1. 1
Reservation policy and its impact on alienation and work family conflict:
An empirical study of male and female managers

2. 2
Reservation policy and its impact on Alienation and WFC:
An empirical study of male and female managers
Caste based quota system prevalent in India is a well known policy
implemented by the Indian Government for the upliftment of the backward
class. It is a form of affirmative action taken up to provide justice to the people
belonging to the subjugated castes that were devoid of various social and
economic benefits due to long prevailing caste system. The policy was initially
applicable for a period of 10 years, but after discussions and suggestions has
been extended periodically. At present the total reservation at the central level
is 49.5%. For SC it is 15%, ST 7.5% and OBC 27%, it varies in states.
One area where its implementation is often a food for thought and
discussion is in the employment of the public/govt. sector employees. It has
brought tremendous change in the composition of the workforce of these
organisations. As there are certain seats reserved and other unreserved, there is
an increase in diverse people working together belonging to different
backgrounds in terms of castes, education, economic status etc. Resultant
diversity thus is often perceived as forced and results in certain psychological
outcomes for the employees while working together.
These outcomes could be impacting the work life as well as the family
life of the employees. The present study attempts to study two resultant
psychological consequences of the presence of such diversity in the
public/govt. organisations due to caste based quota system. They have been
studied in terms of experienced Work Alienation and Work family conflict.

3. 3
Experience in terms of both the variables has been assessed for General as
well as Reserved category employees (consisting of both males and females)
using a mixed methodology.
Work Alienation and Work-family conflict
Alienation is a much disputed concern of contemporary society in
general and modern sociological inquiry in particular. There is, for instance, a
division between those who consider alienation, within its variety of
definitions, a phenomenon typical of mass urbanized industrial societies
(Josephson & Josephson, 1962; Fromm, 1955; Pappenheim, 1959; Fischer,
1973) and those who suggest that alienation is a universal and timeless
phenomenon typical of all human society (Berger & Pullberg, 1965). And for
some others, alienation becomes merely a metaphor for the frustration
humans’ encounter in varying social situations (Feuer, 1969).
Yet, the "nature of alienation" continues to intrigue scholars and serves
as a source of much conceptual analysis and research (Lystad, 1972). The
variety of perspectives associated with alienation creates a concept which is
multidimensional, particularly within various contexts of study (Pearlin, 1962;
McClosky & Schaar, 1965; Neal & Rettig, 1967; Holian, 1972; Neal & Groat,
1974).
Seeman (1959, 1967, 1972) proposed five aspects of alienation relating
to socio-psychological differences in situations viz. powerlessness,
meaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation, and self-estrangement. He

4. 4
developed this perspective to provide the concept with more researchable
statement of meaning.
In recent times, few more definitions have emerged for Work
Alienation which focus majorly on an employees’ felt separation from work.
Kanungo (1979) defined Work Alienation as Generalized cognitive (or belief)
state of psychological separation from work insofar as work is perceived to
lack the potentiality for satisfying one’s salient needs and expectations.
Hirschfeld & Feild (2000) believe work alienation to be representing the
extent to which a person is disengaged from the world of work.
In the present research, experience of work alienation has been
analysed as a social process. The way an individual views himself in his
definition of the present situation, nature of work, the interaction among
workers, the nature of the community, union and management and so forth.
The process of alienation is initiated if man interprets himself at loss in terms
of control or emergence of negative interpretation of self. Such view towards
self is both cause and consequence of poor social interaction.
When the focus is on the resultant social interaction it is not only
confined to work settings but also incorporates family roles and
responsibilities. Thus, the present study also examines the Work family
conflict experienced by the various groups of employees in the same sample.
In general the subjective quality of the experiences an individual has in
both work and family roles is a critical determinant of psychological well
being (Frone et.al., 1992) For example, work experienced as demanding or not

5. 5
rewarding may increase the chances of work-family strain, whereas work that
is more rewarding may reduce the chances of strain. In addition, work and
family experience may have reciprocal effects so that perceptions and
behaviour in one role are affected to some degree by experiences in the other
(Williams & Alliger, 1994).
In the present study, assessed employees are categorized into four
groups, women and men belonging to reserved and general categories. Results
for each category are also discussed in light of these three phases.
Method
To assess Work Alienation, ‘Alienation from Work Questionnaire’
developed by Shepard (1972) has been employed. Using Seeman’s (1959)
analysis, he operationalized five uses of the term alienation with respect to
work, which are the five dimensions under study in the present questionnaire.
These five dimensions are Powerlessness, Meaninglessness, Normlessness,
Instrumental Work Orientation (IWO) and Self Evaluative Involvement (SEI).
Powerlessness refers to perceived lack of freedom and personal control on the
job, where the worker feels that he or she is dominated by other people or a
technological system. Meaninglessness refers to an inability to understand the
events in which one is engaged, for example how one’s work activities relate
to other jobs and the larger organisation. Normlessness is the expectation that
culturally accepted goals (such as upward mobility in the company) can only
be achieved through illegitimate means. Instrumental Work Orientation is a
specific case of “self-estrangement”, when activities are undertaken solely for

6. 6
anticipated future rewards and not for any intrinsic value. Working merely for
money is cited as an example for the occupational setting. Self evaluative
Involvement refers to the degree to which a person tests his or her self esteem
through involvement in a particular role, for example as a worker. In this
specific sense it has similarities with the concept of Work Involvement.
Work Family Conflict was assessed through, ‘Work Interference with
Family and Family Interference with Work Questionnaire’ developed by
Gutek, Searle & Klepa (1991). The original measure used eight items to
describe the extent to which an employee’s work demands interfere with
family responsibilities (four items) and the extent to which family demands
interfere with work responsibilities (four items). Two additional items were
added to each of these subscales by Carlson and Perrewe (1999). The
responses are obtained using a five-point Likert type scale where one refers to
strong agreement and five to strong disagreement. A higher score depicts
lower work family Conflict.
For the present study, a pilot run was conducted for both the
questionnaires to validate that they can be used with Indian population. Thus,
Cronbach alpha was computed which came out to be 0.79 and 0.85
respectively.
Qualitative method has also been employed along with the
questionnaires for validation of quantitative results and for observations
beyond the questionnaires’ limitations. Semi-structured interviews have been
conducted on 30% of the sample. Data collected has been analysed by

7. 7
employing descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, thematic analysis
and content analysis.
Sample
The sample comprised of employees chosen randomly from large
public sector organizations. The sample size was 300 participants that had
been divided into four groups, namely, general category men (GCM, 123
participants), general category women (GCW, 90 participants), reserved
category men (RCM, 66 participants) and reserved category women (RCW, 21
participants). Employees in the reserved category (both men and women)
belonged to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Classes.
Employees in all managerial strata (low, middle and high) were parts of the
sample. All the respondents had an educational qualification of at least
graduation. All the respondents were within the age group of 25 to 55 years.
Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were formulated:
Hypothesis 1: There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in their
extent of experienced Work Alienation.
Hypothesis 1(a): There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in their
extent of experienced Powerlessness at work.

8. 8
Hypothesis 1(b): There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in their
extent of experienced Meaninglessness at work.
Hypothesis 1(c): There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in their
extent of experienced Normlessness at work.
Hypothesis 1(d): There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in their
extent of experienced Instrumental work orientation.
Hypothesis 1(e): There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in their
extent of Self evaluative involvement at work.
Hypothesis 2: There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in their
extent of experienced Work family conflict.
Hypothesis 2(a): There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in the extent
to which they experience Work interference with family.
Hypothesis 2(b): There would be a significant difference between the
four groups based on differing genders and reservation categories in the extent
to which they experience Family interference with work.

9. 9
Hypothesis 3: There would be a relationship between experienced
Work Alienation with its various dimensions and experienced Work Family
conflict with its various dimensions across the groups.
Data Collection and Analysis
Data collection began with filling of the questionnaires which were
administered personally by the researcher. Confidentiality of individual
responses was assured to all respondents. Once three quarters of the sample
had filled the questionnaire, interviews were initiated. Interviewees were
chosen randomly from the existing pool of respondents. During the interviews,
they were asked to narrate personal experiences, if any, of experiencing work
alienation majorly in terms of powerlessness and meaninglessness at work.
Also any incidents that made it difficult to balance work and family roles.
Comparisons between employees of the two categories, reserved and
general, as well as between employees of the two genders, women and men,
were made on their experience of Work Alienation and Work-Family Conflict.
An interaction effect between the two factors (Gender × Category) was also
analyzed using two way analysis of variance. Pearson’s Correlation was found
between various dimensions on Alienation and WFC for the total sample.
Regression analysis was employed between the dimensions of the two
variables for different groups.
Result and Discussion
Table I presents the values of mean and standard deviation of scores
for Work Alienation and its five dimensions separately for the four groups.

10. 10
Table III gives results of analysis of calculated variance (ANOVA) of Work
Alienation and its five dimensions between gender and category.
From calculated analysis of variance, it is observed that Total amount
of experienced work alienation significantly differs among the two categories
of employees irrespective of their gender (F= 9.307 significant at 0.01 level).
Similarly a significant difference among the two categories of employees
unaffected by their gender is also found in three dimensions of work
alienation, namely, Powerlessness (F= 8.415 significant at 0.01 level),
Meaninglessness (F= 4.911 significant at 0.05 level) and Self evaluative
Involvement (F= 4.031 significant at 0.05 level). Another dimension, namely
Normlessness has been found to be significantly different among the two
genders irrespective of their belongingness to a particular category (F= 4.805
significant at 0.05 level). Instrumental work orientation is the sole dimension
on which no significant difference was found among the four groups under
study in any which way. Thus, hypothesis 1, 1a, 1b, 1c and 1e are partially
accepted as there have been found differences among employees in terms of
either their category or gender, but not based on the interaction of both
category and gender. Hypothesis 1d based on Instrumental work orientation
has been rejected as there was no difference found among the four groups.
Based on the above findings and then examining the mean values in
Table I, it can be said that overall work alienation is higher for the general
category as compared to reserved category employees, keeping in mind that in
the present results a higher mean value depicts lower work alienation. General

11. 11
category employees are also experiencing higher Powerlessness,
Meaninglessness and poor self evaluative involvement as compared to the
reserved category employees. The Normlessness is greater among the males as
compared to the females.
Table II presents the values of mean and standard deviation of scores
for Work Family Conflict and its two dimensions separately for the four
groups. Table IV gives results of analysis of calculated variance (ANOVA) of
Work Family Conflict and its two dimensions between gender and category.
The values for calculated variance depict that there is no significant
difference between the four groups in their experience of Overall Work
Family conflict. Also no significant difference has been found in the
dimension, Work interference with family for the four groups under study.
Thus, hypotheses 2 and 2a have been rejected. But, in the second dimension of
Work family Conflict, namely, Family interference with Work., a significant
difference has been found among the employees belonging to two differing
genders irrespective of their categories (F= 6.763 significant at 0.01 level) as
well as among the employees of different categories independent of their
gender (F= 4.264 significant at 0.05 level) partially accepting hypothesis 2b.
Looking at the mean values for Family interference with work in Table
II, it can be observed that women are experiencing higher conflict in this
dimension with lower mean values as compared to the male sample. Also the
Reserved category employees are suffering more as compared to the General
category employees.

12. 12
Further, multiple correlations (Table V) were found out between the
various dimensions of the two variables and later step wise regression analysis
was employed to understand the cause-effect relationship between them
(Tables VI, VII and VIII).
Based on Tables VI, VII and VIII, hypothesis 3 has been partially
accepted. As for three groups out of four, multiple significant relationships
have been found between the dimensions of two variables under study. No
significant relationship has been found for the Reserved category Women
group.
Table IX is a list of observed themes and sub-themes for individual
groups based on interview on related issues. Although a significant difference
in the experience of Work Alienation of the two categories is observed, both
garner major grievances with the present diversity in their organizations and
believe it to be one of the potent reasons for their suffering of Work Alienation
as well as Work family conflict.
Following is a group-wise discussion on the obtained results.
General Category Men
The ANOVA results along with the mean values (Tables III and I
respectively) show that the men of General category suffer from highest Work
Alienation as compared to other three groups under study. The themes that
emerged from the interview (Table IX) depict that a major reason for their
experience of Alienation is related to their poor perception of the diversity
created by the caste based quota system. They have expressed their

13. 13
discontentment with the organisational policies in analysing the competency
utilization at work especially of reserved category employees as depicted in
the theme ‘Poor Competency Utilization by Reserved category employees’
(sub themes: Unwilling to work, Lack of initiative, Lack of ambition,
mismatch of capability with job requirement). They are also feeling alienated
as a result of extra legal support provided to the reserved category employees
which is often misused, as depicted in the theme ‘Unethical activities by
reserved categories’ (sub themes: Irrational legal support, forging of
certificates). They seem to believe that their own future is in danger as can be
seen in the theme ‘Insecurity of own future’ (sub themes: Promotional bias,
Overseeing of merit, Selection bias).
In their experience of Work Family conflict, although the ANOVA
values (Table IV) show that there is no significant difference between them
and other groups in experiencing WFC. But the crude mean values depict that
in comparison to the other groups they are suffering from lowest Work Family
conflict. It is important to note that as the present study is a comparative study,
it doesn’t mean that the conflict is absent in this group. The results are a
depiction of their comparative position on the variable in regard to other
groups under study and thus doesn’t provide with their absolute state.
On the basis of regression analysis (Table VI), it seems that the high
extent of work alienation is making them seek alternate focus in order to re-
establish a sense of control over activities and a positive definition of self. And
to achieve that they have started focussing and spending more time outside

14. 14
work, especially with family. This is leading to mild but some extent of WFC
among them and specifically FIW conflict (Tables II and IV). Because they
are trying to find a positive sense of self in the family in order to overcome
work alienation and specifically meaninglessness at workplace, at times they
feel their family is interfering with their job responsibilities. This confused
state of weather the family is helping them over come or is creating further
hindrance in their work is creating additional stress intensifying the alienation
for them.
Thus, both work alienation and WFC are having a bi directional
relationship (Tables VI and VIII). But both are a consequence to the poor
perception held toward the caste based quota system implemented and
managed by their organisation.
General Category Women
Results from ANOVA and the mean values (Tables I and III) depict
that women from the general category stand second in comparison to the rest
of the three groups in experiencing Work Alienation. Similar to the males of
the general category, the themes that emerged from the interview (Table IX)
depict that the reason for this suffering from alienation is their poor perception
towards the implementation and management of the quota system. But the
women have even a worse perception towards the quota system and the
diversity created by it as compared to men of the same category as can be seen
in emerging themes. These women don’t find Reserved category employees
efficient enough to be a part of the work force and feel that they don’t utilise

15. 15
their competence to their best capacities, as can be seen in themes such as
‘Poor efficiency of Reserved category employees’ (sub themes: Low IQ, Poor
qualifications, Poor capability, Feeling of privilege, Lack of knowledge, Poor
contribution, Negative contribution, Getting work concessions), ‘Poor
Competency Utilization’ (sub themes: Unwilling to work, Lack of initiative,
Lack of ambition). Similar to males from the general category they also
perceive that reserved category employees have unnecessary legal support
which they often misuse, as can be seen in the theme ‘Unethical activities by
reserved category’ (sub themes: Irrational legal support, Forging of
certificates, Conversion to reserved category for privilege). These women
have also expressed fears related to their as well as their children’s future
which keep them mentally occupied and thus leave them feeling alienated at
work, as depicted in themes ‘Insecurity of future’ (sub themes: Promotional
bias, Overseeing of merit, Selection bias, children’s future) and ‘Personal
Affect’ (sub themes: Disappointment, Snatching away of opportunities,
Depression).
In the experience of Work Family Conflict they are suffering from
Family Interference with work conflict as can be seen from significant value
of ANOVA. Also they are suffering from it more than the male employees of
the organisation (Table IV). Looking at the mean values they stand second in
their suffering of the overall Work family conflict as well as its two
dimensions.

16. 16
Regression analysis depicts experience of Work alienation is leading to
Work-Family conflict and more specifically Family interference with work
(Tables VI and VII). Through qualitative data analysis (Table IX) it can be
assumed that many of them are mentally withdrawing from the workplace in
order to establish new relations which offer the opportunity for control and
meaning. But many others who are experiencing more intensified alienation
are experiencing social isolation. It is impacting their relation with their job,
relations they hold with other employees and even their social relationships in
other realms of life.
As they are unhappy at the workplace due to poor perception towards
the diversity climate, they are not being able to focus well on their family
roles. Adding to that, thus as they are not fulfilling their family roles it is in
turn leading to grave dissatisfaction at work. They have got stuck in a vicious
circle where their poor perception towards the diversity created by quota
system is leading to work alienation in them, which in turn is hampering their
performance both at work and family levels. The hampered family role is
increasing their difficulty of focussing well on the work role (Tables VI and
VII).
ReservedCategory Men
The ANOVA results as well as the mean values (Tables I and III)
depict that the men from the reserved category stand third in comparison to
other groups in their experience of work alienation. Although quantitatively it
was found that they were suffering from lower levels of work alienation as

17. 17
compared to the General category employees but their reasons for
experiencing alienation were similar to the general category employees,
related to their poor perception and experiences in the organisation due to
caste based quota system. The themes that emerged provided a very
discouraging picture of the experiences they are having, as they disclosed
facing difficulties in various ways, as can be seen in themes such as, ‘Facing
stereotypes and biases’ (sub themes: Inefficiency due to availability heuristic,
Not recognized for good work, Non verbal insults, Not chosen for leadership
activities, Regional bias, Making issue of petty things), ‘Feeling Targeted’
(sub themes: Name calling, Harassments, Insults). They described how these
misbehaviours are discouraging them in the theme ‘Diversity created
inefficiency’ (sub themes: De-motivation, Killing creativity, Slow learning,
Lack of interest in work).
In respect with Work Family conflict, based on the significant
ANOVA values (Table IV), Reserved category employees are suffering from
higher Family interference with work as compared to General category
employees. Looking at the mean values (Table II) they stand third in their
suffering of the overall Work family conflict as well as its two dimensions.
Regression results show that it is the experience of work Alienation
that is further enhancing the suffering of WFC. Due to various difficulties they
are facing in the organisations as expressed during interviews (Table IX), it
seems they have not been able to settle well in the organisation till now. This
is also apparent in their indulgence into Normlessness (Tables I and III) which

18. 18
shows that they have been unable to meet the norms of the organisations such
as work procedures, policies, rules etc. because they are still trying to adjust to
the workplace and fighting hard to make their place in the organisation where
they are facing many biases and instances of humiliation.
They take this frustration back home due to which they are facing WIF
conflict. And the additional family responsibilities due to migration to cities
lead to FIW conflict (Tables VI and VII).
ReservedCategory Women
With respect to ANOVA and mean values, women of reserved
category experience least work alienation in comparison to other three groups
understudy (Tables I and III). When analysing the themes that emerged from
the qualitative data, it was seen that their perception towards the
implementation of caste based quota system was quite less negative as
compared to the other groups. Similar to the men of the reserved category they
also had bad experiences, but they were rare and less intense as can be seen in
the theme ‘Facing stereotypes/biases’ (sub themes: Inferiority complex,
Generalization, Poor promotion, Not revealing quota for self and children) but
there were many who also appreciated the system and felt contended at work
as depicted in the theme ‘Self Advancement’ (sub themes: Creation of entry
opportunities, Promotional opportunities)
For the variable Work-Family conflict, although there has been no
significant difference found between the four groups for overall WFC. But
there was found a significant difference between them in Family Interference

19. 19
with work dimension. The women from the reserved category have been found
to be experiencing the highest Family interference with work conflict (Table II
and IV).
No significant regression values have been found for this group. Thus,
it is difficult to predict that either of the variables are impacting each other.
Still it can be seen that they are suffering from high WIF conflict and even
higher FIW conflict (Tables II and IV). The reasons for the suffering could be
that since ages RCW have been indulged into their traditional roles of being a
homemaker. Thus, it is a major shift in roles for them as well as for their
families. Now because they have to come to the workplace, they have to
compromise with the time spent with their families, which is leading to WIF
conflict. At the same time as the organisations give them challenging tasks and
expect them to perform, they are not able to meet the expectations as they still
focus more on their family roles which is leading to FIW conflict.
The present findings support, ‘Alienation as a social process Model’
given by James E. Twining (1980). This model is divided into three phases
providing an integrated view of alienation. The three phases broadly talk about
the perception of an employee towards the situationally specific conditions in
the organisation and society at large. Based on these perceptions the
employees either positively or negatively define the situation. If positively
defined, there is no experience of alienation. But if negatively defined, he/she
may suffer from partial alienation, fundamental alienation or a strong conflict

20. 20
response. As a result they would respond accordingly in terms of their revised
definition of self and extent of social interaction.
In the present study, the first phase of Twining’s model i.e. of defining
self in correspondence to the workplace is mediated by the diversity created by
the quota system. All the employees of the public/government sector
irrespective of their category or gender know the reason behind the affirmative
action. They all understand that there has been a historical reason; caste based
discrimination, due to which the quota system is in place. But, they all have a
different opinion towards the policy’s implementation and usefulness. This
opinion has been found to be impacting their work as well as family roles and
responsibilities.
In model’s understanding, General category Men, defining the present
situation at work place negatively in terms of quota system are suffering from
‘Partial Alienation’ i.e. work has become intrinsically meaningless for them
but is still producing some positive gain in reference to the larger social
setting. This denotes that they are working for the sake of money, status and
need fulfilment but for them the intrinsic value of work has and is diminishing.
General Category Women are also defining their sense of self in a
negative way in the present work scenario. They are suffering from
‘Fundamental Work Alienation’ in which they are experiencing a loss of
control and meaning at work. They are acknowledging separateness between
themselves and their work without the motivational purpose of the external
gain. Thus, they are suffering from more intense Work alienation as compared

21. 21
to the GCM, as they are not even being able to focus on work for extrinsic
gains like money, status etc.
Reserved Category Men also have a negative view towards the
management of the quota policy by their organisations. It is leading to the
suffering of ‘Partial alienation’. Even the GCM suffer from Partial alienation
but RCM’s extent of the suffering is lesser as compared to the GCM.
Reserved Category Women have revealed a relatively positive
perception towards the diversity created by quota system in their
organisations, may be because they are so happy by getting the job that they
are neglecting any signs of discomfort on their part or as many said that they
have not revealed the truth of their category to the co-workers, so that they do
not suffer from biases (Table IX) Thus, according to Twining’s model, this
group is defining their sense of self positively in today’s world of work where
there is so much diversity due to quota system. Due to this positive definition
they have been able to substantially integrate themselves in the workplace and
are suffering from least work alienation if any (Tables I and III).
Thus, we could say that RCF are the ones with the best perception
towards the diversity climate and least experience of Work Alienation among
the four groups. They are the only ones who have been able to adjust well to
the diversity created by the quota system. Although as discussed above many
have not disclosed their true identities to the co-workers (Table IX), thus it
could not be said till when they would hold a positive perception in the real
scenario of the work place today, because lies have a short life.

22. 22
Overview
Overall findings suggest that the policy of reservation has not been
able to create a sense of equanimity and justice specially for General category.
However, the major surprise that emerged was Reserved category Men despite
having the advantage of better opportunities are not able to situate themselves
in a comfortable mindset. The women in the Reserved category seem to be
creating a false sense of security due to job opportunity but they are also
undergoing the trauma of the possibility of loss of face which is apparent in
both Work Family Conflict and their feelings exhibited in the interview data.
The findings suggest a change in policy for creating a mindset which will
enhance the positive thinking in both the groups.

23. 23
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Management journal, 37, 837-86

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Table I
Analysis of calculated variance (ANOVA) between Gender and Category groups for Work Alienation and Work Family Conflict
Source
Total Work
Alienation
Powerlessness
Meaning-
lessness
Normlessness
Instrumental
Work Orientation
Self Evaluative
Involvement
Gender Group (189
Men and 111
Women)
0.278 0.234 1.069 4.805* 0.214 0.809
Category Group
(213 General and
87 Reserved)
9.307† 8.415† 4.911* 1.074 0.037 4.031*
Gender×Category 0.139 0.128 1.507 0.138 0.849 2.177
Source Work-Family Conflict Work Interference with Family Family Interference with Work
Gender Group
(189 Men and 111
Women)
2.779 0.302 6.763†
Category Group
(213 General and
87 Reserved)
1.040 0.000 4.264*
Gender × Category 0.532 0.171 0.802
*F value significant to 0.05
†F value significant to 0.01

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Table II
Significant values of step-wise regression analysis
R R2 ΔR2 F P
Independent Variable: Work Alienation, Dependent Variable: Work-Family Conflict
GCM 0.303 0.092 0.085 12.261† 0.001
GCF 0.419 0.175 0.166 18.731† 0.000
RCM 0.373 0.139 0.126 10.358† 0.002
Independent Variable: Work Alienation, Dependent Variable: Work Interference with Family
GCF 0.328 0.107 0.097 10.580† 0.001
RCM 0.361 0.131 0.117 9.613† 0.001
Independent Variable: Work Alienation, Dependent Variable: Family Interference with Work
GCF 0.403 0.163 0.153 17.106† 0.000
RCM 0.245 0.060 0.046 4.102† 0.047

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Independent Variable: Normlessness, Dependent Variable: Work Interference with Family
RCM 0.289 0.083 0.069 5.823† 0.019
Independent Variable: Work Family Conflict, Dependent Variable: Work Alienation
GCM 0.303 0.092 0.085 12.261† 0.001
Independent Variable: Family Interference with Work , Dependent Variable: Work Alienation
GCM 0.403 0.162 0.155 23.453† 0.000
*F value significant to 0.05
†F value significant to 0.001

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Table III
Themes based on the Qualitative Data (Percentages should not be added as individual respondents have given multiple responses
under single themes)
General Category Reserved Category
Men (n=37) Women (n=27) Men (n=20) Women (n=06)
Poor Competency Utilization
by Reserved category
employees
Unwilling to work(25%)
Lack of initiative(25%)
Lack of ambition(8%)
Mismatch of capability with
Job requirements(25%)
Unethical Activities by
reserved category
Irrational legal support(25%)
Forging of certificates(2%)
Insecurity of Own Future
Promotion bias(33%)
Poor Efficiency of Reserved
Category Employees
Low IQ(50%)
Poor qualifications(50%)
Poor Capability(100%)
Feeling of privilege(50%)
Lack of knowledge(75%)
Poor contribution(25%)
Negative contribution(25%)
Getting work
concessions(25%)
Poor Competency Utilization
Unwilling to work(75%)
Lack of initiative(25%)
Lack of ambition(25%)
Facing Stereotypes/Biases
Inefficiency due to
availability heuristic(29%)
Not recognized for good
work(29%)
Non-verbal insults(14%)
Not chosen for leadership
activities(14%)
Regional Bias(14%)
Making issues of petty
matters(14%)
Being Targeted
Name-calling(29%)
Harassment(14%)
Insults(14%)
Facing Stereotypes/Biases
Inferiority Complex(33%)
Generalization(6%)
Poor Promotions(6%)
Not revealing quota for self
and children(28%)
Self-Advancement
Creation of Entry
Opportunities(17%)
Opportunities for
Promotion(17%)

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Overseeing of merit(18%)
Selection bias(2%)
Unethical Activities by
reserved category
Irrational legal support(25%)
Forging of certificates(50%)
Conversion to reserved
category for privileges(25%)
Insecurity of Future
Promotion bias(7%)
Overseeing of merit(20%)
Selection bias(18%)
Children(18%)
Personal Affect
Discouragement(24%)
Snatching away of
opportunities(7%)
Depression(2%)
Diversity-created inefficiency
Demotivation(14%)
Killing creativity(14%)
Slow learning(14%)
Lack of interest in
work(14%)