a study by Grzywacz and
Marks (2000) discovered no meaningful differences in the levels of work-family facilitation
and family-work facilitation across gender. Given the paucity of research on gender differences
concerning the facilitation construct, such examination within the framework of work-family
balance seems to be in order. Therefore, our second hypothesis is:

H2a: The level of work-to-family facilitation will be greater for men than women.
H2b: The level of family-to-work facilitation will be greater for women than men.
154 Comparing Work-Family Conflict and Facilitation among Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Malaysia

2. METHODOLOGY

2.1. Subjects, Sampling, Measures, and Method of Analysis

Data for the study were collected from married entrepreneurs of small and medium-scale
enterprises (SMEs) located in three states within the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia.
We used the definitions of SMEs relating to the number of full-time employees provided by the
Small and Medium Enterprises Corporation (SME Corp.) of Malaysia to identify appropriate
businesses for inclusion in the present study. For small-sized manufacturing enterprises, the
number of full-time employees ranges between 5 and 50 whereas those businesses with 51 to
150 are categorized as “medium-sized” (SME Corp., 2010). On the other hand, the number of
full-time employees for small-sized service firms should be between 5 and 19 whereas medium-
sized ones are those businesses that employed between 20 to 50 people on a full-time basis
(SME Corp., 2010). Given the lack of a proper sampling frame, we conveniently distributed
550 questionnaires with the help of officials attached to Penang Invest, various chambers of
commerce, non-governmental agencies, legal firms, and banks that have dealings with SME
entrepreneurs in the three states. Respondents were requested to fill out the questionnaires in a
self-administered manner within a period of three weeks. To ensure higher responses, several
follow-up phone calls were made to the officers in the respective institutions. Our study
variables comprised of the four dimensions of work-family balance: work-family conflict,
family-work conflict, work-family facilitation, and family-work facilitation. We computed an
index for each dimension by averaging the sum of the four items associated with it. These
items were adopted from Wayne, Musisca, and Fleeson (2004). Responses to these items were
made on a five-point response format (“1= never” to “5= all the time”). Independent sample
t-tests were performed to test our hypotheses.

3. RESULTS
After the cut-off date for data collection, a total of 228 usable questionnaires were retrieved,
yielding a response rate of 41.5%. Of the sample, 126 (55.3%) were males and 102 (44.7%)
were females. Frequencies, percentages, and descriptive statistics for selected demographic
variables according to gender are reported in Table 1.

Table 1: Demographic Profile of the Sample According to Gender

Variables Men (N=126) Women (N=102)
Frequencies % Frequencies %
Ethnicity
Malay 61 48.4 48 47.1
Chinese 56 44.4 49 48.0
Indians & Others 9 7.2 5 4.9

Education
Higher School Certificate and lower 45 35.8 39 38.1
Diploma 30 23.8 27 26.5
Bachelors degree and above 51 40.5 36 35.3

 Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin and Noor Hazlina Ahmad and Siti Rohaida Mohamed Zainal 155

Table 1: Demographic Profile of the Sample According to Gender (cont)

Variables Men (N=126) Women (N=102)

Frequencies % Frequencies %
Number of Children
None 13 10.3 24 23.5
1-3 87 69.1 53 51.9
4 and above 26 20.7 25 24.5

Industry
Manufacturing 31 31.0 26 25.5
Service 95 69.0 76 74.5

Monthly Income
RM1000-RM5000 45 35.7 58 57.1
RM5001-RM15000 66 52.5 37 36.2
More than RM15000 15 12.0 7 6.9

Enterprise Size (Number of full-time employees)
5-10 85 67.5 74 72.6
11-20 17 13.6 11 10.7
More than 20 24 19.1 17 16.9

Variables Mean SD Mean SD
Age (years) 43.38 7.87 40.31 9.63
Work As Entrepreneur (years) 13.10 8.23 10.73 7.72
Hours in Work Activities 9.46 2.22 9.34 2.97
Hours in Family Activities 3.95 2.36 4.77 3.06

As shown in Table 1, the male and female entrepreneurs were well represented in terms of
the three ethnic groups in Malaysia: Malays, Chinese, and Indians and others. Regarding
education, in both groups of respondents, a majority of them have a diploma or higher
qualification. Similarly, a majority of the sampled male and female entrepreneurs have
between one to three children. More than two-thirds of the respondents from the two groups
hailed from the service sector. A comparison of the monthly income for the sample revealed
that a majority (64.5%) of the sampled male entrepreneurs have a monthly income of above
RM5000 per month whereas the income size for the female group was below RM5000 per
month. In terms of enterprise size, a majority of the sampled entrepreneurs from the two
groups were owners of businesses with employees ranging from five to ten people. On the
average, the age for male entrepreneurs (mean=43.38 years; SD=7.87) was higher than that
for the female entrepreneurs (Mean=40.31 years; (SD=9.63). Likewise, on the average, male
respondents have more experience as entrepreneurs (mean=13.10 years; SD=8.23) than those
female respondents (Mean=10.73 years; SD=7.72). In addition, on the average, the number
of hours spent at work for both male respondents (Mean=9.46 hours; SD=2.22) were about
the same as female (Mean= 9.34 hours; SD=2.97). However, male entrepreneurs spent lesser
156 Comparing Work-Family Conflict and Facilitation among Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Malaysia

time in family activities (Mean= 3.95 hours; SD=2.36) as opposed to female entrepreneurs
(Mean=4.77; SD=3.06).

We computed the means and standard deviations for the study variables. Reliabilities of the
measures were also examined. Furthermore, we conducted tests of differences across the four
variables according to gender. Our results are portrayed in Table 2.

Table 2: Means, Standard Deviations, Reliabilities, and T-values of Study Variables

Men (N=126) Women (N=102) Reliabilities
Variables t-value
Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev. Alpha-Value
Work-to-Family Interference (WIF) 2.66 0.84 2.55 0.81 0.85 0.99
Family-to-Work Interference (FIW) 2.32 0.83 2.30 0.86 0.77 0.22
Work-to-Family Facilitation (WFF) 3.00 0.73 2.89 0.82 0.77 1.03
Family-to-Work Facilitation (FWF) 3.42 0.81 3.35 0.84 0.69 0.66

As depicted in Table 2, our measures demonstrated satisfactory reliabilities since the alpha
values computed exceeded Sekaran and Bougie’s (2010) suggested minimum acceptable
level of 0.60. The mean values for work-to-family conflict and work-to-family facilitation for
men (WIF=2.66; WFF=3.00) were found to be higher than women (WIF=2.55; WFF=2.89).
However, the t-test results indicate that these differences were not statistically significant.
Contrary to our expectations, the mean values for family-to-work conflict and family-to-work
facilitation for men (FIW=2.32; FWF=3.42) were found to be higher than women (WIF=2.30;
FWW=3.35). Nevertheless, these differences were statistically insignificant as well. Since
none of the t-values were significant across the four dimensions of work-family balance
(work-to-family interference, family-to-work interference, work-to-family facilitation, and
family-to-work facilitation), it can be surmised that no meaningful gender differences were
observed in the present study. Thus, our two hypotheses were unsupported.

4. DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND LIMITATIONS

In this study, we examined whether the four dimensions of work-family balance proposed
by Frone (2003) were significantly different for men and women. We tested our hypotheses
using a sample of married Malaysian SME entrepreneurs. It was discovered that the level of
conflict and facilitation arising from the work and family domains experienced by Malaysian
entrepreneurs were not significantly different in terms of gender. Although the mean values for
work-to-family conflict and work-to-family facilitation for men was found to be higher than
women, the t-test results indicate that these differences were not statistically meaningful. Our
findings on the lack of gender differences in work-to-family interference and family-to-work
interference are consistent with that of earlier findings by previous researchers (e.g. Beutell,
2010; Kinnunen & Mauno, 1998). Contrary to our expectations, the level of family-to-work
conflict and family-to-work facilitation seemed to be slightly higher for men than women.
However, these differences were statistically insignificant. In the present study, no gender
differences were detected for the facilitation construct arising from the work and family
domains. This finding lends credence to the discovery made by Grzywacz and Marks (2000).
 Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin and Noor Hazlina Ahmad and Siti Rohaida Mohamed Zainal 157

Overall, our results showed no gender differences between male and female entrepreneurs in
managing their work-family balance. These findings are in tandem with those by Loscocco
and Leicht (1993) who demonstrated gender similarity among male and female small business
owners in their processes to achieve business success. According to Cromie (1987), as
business owners, women like their male counterparts share a desire for personal and economic
achievement. Because of women’s disadvantageous position in the labor market (Coverman,
1983), women are more likely to fend for themselves in trying to establish a better work
situation. In addition, as noted by Prottas and Thompson (2006), entrepreneurs, regardless of
gender, have to perform an array of work responsibilities including administering payroll, hiring
employees, negotiating with customers, and others. This is consistent with the “universalist”
position that views entrepreneurs as a homogeneous group unified by their role rather than
their culture (Baum, Olian, Erez, Schnell, Smith, Sims, Scully, & Smith, 1993; Mitchell,
Smith, Seawright, & Morse, 2000). In the case of Malaysia, since entrepreneurs are typically
owners of SMEs, their work burden is likely to be further aggravated by other problems (such
as difficulties in securing financial assistance, inability to access timely information, lack of
sufficient exposure to good management practices, heavy regulations, and inability to utilize
information technology) as previously highlighted by Abd. Samad et al. (2010). Besides, as
Koshal, Gupta, and Koshal (1998) pointed out, the Malaysian society is undergoing rapid
transformation from its strong traditional religious and cultural norms to more contemporary
values about women. Furthermore, entrepreneurship has been identified as one of the pathways
for women to contribute to the country’s economic transformation (Sum, 2012). Under such
circumstances, gender role ideology may not be salient among entrepreneurs in Malaysia
resulting in no significant differences in their experiences of conflict and facilitation from the
work-family interface.

This research has its own limitations. First, our sample consisted of entrepreneurs alone.
Thus, the findings obtained may not be generalized to other career professionals. Second, the
sample size was relatively small. Greater statistical conclusion validity can be achieved with
a larger sample. Third, we only investigated gender differences between the four dimensions
of work-family balance. Future research should be expanded to allow a more comprehensive
examination by examining gender differences in terms of the antecedents and consequences of
the work-family balance construct.

5. CONCLUSION
Although the experiences associated with work-family issues have been hypothesized to be
different for married male and female entrepreneurs within the Malaysian context, our results
showed no dissimilarities. Given the salient role of self-employment in driving the nation’s
economic growth and the rise of women participation in entrepreneurial ventures, it becomes
imperative for policy-makers to understand how male and female entrepreneurs view their
work and family balance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to extend their gratitude to Universiti Sains Malaysia for providing the
grant (1001/PMGT/816098) to fund this research.
158 Comparing Work-Family Conflict and Facilitation among Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Malaysia

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