Work-family conflict can create challenges for women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Little is known, however, about how young women in STEM reason about future work-family conflict. The current study examines work-family conflict expectations among undergraduate and graduate women in STEM. Participants (N = 156) responded to open- and closed-ended survey questions about work-family conflict and academic attitudes. Qualitative analyses revealed two orientations relative to work-family conflict. Women with a challenge orientation anticipated work and family strain, whereas women with an opportunity orientation anticipated that balancing work and family would enhance their lives. Women differed in the strategies they planned to employ to resolve future work-family conflict and in their levels of quantitative constructs such as STEM identity. Findings suggest avenues for improving STEM retention such as mentoring interventions with exposure to role models who are balancing work and family.

工作家庭冲突可能会给科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）职业中的女性带来挑战。然而，关于STEM中的年轻女性如何因未来的工作与家庭冲突而知之甚少。本研究调查了STEM中本科生和研究生中工作与家庭之间的冲突期望。参与者（N = 156）回答了有关工作家庭冲突和学术态度的开放性和封闭性调查问题。定性分析揭示了与工作家庭冲突有关的两个方向。面对挑战的女性期望工作和家庭压力，而面对机遇的女性期望平衡工作和家庭会改善他们的生活。妇女在计划采用的解决未来工作家庭冲突的策略以及在定量构造（例如STEM身份）方面的水平上有所不同。研究结果提出了改善STEM保留率的途径，例如通过平衡工作和家庭的榜样来指导干预措施。