AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF WORK LIFE BALANCE IN DUAL CAREER COUPLES IN PAKISTAN: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH

Abstract

This study examine the issues of work life balance in dual career couples in the selected universities of Peshawar city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. For this purpose, qualitative research protocol was used while interviewing 22 purposely selected dual career couples in the targeted locales. The selected participants were interviewed through Semi Structured Interviewed (SSI) in the participant setting, their narratives were documented, and thematic analysis were subsequently performed. The extracted themes were including role overload and role conflict, couples with children, spousal relations and interaction, and balancing work and family domain. The study reveals that dual career couples were experiencing role overload, role conflict and stressor while managing the multiple demands of occupational and family domain. Further, it was found that that the reported issues were heightened in the case of the couples with children. It is concluded from the study that dual career couples are experiencing significant role overload and stressor because of the lack of organizational support and absence of a viable public policy in the academic institutes of Pakistan. Keywords: Dual career couples, Family, Conflict, Role, Support