Determinants of Work–Life Balance Among Women Employees in Educational Institutions: Evidence From Gujarat
Main Article Content
Abstract
The growing involvement of women in the educational sector has immensely benefited the academic labor force;
nevertheless, coping with professional and personal aspects remains a major issue for women. Women academics
act in multiple capacities as teachers, researchers, administrators, mentors, accreditors, and governance within the
institution while undertaking family and social duties. The research seeks to analyze the factors that affect worklife balance of women employees at educational institutions in Gujarat state. Based on Role Conflict Theory,
Spillover Theory, Conservation of Resources Theory, and Social Exchange Theory, the research aims at studying
the effect of occupational stress, workload, family duties, and organizational support on work-life balance.
Descriptive research approach was used, and primary data were gathered from 268 women educators working in
schools, colleges, and universities using a structured questionnaire. The reliability test revealed satisfactory
internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.74), while descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and factor analysis
were used to investigate the relationship between the study variables. The results show that 41.5% of participants
could not afford sufficient quality time with their families because of work responsibilities, 39.6% of them
experienced exhaustion and emotional distress at work, and 37.7% of them had no enough time for their own
well-being. It is further found out that overworking and work stress have negative effects on the work-life balance,
but organizational support, flexibility in work schedule, counselling services, and welfare facilities have positive
effects on employee well-being and job satisfaction.
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Agarwal, S., & Lenka, U. (2015). Study on work-life balance of women entrepreneurs: Review and research agenda. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), 356–362. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-01-2015-0006
Allen, T. D., French, K. A., Dumani, S., & Shockley, K. M. (2015). Meta-analysis of work–family conflict mean differences: Does national context matter? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 90, 90–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.07.006
Badri, S. K. Z., & Panatik, S. A. (2020). The roles of job autonomy and self-efficacy to improve academics' work–life balance. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 25(2). https://doi.org/10.21315/aamj2020.25.2.4
Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Sanz-Vergel, A. (2023). Job demands–resources theory: Ten years later. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10, 25–53. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-120920-053933
Boakye, A. N., Asravor, R. K., & Essuman, J. (2023). Work–life balance as predictors of job satisfaction in the tertiary educational sector. Cogent Business & Management, 10(1), Article 2162686. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2022.2162686
Cann, R., Sinnema, C., Rodway, J., et al. (2024). What do we know about interventions to improve educator wellbeing? A systematic literature review. Journal of Educational Change, 25, 231–270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-023-09490-w
Chung, H., & van der Lippe, T. (2020). Flexible working, work–life balance, and gender equality: Introduction. Social Indicators Research, 151, 365–381. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-2025-x
Chung, H., & van der Horst, M. (2018). Women's employment patterns after childbirth and the perceived access to and use of flexitime and teleworking. Human Relations, 71(1), 47–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717713828
Cropanzano, R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31(6), 874–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279602
Darmanto, S., & Diyan, E. (2026). Work–life balance on women teachers' performance: Evidence from Indonesia. Global Business and Finance Review, 31(2), 224–240. https://doi.org/10.17549/gbfr.2026.31.2.224
Eagly, A. H. (2021). Hidden in plain sight: The inconsistent gender gaps in STEM and leadership. Psychological Inquiry, 32(2), 89–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2021.1930764
Eagly, A. H., & Wood, W. (2016). Social role theory of sex differences. In A. Wong, M. Wickramasinghe, R. Hoogland, & N. A. Naples (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss183
Edwards, J. R., & Rothbard, N. P. (2000). Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 178–199.
George, P., & Sreedharan, N. V. (2023). Work–life balance and transformational leadership as predictors of employee job satisfaction. Serbian Journal of Management, 18(2), 253–273. https://doi.org/10.5937/sjm18-34305
Greenhaus, J. H., & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 76–88.
Haar, J., Russo, M., Suñer, A., & Ollier-Malaterre, A. (2014). Outcomes of work–life balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), 361–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.08.010
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., Sarstedt, M., Danks, N. P., & Ray, S. (2022). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using R. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80519-7
Hobfoll, S. E. (2012). Conservation of resources theory: Its implication for stress, health, and resilience. In The Oxford handbook of stress, health, and coping. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195375343.013.0007
International Labour Organization. (2024). World employment and social outlook: Trends 2024. International Labour Organization.
Ivancheva, M., Lynch, K., & Keating, K. (2019). Precarity, gender and care in the neoliberal academy. Gender, Work & Organization, 26(4), 448–462.
Jamunarani, H. S., & Syed, R. (2025). Flexible work arrangements and their impact on women's job satisfaction and quality of life: The mediating role of work–life balance. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 23, 130–144. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.23(3).2025.10
Jamunarani, H. S., & Syed, R. (2024). Antecedents and outcomes of work–life balance for women faculty members in India. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 22(4), 324–339. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.22(4).2024.25
Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. John Wiley & Sons.
Kalliath, T., & Brough, P. (2008). Work–life balance: A review of the meaning of the balance construct. Journal of Management & Organization, 14(3), 323–327. https://doi.org/10.5172/jmo.837.14.3.323
Kinman, G. (2024). Work–life balance and wellbeing in academic employees. In Research handbook of academic mental health (pp. 276–289). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803925080.00024
Koch, H., Gonzalez, E., & Leidner, D. (2012). Bridging the work/social divide: The emotional response to organizational social networking sites. European Journal of Information Systems, 21(6), 699–717. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2012.18
Kossek, E. E., Vaziri, H., Perrigino, M. B., Lautsch, B. A., Pratt, B. R., & King, E. B. (2025). Reenvisioning family-supportive organizations through a diversity, equity, and inclusion perspective: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 51(6), 2520–2548. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063241310149
Kossek, E. E., Valcour, M., & Lirio, P. (2014). Organizational strategies for promoting work–life balance and wellbeing. In Work and Wellbeing (Vol. 3, pp. 295–319).
Le, H., Newman, A., Menzies, J., Zheng, C., & Fermelis, J. (2020). Work–life balance in Asia: A systematic review. Human Resource Management Review, 30(4), Article 100766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100766.