How Working Mothers Negotiate Work-Family Conflict: An Exploration of Work Satisfaction, Home Life Satisfaction, and Partner Supportiveness

The demographics of the American workforce and family structures have shifted dramatically over the past 60 years, but traditional work and domestic roles have evolved only slightly. Women are more impacted than men by fixed interpretations of gender roles due to their assumption of professional positions in the workplace without relief from domestic responsibilities. For many women who are engaged in the professional realm while raising a family, the result is often a work-family conflict. Despite significant research and some governmental policy and organizational policy changes, limited progress has been made in resolving the conflict. Some dimensions of work-family conflict have been well-researched, but an area that has been less studied is how women negotiate work-family conflict within their relationships with a partner. Moreover, there is limited information on how this conflict is negotiated in same-sex partnerships compared with opposite-sex partnerships. This study used a mixed-methods research design including a web-based survey and in-depth interviews to examine the following questions: What, if any, differences exist in levels of work satisfaction and home life satisfaction among women in same-sex partnerships and women in opposite-sex partnerships? What contributes to the differences in work and home life satisfaction among women in same-sex partnerships and women in opposite-sex partnerships, and among the identified differences, what elements of an operational model for work-family conflict negotiation can be highlighted that might lead to more satisfaction for women? Findings suggest that there are some important differences between same-sex and opposite sex partnerships. Quantitative analysis of the data suggests that working mothers in same-sex partnerships feel more supported by their partner than women in opposite-sex partnerships. Feelings of partner supportiveness are a positive indicator of home life satisfaction, and home life satisfaction is positively correlated with work satisfaction. Other important themes also emerged from the qualitative data as critical to the discussion of work-family conflict within relationships: the impact of socialized gender roles and biological gender issues, the complexity of work-family arrangements, the extent to which the division of responsibilities are negotiated, and the extent to which family circumstances are considered in career decisions

Spitzer transit and secondary eclipse photometry of GJ 436b

We report the results of infrared (8 mu m) transit and secondary eclipse photometry of the hot Neptune exoplanet, GJ 436b using Spitzer. The nearly photon-limited precision of these data allows us to measure an improved radius for the planet and to detect the secondary eclipse. The transit (centered at HJD = 2454280.78149 +/- 0.00016) shows the flat-bottomed shape typical of infrared transits, and it precisely defines the planet-to-star 0.00016 radius ratio (), independent of the stellar properties. However, we obtain the planetary radius, 0.0839 +/- 0.0005 as well as the stellar mass and radius, by fitting to the transit curve simultaneously with an empirical mass-radius relation for M dwarfs (M = R). We find R* = M* 0.47 +/- 0.02 in solar units, and R-p = 27,600 +/- 1170 km 4.33 +/- 0.18 R-circle plus). This radius significantly exceeds the radius of a naked ocean planet and requires a gaseous hydrogen-helium envelope. The secondary eclipse occurs at phase, proving a significant orbital 0.587 +/- 0.005 eccentricity (e = 0.150 +/- 0.012). The amplitude of the eclipse [(5.7 +/- 0.8) x 10(-4)] indicates a brightness tem- perature for the planet of T = 712 +/- 36 K. If this is indicative of the planet\u27s physical temperature, it suggests T = 712 +/- 36 the occurrence of tidal heating in the planet. An uncharacterized second planet likely provides ongoing gravitational perturbations that maintain GJ 436b\u27s orbit eccentricity over long timescales

A Spectrum of an Extrasolar Planet

Of the over 200 known extrasolar planets, 14 exhibit transits in front of their parent stars as seen from Earth. Spectroscopic observations of the transiting planets can probe the physical conditions of their atmospheres. One such technique can be used to derive the planetary spectrum by subtracting the stellar spectrum measured during eclipse (planet hidden behind star) from the combined-light spectrum measured outside eclipse (star + planet). Although several attempts have been made from Earth-based observatories, no spectrum has yet been measured for any of the established extrasolar planets. Here we report a measurement of the infrared spectrum (7.5--13.2 micron) of the transiting extrasolar planet HD209458b. Our observations reveal a hot thermal continuum for the planetary spectrum, with approximately constant ratio to the stellar flux over this wavelength range. Superposed on this continuum is a broad emission peak centered near 9.65 micron that we attribute to emission by silicate clouds. We also find a narrow, unidentified emission feature at 7.78 micron. Models of these ``hot Jupiter'' planets predict a flux peak near 10 micron, where thermal emission from the deep atmosphere emerges relatively unimpeded by water absorption, but models dominated by water fit the observed spectrum poorly