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Quality of Work-life Balance Among Teachers in Higher Education Institutions

Article · December 2013

DOI: 10.5958/j.2231-458X.4.3.010

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Learning Community: 4(3): December, 2013 197-208 DOI Number

Quality of Work-life Balance Among Teachers in Higher

Education Institutions
Vandana Punia* and Meenakshi Kamboj**

*Vandana Punia, Department of Education, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa-125 055 INDIA.
**Meenakshi Kamboj, Research Scholar, Department of Education, Chaudhary Devi Lal University,
Sirsa-125 055 India
Email: vbpunia@rediffmail.com

Abstract
Work-life balance is a critical aspect to enhance teacher effectiveness and satisfaction in
the context of student learning. It has been proved time and again that a good quality of
work life balance results into the wellness of the faculty and also improved student behaviour.
The present study investigated the quality of work-life balance among Indian teachers
serving in different academic stream across universality and colleges. It emerged from the
outcome that designation of the teachers, their nature of appointment, the academic stream
in which they are teaching, and the nature of their serving institution affect their quality of
work life balance directly and significantly. However according to gender and marital
status no significant variations have been found in the quality of work life balance of the
teacher.

© 2013 New Delhi Publishers. All rights reserved

Keywords: Quality of work life balance, Work life balance, Teachers, Higher Education
Institutions

Concept Development
The concept of work-life balance comprises of three words i.e. work, life and balance, and broadly include
proper prioritizing between work (career and ambition) on the one hand and life (health, pleasure, leisure,
family and spiritual development) on the other hand, and the balance is satisfaction and good functioning
at work and at home with a minimum of role conflict. It can mean different to different people however
work-life balance is the degree to which an individual can simultaneously balance the emotional, behavioral
and time demands of paid work, family and personal duties (Clark, 2000 and Hill, et al., 2001). It is a
situation in which employees are capable in giving right amount of time and efforts to their work as well as
their personal life outside the work. Work-life balance normally is said to be achieved when an individual’s
right to a fulfilled life inside and outside the paid work is accepted and respected. Some people may refer it
to the flexible working arrangements that allow both parents and non-parents to avail of working
arrangements that provide a balance between work responsibilities and personal responsibilities (Marafi,
2012). It leads to the harmonious and holistic integration of work, family, social life and personal life and
is the extent to which individuals are equally involved in, and equally satisfied with their professional role
and their family role.
 Vandana Punia and Meenakshi Kamboj

Work-life balance, in its broadest sense, can be termed as an individual’s level of satisfaction, involvement
or compatibility among the multiple roles in life. One’s best individual work-life balance will vary over
time, often on a daily basis. The right balance, for an individual today will probably be different for tomorrow.
In other words, the best work-life balance is different for all because all have different priorities and different
values. For majority, work-life balance means meeting one’s real and perceived personal and work obligations,
and thereby satisfying the key needs of both oneself and those one is committed to support, however, for
few, it does not mean an equal balance but to achieve satisfaction in one’s role.

Literature Review And Rationale of the Study

Work life balance has always been great concern for current researches because of its direct relationship
with productive quality of work life (Fleetwood, 2007 and MacInnes, 2008). Good work life balance is most
essential for every individual to be more efficient and effective thereby attaining job satisfaction which in
turn ensures success in his or her ventures. Work-life balance is vital to teacher effectiveness and satisfaction
in the context of student learning. Researches have proved that a good quality work life balance results in
the wellness of the faculty and also improved student behaviour. Moreover, good work life balance gives a
feel of job satisfaction and also helps to achieve higher retention rates in the institution (Lakshmi & Kumar
(2011). Over the course of the career, every teacher faces some difficulties in attaining balance between
professional and personal life due to lack of clear boundary between work and life because of flexibility of
schedules. Moreover during the previous decades the work pressures in academia have been constantly
nationally and globally thereby creating many stressors. It has been argued that rising stressors in academia
are ‘eroding’ the operating capabilities of universities (Perry, et al., 1997). Very few studies have examined
academics’ ability to balance work and personal life, and overcome work-life conflicts (Bell, Rajendran &
Theiler (2012). Zedeck (1992) hypothesized that high levels of perceived job pressure stress and job threat
stress would predict increased levels of work-life conflict, and decreased levels of work-life balance. However
Punia & Khosla (2009) found that in the education sector collaboration strategy is used in majority dimensions
of organisational role stress which signifies that in this sector people wish to remain conflict and stress free
as it is directly linked with the teacher performance in and out side the classroom which are part and parcel
of their organisational environment.
Career women are challenged by the full-time work and at the end of each work-day in a private Educational
Institution they carry more of the responsibilities and commitments to home as viewed by Lakshmi &
Kumar (2011). Their study highlighted the issues connected with work life balance of women in an
educational institution and the factors that determine work life balance. Management of educational
institutions needs to be conscious of this status of working women and periodically review the status. They
can create supportive environment to help these women to achieve work life balance. Moreover, environmental
matching calls for harmonizing the physical working environment with individual employee’s needs and
aspirations to provide them better quality of work life. In any of the organization, for educators, professionals,
corporate trainers, recruiters, managers there are some reasons for their extra performance apart from
average performance which is neither the technical skills nor the intelligence rather it is something else
that cannot be defined in words i.e. extra role behavior and the same can be attained through improved
quality of work life (Punia, 2004; and Yadav & Punia, 2013).
Miryala & Nagapriya (2012) highlighted the necessity of adopting work life balance policies for teachers
teaching at different levels. Based upon the different elements especially with reference to government and
private institution teachers, the study proposed a proper policy for work life balance. Since Quality of work
life has direct correlates with cost incurred on employees whether by inflow or outflow. When employees

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 Quality of Work-life Balance Among Teachers in Higher Education Institutions

with knowledge leave a company, the consequences for the company go far beyond the substantial costs of
recruiting and integrating replacements and there is a significant economic impact when an organisation
loses any of its critical employees, especially given the knowledge that is lost with the employees’ departure.
Punia & Sharma (2008) viewed that the cost of replacing workers can be considerable, and the specific
workplace acquired skills and knowledge people walk away with can take years to replace, therefore, quality
of work life is essential component to retain the talent. Fatima & Sahibzada (2012) explored the determinants
of work and life imbalance with respect to male and female university teachers and viewed that partner
support, colleague support and job resources are positively associated with the work life balance whereas
unfair criticism at job is negatively associated with work life balance The variables, partner support, childcare
responsibilities, elder dependency, and colleagues support have different effect when analyzed by male and
female university teachers as independent variables.
Stress and pressures, along with organisational change in universities have led to the increased importance
of research in to the impact of perceived job stress, work-life balance and work-life conflict amongst academics
yet, very few studies have examined academics’ ability to balance work and personal life, and overcome
work-life conflict as viewed by Bell, Rajendran & Theiler (2012). Due to the well-documented relationship
between stress and health, the influence of job stress on wellbeing was also investigated wherein perceived
job stress (threat and pressure-type stressors) was found associated with poorer work-life balance, and
increased conflict between academics’ work and personal lives. Perceived job threat-type stress made a
stronger contribution and was a significant predictor of work-life balance and work-life conflict scores,
than perceived job pressure-type stress. Perceived job threat-type stress among academics was also a significant
predictor and associated with poorer wellbeing and increased ill-being, but perceived job pressure-type
stress was not related to academics’ wellbeing or ill-being.
Teaching as on date is one the most challenging and stress full profession and the stress among teachers is
a contributor to illness as well as a cause for mental health problems. A study in Warwickshire found that 25
percent of head teachers had an alcohol problem. That is shocking and creates lots of anxiety about teacher’s
mental health. It is the teacher in the classroom who inspires, cultivates and motivate for learning. A
healthy work life balance is very essential for a teaching professional to be productive and successful. Work
life balance for teaching professional has become one of the greatest challenges in today‘s world. Teachers
work load not only demand their time in the institution but also extend to their home so as to get prepared
for the following day, apart from maintaining student records and attending to various institution related
functional requirements. Teachers need to spend extra hours every day to be effective and productive in
their profession so that they could reach higher levels and face the challenging atmosphere. When one
starts a new career versus when one is nearing retirement brings changes in work-life balance. Keeping in
mind the importance of quality of work life balance among teachers in different educational institutions, an
idea was conceptualized to study status of the quality of work life balance among teachers as this is the high
point in research when individuals should be acquainted with the term work life balance to gain knowledge
of productive and balanced attitude towards their all spheres of existence. Considering the status of work
life balance and to find out comparisons among teachers from select educational institutions in Haryana,
the present study was carried out with this objective to elucidate different factors affecting status of quality
of work life balance among teachers.

Objectives, Research Questions and Hypotheses

How do the teachers feel about their quality of work life balance in their organisational settings of educational
institutes is quite a big question of concern for almost everyone? To unfold the answer of this question, the

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 Vandana Punia and Meenakshi Kamboj

researchers applied self made inventory (due to non-availability of standard inventory the purpose specifically)
in order to explore nature of teacher’s perception about their work life balance. Since in Indian context
little efforts have been made concerning the study of work life balance among teachers. With this background
an attempt is made in the present paper to evaluate the level of work life balance among the teachers in
university and colleges. Primarily the purpose of the present study has been to identify factors of work-life
balance among university teachers of public and private sector institutions. Amongst the selected contributing
factors of work life balance, the present research intends to analyse the effects and variations that may exist
in work life balance of university and college teachers in Haryana. Specifically, the present study aimed to
answer the following research questions:
1. Does the designation of a teacher affect their quality of work life balance?
2. Do the teachers having different nature of appointment enjoy differing quality of work life balance?
3. Is there any difference in the quality of work life balance of the teachers according to gender?
4. Does the marital status of teachers present a differing quality of work life balance?
5. Does the academic stream of teachers affect their quality of work life balance?
6. Does the nature of serving institute of teachers affect the quality of work life balance?
Based upon the above-mentioned research questions the following null hypotheses been framed for further
testing and exploration:
H01 There is no significant effect of teachers’ designation on their quality of work life balance.
H02 The nature of appointment of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly.
H03 There is no significant difference in the quality of work life balance of teachers according to gender.
H04 There is no significant difference in the quality of work life balance of teachers according to their
marital status.
H05 The academic stream of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly.
H02 The nature of serving institute of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly.

The Sample, Instrumentation and Item Analysis

This section describes the details regarding the participants, stages of instrument development, instrument
details and data analysis. Keeping in view the nature and purpose of the study, the descriptive survey
method of educational research is preferred. For survey purpose, purposive sampling method was employed
to select a representative sample. A sample of one hundred forty three teachers from university teaching
departments, government institutions, government-aided, and self financing colleges has been collected
with the help of well structured questionnaire. In the present study, a self-developed questionnaire is used
by the researchers as a tool for collecting data. After developing the questionnaire, it was also standardized
on the basis of reliability and validity of items. Review of literature revealed that the quality of work life
balance of various professionals was often measured with different standards or scales. None of them was
found suitable for teachers and particularly in Indian settings. Hence development of a new tool was considered
inevitable to precisely measure the quality of work life balance of the teachers and the researchers opted for
Likert method of scale construction. Since quality of work-life balance of the individual reinforces the

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efficacy and productivity, therefore, each dimension of the quality of work life balance has positive versus
negative component as its impact on the individual and the organization. As an initial step for designing an
instrument for measuring the quality of work life balance of the teachers has been taken as a model. The
format of the present tool designed was based on the nature of statements and constructs measured under
the above scale. As a result of the detailed examination and scrutiny of the available literature on the quality
of work life balance of various professions, and after thorough discussion with experts, the five dimensions/
factors were extracted to harness the quality of work life balance of the teacher:

Validity and Reliability

To examine the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the same was put under relevant statistical
analysis. Cronbach’s alpha (á) with a cut-off of 0.70 is considered to be a good and reliable factor (Hair et
al., 1998). However by convention, a lenient cut-off of .60 is common in exploratory researches. In order to
test the validity of those factors, the value of Cronbach’s alpha was tested for all the items contained in a
particular factor as it is the most common form of internal consistency reliability coefficient and the results.
From factor analysis a five factor solution was adopted and the results are shown as per Table-1. Out of
these five factors the four factors accounted for 78.16% of total variance and the generic factors were
identified and designated as F-1: Satisfaction with family and self life; F-2: Role overload, F-3: Awareness
towards work life balance; F-4: Job satisfaction and flexible environment; and F-5: Self Appreciation of
work. The first factor designated as F-1: Satisfaction with family and self life recorded an alpha reading of
.803; the second factor designated as F-2: Role overload has alpha reading of .756; the third factor labeled
as F-3: Awareness towards work life balance has an alpha reading of .772 and the fourth factor labeled as F-
4: Job satisfaction and flexible environment witnessed the alpha reading of .754. F-5 i.e. Self Appreciation
of work has been identified and designated as the fifth factor which recorded the highest alpha reading of
.725. Based on the convention and research all the 5 factors identified are statistically reliable to be designated
as factors for consideration in this research.

Table 1: Mean, SD and Cronbach Alpha values of Five Factors identified and Designated

No. Designated Label of the Factor Mean Var. SD Items Cronbach Alpha

F-1 Satisfaction With Family and Self Life 33.06 45.6 6.7 10 .803
F-2 Role Overload 43.7 61.5 7.84 14 .756
F-3 Awareness towards Work Life Balance 36.8 21,4 4.6 9 .772
F-4 Job Satisfaction and Flexible Environment 26.57 21.2 4.6 7 .754
F-5 Self Appreciation of Work 21.71 15.3 4.1 6 .725

Rotated factor matrix giving factor loading for ideal solution of the data structure after the initial and
extraction communalities in factor analysis was applied for all the items in identified five factors. Item-
wise factor loading as an outcome of rotated factor matrix for the five factors is explained henceforth factor-
wise:
F-1: Satisfaction with Family and Self Life: The first dimension named as F-1 i.e. ‘Satisfaction with
family and self life’, is must for work life balance. A person who devotes considerable time not only to his
work but also to his family can feel satisfaction on both the fronts. Some activities like picnic, vacations,
discussions, mutual understanding and fulfilling the needs of family make an individual satisfied. Giving
equal time to every aspect of personality provides satisfaction with self life and adds to its quality. In this

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 Vandana Punia and Meenakshi Kamboj

Factor ten items have emerged to be its part and the mean score, standard deviation and factor loading of
these ten items has been presented as per Table-2.
Table 2: Mean, SD and Item-wise Factor Loading of F-1: Satisfaction with Family and Self Life

Items Satisfaction With Family and Self Life Mean SD Factor Loading

1. I spend sufficient time in a day with my children/family. 3.2 1.17 .562

2. I spend much time as I’d like with my loved ones 3.1 1.09 .635
3. I can make my family members happy , . . with the help of money 3.3 1.15 -.417
4. I spend some time in day-hobbies 3.2 1.07 .723
5. I give equal time to all aspects of my life i.e. physical, spiritual, 3.2 1.25 .830
moral, social and economical
6. I often engage myself in recreational activities 3.3 1.05 .616
7. I am living an ideal life 3.4 1.07 .700
8. I generally feel that I am able balance my work and life. 3.4 1.05 .695
9. I spend time for exercise and work out 3.0 1.19 .585
10. I have time to reach my personal and career goals satisfactorily 3.6 0.89 .410

F-2: Role Overload: Second dimension in the present investigation is named as F-2 i.e. ‘Role overload’
wherein fourteen items of the instrument have emerged to be a part of this factor have been shown in the
Table-3. Balanced role is a pre-requisite to have good quality of work life which means that when a person
is not able to perform a balanced role as a family member and as an employer it is bound to affect both and
the person starts feeling anxiety and maladjustment. He has to make many adjustments to find a fit into his
environment to cope up with the extra work pressures and family demands. The employees who cannot
adjust with it will start hesitating in accepting responsibilities affecting work and family both.

Table 3: Mean, SD and Item-wise Factor Loading of F-2: Role Overload

Items Satisfaction With Family and Self Life Mean SD Factor Loading

1. I think or worry about work when I am not actually at work 2.2 1.14 .434
2. I feel tired or depressed because of work 3.3 1.09 .559
3. I face difficulty in arranging leave 3.0 1.24 .358
4. I need to make many adjustments to fit into my work environment 2.6 1.21 .627
5. I do overtime due to pressure of work 2.9 1.14 .534
6. Sometimes I miss out any quality time with my family because of 2.6 1.I7 .549
pressure of work
7. I am frequently worried due to problems of my family 2.7 1.16 .459
8. There are such members in my family whose presence make my annoy 3.6 1.09 .404
9. I have given up activities I enjoy to work 2.6 1.07 .489
10. I have sacrificed my happiness to work 3.2 1.19 .576
11. I am suffered from stress related disease 3.6 1.26 .584
12. I feel that I am alone in this world 4.0 1.08 .694
13. I hesitate in accepting responsibility of family and social functions 3.7 1.05 .451
14. I experience conflict between my value and what I have to 3.0 1.20 .701
do in my work

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 Quality of Work-life Balance Among Teachers in Higher Education Institutions

F-3: Awareness towards Work Life Balance: An employee’s awareness of work life balance creates mental
and physical preparedness to augment quality of work life. The third dimension of instrument named as F-
3 i.e. ‘Awareness towards work life balance’ means having awareness for work that work is necessary to be
a dynamic personality as well. One should be aware that he/she has to achieve his personal and professional
goals and should realize the importance of work life balance and it would be beneficial for both individual
and organization. In this Factor nine items have emerged to be part of it and the mean score, standard
deviation and factor loading of each of these ten items has been presented as per Table-4.
Table 4: Mean, SD and Item-wise Factor Loading of F-3: Awareness towards Work Life Balance

Items Satisfaction With Family and Self Life Mean SD Factor Loading

1. A good work/life balance can play a phenomenal role in the 4.2 .82 .598
attainment of personal & professional goals
2. Work/life balance enables me to work better 4.2 .92 .721
3. Work excitement and pressure are opposite sides of the same coin 3.8 .96 .446
4. I think that this work provides opportunities to display talents and skills. 4.0 .91 .466
5. Work/life balance is partly employer and partly employee responsibility 4.0 .76 .374
6. Work is a matter of necessity and survival. 3.9 .93 .404
7. I fulfill my family demands as possible as I can 4.1 .73 .650
8. I feel if employees have good work/life Balance, the organization 4.2 .79 .641
will be more effective and successful
9. I feel that it is important to achieve a balance between work and personal life 4.1 .90 .587

F-4: Job Satisfaction and Flexible Environment: Flexible work environment will lead to job satisfaction
and a satisfied will contribute more on every progression front of the organisation. The fourth dimension
i.e. F-4 is named as ‘Job satisfaction and flexible environment’ comprises of seven items with distinct mean
score, standard deviation and factor loading as shown in the Table-5. In fact this term is used with respect
to the different facilities and opportunities provided by an organization and an individual feels job satisfaction
when he gets good working conditions, good salary, opportunities to display talents, motivation for the
work done, flexible environment etc. These conditions are helpful in developing positive attitude towards
work and help in adding to quality of work life.

Table 5: Mean, SD and Item-wise Factor Loading of F-4: Job Satisfaction and Flexible Environment

Items Satisfaction With Family and Self Life Mean SD Factor Loading

1. My work environment is growing and competitive 3.7 1.02 .611

2. My organization provide different facilities which make me comfortable 3.5 1.04 .657
3. I get reward or motivation for my work done 3.2 1.03 .485
4. I feel satisfied with the condition of place where I work 3.6 1.09 .734
5. I think that the work I am doing is interesting 4.0 1.02 .625
6. I have created the habit of working intentionally 3.9 .93 .575
7. I go for picnic/vacations along with my family 3.8 .96 .438

F-5: Self Appreciation of Work: ‘Self appreciation of work’ means what a person thinks about his/her role
towards family and work. This dimension which is named as F-5 would be helpful to know the positive and
negative thinking of a person. It would also be exposed that he/she feels great while performing duties or

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 Vandana Punia and Meenakshi Kamboj

not. The person who enjoys and appreciates his/her work will equally enjoy while executing the duties
towards family and thus having superior quality of work life balance. The six items of the factor with their
individual mean score, standard deviation and factor loading have been presented as per Table-6.
Table 6: Mean, SD and Item-wise Factor Loading of F-5: Self Appreciation of Work

Items Satisfaction With Family and Self Life Mean SD Factor Loading

1. I have my own principles of operations, 4.0 .87 .465

2. The members of my family always make me realize that they are 3.8 .87 .521
happy with my role.
3. Family issues do not hinder my ability to perform effectively at work. 3.6 1.07 .553
4. I like spending my time at office rather than at home 3.3 1.18 .365
5. I generally feel that I am able to balance my work and life. 3.8 .77 .674
6. I feel great while performing my duties 4.1 .65 .463

Analytical Procedure, Results and Discussion:

Research Question 1: Does the designation of a teacher affect their quality of work life balance?
H01 There is no significant effect of teachers’ designation on their quality of work life balance.
Designation of a teacher explains the not only the hierarchical position of the teacher but to some extent
his/her the financial position as well. Both the financial position and the hierarchy affect the quality of
work life of an employee on individual and cumulative basis. How does the designation of a teacher affect
the quality of work life has been examined by applying ANOVA and the results have been shown as per
Table-7?
Table 7: Quality of Work Life Balance according to Designation

Designation N Mean SD F Sig.

Professor 5 168.40 27.57 2.965 .045*

Associate Professor 27 181.37 17.71
Assistant Professor 111 173.59 15.06
* Significant at 0.05 level of significance.

Descriptive statistics for quality work life balance as shown in the Table-7 depicts the total mean scores
were 168.40 (SD=27) for the professors, 181.37 (SD=17.71) for associate professors and 173.59 (SD=15.06)
for assistant professors. The data revealed a superior quality of work life amongst the associate professors
followed by assistant professors and professors in all 143 teachers participating in this research process. An
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to evaluate the variations in quality of work life balance and it
was found that a difference exits in the quality of work life according to their designation. Essentially the
significance value i.e. p=.045 denotes significant difference in the quality of work life balance across three
designations of the teachers for the work life balance leading to the rejection of null hypothesis H01 i.e.
‘There is no significant effect of teachers’ designation on their quality of work life balance’.
Research Question 2: Do the teachers having different nature of appointment enjoy differing quality of
work life balance?

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 Quality of Work-life Balance Among Teachers in Higher Education Institutions

H02 The nature of appointment of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly.
Nature of appointment of a teacher whether regular, guest, or contract. Out of the 143 teachers who
participated in the survey 96 have been found working on regular basis, 14 as guest and 33 on contract
basis. To what extent the nature of appointment of a teacher affect their quality of work life has been shown
as per Table-8. It can be visualized from the Table-8 that quality of work life balance of regular teachers has
been found highest with a mean score of 177.60 followed by guest faculty (Mean Score=176.83) and contract
base faculty members who recorded a mean score of 168.30. The results connote the significance regularity
and stability against the unstable work environment. When the data was tested for analysis of variance, the
p-value of .02 revealed that nature of employment of an individual significantly affect their quality of work
life balance. Hence the hypothesis H02 i.e. ‘the nature of appointment of teachers does not affect their
quality of work life balance significantly’ is rejected leading to the acceptance of alternate hypothesis.

Table 8: Quality of Work Life Balance according to Nature of Appointment

Nature of Appointment N Mean SD F Sig.

Regular 96 177.60 16.17 3.629 0.02*

Guest 14 176.83 15.37
Contract based 33 168.30 17.66
* Significant at 0.05 level of significance.

Research Question 3: Is there any difference in the quality of work life balance of the teachers according
to gender?
H03 There is no significant difference in the quality of work life balance of teachers according to gender.
Teaching as a profession primarily used to be considered as female domain. However, as on date it is
equally cherished profession across both the genders wherein both parties contribute equally and suffer
equally whether professional pleasure or the quality of wok life balance. Is there any difference in the
quality of work life balance of teachers according to gender has been examined and shown as per Table-9
Table 9: Quality of Work Life Balance according to Gender

Gender N Mean SD F Sig.

Male 65 176.30 15.8 .956 .341*

Female 78 176.69 16.6
* Not Significant

Descriptive statistics for quality work life balance across gender presented per Table-9 reveal almost equal
quality of work life balance in male and female teachers which is evident from the mean scores. The
application of one way ANOVA give a significance value of .341 which explains that there is no significant
difference in the quality of work life balance of teachers according to gender thereby accepting the null
hypothesis.
Research Question 4: Does the marital status of teachers present a differing quality of work life balance?

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 Vandana Punia and Meenakshi Kamboj

H04 There is no significant difference in the quality of work life balance of teachers according to their
marital status.
Marital status of an individual is the real predictor and testimony of ones quality of work life balance.
Reason being that it is only after marriage we are surrounded by multifarious and multidimensional
responsibilities and we can not afford to ignore any of these. The Descriptive statistics for the quality work
life balance according to marital status as shown in the Table-10.

Table 10: Quality of Work Life Balance according to Marital Status

Marital Status N Mean SD F Sig.

Married 114 175.84 16.4 1.404 .163*

Unmarried 29 171.10 15.4

* Not Significant

The descriptive statistics from the table reveal that there is no significant difference (p=.163) in the quality
of work life balance according to marital status. However married teachers have exhibited superior quality
of work life balance (Mean Score=175.84) in contrast to unmarried teachers who recorded a mean score of
171.10. The whole description and the results of statistical analysis lead the researchers to accept the null
hypothesis H04 i.e. .there is no significant difference in the quality of work life balance of teachers according
to their marital status’.
Research Question 5: Does the academic stream of teachers affect their quality of work life balance?
H05 The academic stream of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly.
The teachers from different academic streams like science, commerce and arts normally have different
temperaments, different work pressures which in turn affect the quality of their work life balance. To what
extent a teacher’s quality of work life balance is affected by their academic stream is presented as per Table-
11.
Table 11: Quality of Work Life Balance according to Academic Stream

Stream N Mean SD F Sig.

Science 35 170.34 13.86 2.735 .046*

Commerce 41 173.70 17.38
Arts 67 177.97 16.34
* Significant at 0.05 level of significance.

Descriptive statistics for the quality of work life balance across the academic stream of the teachers reveal
that arts teachers enjoy highest quality of work life balance with a mean score of 177.97 followed by
commerce teachers (mean score=173.70) and science teachers whose mean score has been recorded at
170.34. As an outcome of ANOVA application, the significance value of .046 denotes a significant effect of
teachers’ academic stream on their quality of work life balance. Hence the null hypothesis H05 i.e. ‘the
academic stream of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly’ is rejected
thereby leading to acceptance of alternate hypothesis.

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 Quality of Work-life Balance Among Teachers in Higher Education Institutions

Research Question 6: Does the nature of serving institute of teachers affect the quality of work life balance?
H06 The nature of serving institute of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly.
The nature of serving institution of an employee is also considered an important factor affecting his quality
of work life balance. It is common notion that job in government sector provide increased stability and
satisfaction to an employee in contrast to job in government aided institution or private/self financing
institution. To what extent the nature of serving institution of teacher affect their quality of work life
balance presented as per Table-12.

Table 12: Quality of Work Life Balance according to Nature of Serving Institute

Nature of Institution N Mean SD F Sig.

Government Institutions 35 263.02 19.55 10.206 .000*

Government aided Institutions 41 247.50 21.34
Private/self financing 67 258.25 21.01
* Significant at 0.05 level of significance.

Descriptive statistics for quality of work life balance across the nature of serving institution bring out that
in line with the common notion, the teachers serving in government institutions enjoy the highest level of
quality of work life balance with a mean score of 263.02. Surprisingly the teachers serving in private/self
financing institution are the followers of government institution teachers in enjoying the quality of work
life balance with a mean score of 258.25. However the teachers serving in government aided institution
have revealed lowest level of quality of work life balance across the three strata with a mean score of
247.50. Apparently it seemed that the nature of serving institution has an effect on the quality of work life
balance. This was ascertained by applying ANOVA wherein the p vale of .000 signified a complete effect of
nature of the serving institute on dependent variable i.e. quality of work life balance. The entire description
and statistical values led the researchers to the rejection of null hypothesis H06 i.e. ‘the nature of serving
institute of teachers does not affect their quality of work life balance significantly’ and acceptance of the
alternate hypothesis.

Summation and Policy Implications

The study has revealed different factors related to quality of work life balance among university and college
teachers. It is generally established that work-life balance is important for an individual’s psychological
well-being, for elevated self-esteem, job satisfaction, and overall sense of harmony in life which can be
observed as indicators of a successful balance between work and family roles. In teaching profession, it is
essential to be more efficient and effective there by attaining job satisfaction which consecutively ensures
successful molding of student community. Simultaneously work life balance also helps the faculty to be
more productive in their job accomplishments with their personal commitments and family affairs. In the
present study, researcher had explored the various factors that have been found significantly affecting the
status of work life balance. It has been found that designation of the teachers; their nature of appointment,
the academic stream in which they are teaching, and the nature of their serving institution affect their
quality of work life balance significantly. However no significant variations have emerged in the quality of
work life balance across the gender and marital status of the teacher. While talking in terms of specific
parameters, associate professors, regularly appointed teachers, faculty members of arts stream, and the

207
 Vandana Punia and Meenakshi Kamboj

teachers serving in government institutions have witnessed highest level of quality of work life balance in
contrast to their contemporaries across the diverse variables. It is beyond saying that proper work life
balance affects the productivity at workplace as well as individual and family setup wherein workplace
environment plays a vital role in determining the quality of work life balance of a teacher. In changing
scenario, teachers have so many assignments with teaching workload, research and extension activities
that work pressures are laying negative impact on their professional as well as personal life. Hence policy
makers, educational institutions and the teachers themselves need to take care of this aspect very carefully
so that the output of the system adds to the quality of total system and the society.

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