Work-life balance: a sociological study of women professionals in Kerala

Abstract

The present enquiry has as its theme, the understanding of the predictors of Work -Life Balance among women professionals in Kerala, along with assessing their work-family conflicts and identifying their coping strategies that enable the achievement of equilibrium between work and family. The study also devotes to examine the presence and pervasiveness of Glass-ceiling , as affecting the career prospects of women professionals in Kerala. This study was conducted on 350 women professionals in Kerala. Women professionals in three different cities in Kerala- Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, and, four professional groups-Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and Chartered Accountants- constituted the sample for the study. The theories of Symbolic Interaction and Gender Inequality have been adopted as conceptual frame for analysis. The results reveal that though different strategies are resorted to meet the demands of career on family, the pattern of coping strategies are similaramong all professional groups. Though conflict is pervasive in both the domains, the work domain is seen as a slightly greater source of conflict than the family domain. The prevalence of glass-ceiling is confirmed and it is found that it denies due appreciation and ruin the career prospects of women professionals.