Facilitating working mothers’ transition back to work: a training approach to enhancing psychological resources

Purpose Family-friendly policies, such as flexible work arrangements, provide structural support for working mothers but often lack psychological resources to facilitate their transition back to work. It is critical to understand which psychological resource to focus on, how to strengthen it, and when the best time to do so is. This study presents an impact case in Japan to address these questions. Design/methodology/approach This study focuses on work-family balance self-efficacy, an essential psychological resource for working mothers. It developed a training program based on social learning theory to enhance work-family balance self-efficacy, targeting working mothers on maternity leave. In addition, this research conducted an intervention study between 2018 and 2019, followed by follow-up interviews with 22 participants in 2024, to explore what they most appreciated about the training five years later. Findings Findings from the intervention study revealed that participants (100 working mothers on maternity leave) increased their work-family balance self-efficacy after training, which contributed to better performance after returning to work. Follow-up interviews collectively highlight the value of using social learning theory to incorporate the four sources of self-efficacy (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and physical and emotional states) into the training program. Originality/value Although work-family balance self-efficacy is recognized as critical for working mothers, no training program has been specifically designed to enhance it. The impact case is unique in developing a training program to enhance work-family balance self-efficacy and demonstrating its effectiveness in building the self-efficacy to support working mothers’ return to work.