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Gender inequality is embedded in men's greater labor force participation and women's greater assumption of domestic roles. These inequalities are at the same time rooted in people's projections about their future lives, which influence future behaviors and values. The current research analyzes factors that influence these projections about the gender division of labor. A sample of 230 male and female Spanish university students reported their expectations about gender equality in their own future life. Data are also presented from 113 female university students from the United States, who completed the same measures. In an experimental design, these participants were also assigned to envision a possible future self as a married parent who was employed full-time, part-time, or not at all and whose educational attainment was a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree. When reporting expectations for their own future lives, more female than male Spanish participants expected part-time work, marriage, and parenthood. In most aspects, the experimental conditions, with their assignments to particular future situations, yielded the same expectations for the male and female participants. Notably, as hypothesized, participants of both sexes estimated that greater employment would enhance their attainment of career and respect goals but compromise family goals. We discuss the effects of employment expectations on the division of labor and gender equality, and additionally provide a cross-cultural interpretation of the differences observed between Spain and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family-to-work conflict and enrichment indicate how participation in the family can influence negatively or positively participation at work, respectively. These experiences have been proved to co-occur within individuals at different levels and explain their well-being in a more nuanced way than conflict and enrichment in isolation. This study examines how Spanish women and men experience conflict and enrichment concurrently in different types and the consequences to their subjective health. First, in line with social role theory and the gendered division of household labor, we hypothesized on gender differences in the types of combined conflict and enrichment experiences. Second, incorporating theory on conservation of resources and identity, we hypothesized on the consequences of the specific types of combined conflict and enrichment to subjective health from a gender perspective. Using chi-square test on a sample of 236 women and 165 men, we confirmed that women and men differed in their types of combined conflict and enrichment experience: the beneficial (higher enrichment than conflict) and active types (similar higher conflict and enrichment) were mainly composed of women whereas the passive type (similar lower conflict and enrichment) was mainly composed of men. Using a MANOVA, we confirmed that the types of combined conflict and enrichment explained significant differences in subjective health in a similar way for women and men. Overall the findings debunk the belief that higher participation in family roles interferes with work more negatively among women, or that higher participation in family roles affect their health more negatively than men. We discuss theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Spain experienced rapid societal and gender equality changes after the end of the dictatorship in 1975, the development of gender equality in Spain has differed from other European countries and the United States. Therefore, the results of Spanish studies conducted on gender and leadership might differ from those conducted in countries with other historical backgrounds such as other European countries or the United States. We systematically reviewed the current theoretical and empirical literature on gender and leadership with a special emphasis on this comparison. Thereby, we focused on four essential aspects: (a) the underlying mechanism of gender inequality (e.g., traditional gender roles), (b) gender and leadership behavior, (c) the relation of female representation in top management and on boards with organizational performance, and d) female representation and non-performance-related organizational outcomes. Further, Spain is currently experiencing a severe economic crisis. On the one hand, such a crisis might provide a chance for gender equality development; on the other hand, it might trigger a regression toward traditional gender roles in society. Thus, in our discussion, we relate the results of our comparison to these two different but possible consequences of the crisis. To conclude, we outline directions for future research that we hope will provide answers to important questions in this area of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]