Harmonizing Home and School: Exploring the Path to Work-Life Balance and Job Satisfaction among Married Teachers

Abstract

In Eastern cultures, women bear a burden of familial responsibilities resulting from an
uneven distribution of tasks among spouses. This burden is even more pronounced for working
women, creating interference between their job responsibilities and their familial obligations, and
vice versa. Unfortunately, this situation has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as
evidenced by the World Health Organization’s report on the alarming increase in domestic violence
cases. Therefore, it has become imperative to thoroughly study the spillover between work and home
in order to understand the factors that disrupt both domains. With this in mind, the purpose of this
study is to identify the elements of marital satisfaction that are closely related to job satisfaction in
the context of work-from-home settings. To achieve this goal, a qualitative exploratory approach is
adopted, involving in-depth, one-on-one interviews conducted with seven teachers. The findings
of the study indicate that individuals’ perceptions play a significant role in shaping the reality of
achieving work-life balance particularly among teachers, their strong emotional bond with students
often leads to a pro-work attitude. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of
families in the post-COVID era by affirming the existence of employment-related challenges in the
work-from-home context and shedding light on their impact on individuals and their families.