Female lecturers’ experiences of work-life balance: A case of speech-language pathology and audiology

The COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown in recent years resulted in many professionals, such as academics, having to work remotely for months, forcing them to renegotiate the boundaries between work and social life. Prior to this study, there was limited research conducted on work-life balance (WLB), particularly among female academics in Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology (SLP-A) disciplines in South African universities, despite the concept being introduced in the 1970s. To fill this knowledge gap, this study explored the current conceptions and experiences of WLB of female SLP-A academics at a South African University. The study draws on Conflict Theory, where time, physical, and emotional investments in academic work and social life domains are compared, including the resulting behavioural patterns. A qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological design guided this study, which involved conducting semi-structured interviews with eight female academics, aged 28–52 years, who work in Speech-Language-Pathology and Audiology disciplines at a South African University, with teaching experience ranging from 3 to 15 years in academia. Data were analysed thematically. The participants conceived of WLB as an ideal where robust boundaries between work and social life existed. Three themes emerged regarding their experiences. Firstly, work (teaching, related administration, and academic career development activities) dominated over social life, with the latter being the most compromised. Work occupied most of the academics’ day, as reflected in the percentage of time spent on each domain each day. Secondly, institutional and academic culture promoted a compromise in WLB, and thirdly, being female further hindered a WLB. Academic work and related career development activities interfere with female academics’ social lives, indicating a strong need to review the work expectations at universities, particularly for female academics.
Contribution: This study raises awareness concerning the lack of WLB and how developing female academics experience a compromise in their social life. It calls for transformation in academic culture and work expectations to better accommodate developing or early-career female academics.