Based on social support and gender role theories, we examined the direct and interactive effects of leader-member exchange, gender and spouse's gender role orientation on work-family conflict. Survey data were collected from matched dyads from 185 dual-earner couples in Sri Lanka. The results show that leader -member exchange is negatively related to work interference with family. There is also support for crossover effects among couples such that individuals with spouses who have a traditional gender role orientation experience greater work interference with family conflict. Finally, there is a three-way interaction such that a spouse's gender role orientation moderates the relationship between leader -member exchange and work interference with family conflict differently for men and women.

This paper is the guest editorial for this Special Issue on Gender (In)equality in South Asia of the South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management. This paper offers a perspective on the gender (in)equality issues as well as prospects in South Asia. The paper examines equalities and inequalities in national and regional labour markets, national legislative frameworks and within companies and organisations and recognises that women themselves are a heterogeneous group. Further, we introduce the papers included in this special issue representing India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

This study's aim is to understand how individuals who are part of dual‐earner couples experience and deal with work–family conflict in Sri Lanka. Twenty‐five interviews were conducted to identify if and how couples negotiated within their marital relationships, and between themselves and their supervisors, to reduce or cope with work–family conflict. The interviews indicated that negotiations at home and at work concerned contributions to the exchange relationship and were unlikely to adversely affect the (home or work) exchange relationships. Negotiations at home were more likely to be initiated by women than men. Further, the interviews revealed an influence of spouse's gender role ideology on the success of the negotiation at home. Negotiations at work were more likely to be initiated by the interviewees than by their supervisors. The results suggest that individuals in cultures with high power distance should still initiate negotiations when they feel it is possible to obtain favorable outcomes.

The current study examines the impact of organizational socialization on employee commitment of executive employees in banking sector of Sri Lanka and the moderating role of protean career orientation. It is hypothesized based on affect theory of social exchange and social exchange theory that organizational socialization has a positive impact on employee’s affective, continuance and normative commitment forms. Further, it is suggested that these three direct relationships are moderated by the protean career orientation of the banking employees based on self-determination theory. These relationships are tested using data collected from a sample of 209 executive employees in the banking industry of Sri Lanka. Data were collected using questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS and AMOS. Results showed that there is a positive effect of organizational socialization on the three forms of commitment while no moderator effect of protean career orientation was identified on these direct relationships.

This study integrates the resource demand and social exchange perspectives and assesses if employer brand, organizational politics, self-efficacy, and family-work conflict predict employee engagement. Furthermore, this paper examines the impact of boundary conditions of employee engagement by focusing on exchange ideology and gender. Data were collected using questionnaires from 411 managerial employees working in licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka. The results revealed that employer brand, perceived organizational politics, and self-efficacy were significantly related to employee engagement. The results, however, did not support the negative relationship between family-work conflict and employee engagement or the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between family-work conflict and employee engagement. But, exchange ideology moderated the relationship between employer brand and employee engagement albeit contrary to the hypothesized directions. The implications of this research, possible limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.