A Study on the Impact of Work-Life Balance on Career Development

Abstract

The banking and finance industry is widely regarded as one of the most important service-oriented industries in Sri Lanka. It is a female-dominated industry that owns and provides a well-defined career path for anyone who works in it. However, previous research studies have discussed the issue of low female representation in managerial positions in the banking sector around the world, as well as in Sri Lanka and pointed out the need of paying more attention to this issue. As the current researcher examined the statistical data on female workforce availability at higher managerial levels within the banking sector, it was discovered that female representation in higher management of non-state banks in Sri Lanka is significantly lower than in state-owned banks. Therefore, the present study is carried out to find the reasons that hinder the achievement of career development of managerial level female employees in non-state banks in Sri Lanka. As the work-life balance of female employees is believed to be a factor that enhances career effectiveness and drives employee satisfaction, the work-life balance was identified as the independent variable and research was tried to find whether the work-life balance has an impact on the career development of these female managerial level employees who work in Sri Lankan non-state banks. The simple random sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 144 managerial-level employees from non-state banks in Sri Lanka's Western province. The dataset for the analysis was collected through the distribution of a self-administered questionnaire to the sample. Likewise, the respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement with the questions on a 5-point Likert scale. The collected responses were analyzed using the SPSS 21 Version. The multiple regression and Pearson correlation analysis were implemented in determine the impact and relationship between IV and DV. The findings of the analysis revealed that work-life balance has a significant impact on career development, and the researcher was able to identify and present recommendations for improving the career development of managerial-level female employees through the study.