Women in the Workplace: An Empirical Analysis of the Challenge of the Workload

Abstract

Female employment throughout the world has witnessed a drastic paradigm shift. Several factors like improving literacy, change in the socio-economic scenario, and zest for financial independence and ambition are responsible for this changing trend. Education sector is the largest employer of women in India and is witnessing drastic changes. The present study examines how these changes have specifically impacted this sector. Work-life balance (WLB) of women working in various universities of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is examined. Special emphasis is laid on the work pressure women face in the course of trying to balance their professional life with their personal life. The method draws on the survey of 104 married female staff working on a substantive basis in higher education. The analysis of the paper measures the impact of workload on the work-life balance of women professionals. The results show that most working women are upset with the amount of workload in the universities. Women who work for longer hours tend to be more dissatisfied with their work-life balance. The study strongly suggests that academic expectations must be attuned with the demands of a woman’s personal life or else a woman can never give her best!.