This book examines how individuals and organizations in Africa have found ways to integrate work and life roles effectively. It reflects on the notions that while many cultures have embraced women’s participation in the workplace, African culture has been more resistant to change thereby forcing companies and employees to invent their own solutions. This presents its own set of challenges, for example African organizations are generally not up to speed with the family-friendly policies that are required in the modern workplace; the effectiveness of such policies is questionable and there is an increasing realization that work-family policies are not the only way to achieve work-life integration and others may be considered, such as workplace mentoring and introducing incentives. With this in mind the authors consider multiple approaches to balancing work and life responsibilities with emphasis on three perspectives, namely organizational, individual and family and cultural. The book highlights and examines the joint responsibility that organizations, leaders and individuals have in achieving work life integration. Secondly the book considers why work-life integration initiatives fail and identifies the sources and remedies for these failures. Each chapter discusses the role of the identified dimensions necessary for collective achievement of work-life integration, while the final chapter sets out further research avenues and a conceptual framework that brings together the findings of the book.

Work-life balance has drawn much attention from academic researchers, professionals, and politicians over the past two decades. However, despite the increased interest globally, there has been an under-representation of academic work on work-life balance across the African continent. So, this book serves as a collection of cases from various contexts across Africa and an exploration of the challenges and how best to manage human resources in this ‘Mother Continent’ with phenomenal potential. The book’s contributions draw on various types of research (conceptual, theoretical and empirical) and incorporate contextual issues such as technology, politics, culture, and economics to supplement the readers’ insights into the varying work-life balance experiences in African countries. By highlighting theoretical underpinnings and emphasising the practical relevance of issues related to managing work and non-work commitments, this book will offer an insightful guide for students and scholars interested in Business Management, Human Resource Management, Sociology of Work, and Industrial and Organisational Psychology in developing economies.

This innovative study confronts the similarities and differences in womenês and menês work_life experiences. Individual and organizational solutions to work_family conflict and strategies for work_life enrichment are explored. It will strongly appeal t

In today’s globalised world economy, it is becoming increasingly pressing to shine a light on the interface of work and private life. In order to fully understand the issue we must take an inclusive view and not limit our understanding to Western perspectives. This contributed volume encompasses research and perspectives from the global south, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America. In doing so, this collection fills a gap in existing literature to give a broader view of the topic. Divided by geographic territory into three sections, the book combines original research, case studies and interviews as well as comparative studies. Chapters cover a wide range of emerging issues including gender and work-life balance; the role of culture; men and household work and work and family balance, to name a few. Crucially, the book offers critical perspectives and understanding of work-life interface/balance/conflict as a collection of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical studies that draws on qualitative and mixed methodologies. Bringing a unique contribution to the field, this book is a useful resource for students, academics, managers and policy makers.

Developments in IT and communication technology, coupled with the global 24 hour market, have led to boundaries between work and personal life becoming ever more blurred, while work/life policies and practice struggle to keep up. This book aims to challenge traditional thinking on work life balance, and to explore different ways of promoting change at many levels. It provides a historical overview of the topic, critiques contemporary approaches and offers creative ideas for integrating work and personal life in local, national and global contexts.

This book provides deep insights about women in higher education and their contributions to society. Using Kenya as a case study, it places women in higher education at the center of the socioeconomic, political and cultural discourse both within and outside the higher education institution. It is notable that even with the progress made, both in Kenya and globally, gender considerations in social, economic, political and cultural spheres is still minimal. In higher education, gender imbalance is still distinct in varied areas such as career advancement, leadership, mentorship, and scholarship opportunities. In society, women’s efforts still seem to go unnoticed. The aim of these chapters, therefore, is to share women’s research in higher education and in society especially innovative policy and practice concepts, all aimed at contributing to social transformation.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of work-life balance in the context of women’s entrepreneurship, specifically focusing on the factors that influence this balance. Using thematic qualitative text analysis, it interprets semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of women’s entrepreneurship, and based on this, presents the “7M” model, which is composed of seven dimensions and the corresponding factors that influence the work-life balance of women entrepreneurs. It also provides an in-depth analysis of all seven dimensions and describes the specific role of each dimension, highlighting the fact that women entrepreneurs are a highly heterogeneous group and that their work-life balance results from a complex interplay of various inter-related factors.

Many regard the ways in which paid work can be combined or ‘balanced’ with other parts of life as an individual concern and a small, rather self-indulgent problem in today’s world. Some feel that worrying about a lack of time or energy for family relationships or friendships is a luxury or secondary issue when compared with economic growth or development. In the business world and among many Governments around the world, the importance of paid work and the primacy of economic competitiveness, whatever the personal costs, is almost accepted wisdom. Profits and short term efficiency gains are often placed before social issues of care or human dignity. But what about the impact this has on men and women’s well being, or the long-term sustainability of people, families, society or even the economy? Drawing from interviews and group meetings in seven diverse countries – India, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, the UK and USA – this book explores the multiple difficulties in combining paid work with other parts of life and the frustrations people experience in diverse settings. There is a myth that ‘work-life balance’ can be achieved through quick fixes rather than challenging the place of paid work in people’s lives and the way work actually gets done. As well as exploring contemporary problems, this book attempts to seed hope and new ways of thinking about one of the key challenges of our time.

How’s Life? charts whether life is getting better for people in 37 OECD countries and 4 partner countries. This fifth edition presents the latest evidence from an updated set of over 80 indicators, covering current well-being outcomes, inequalities, and resources for future well-being.

Technology is changing the way we integrate work and family life today. In an age in which information technology has brought the promise of autonomy and control by allowing asynchronous communications; in which work systems have enabled people to work from various times and in various locations; and in which work and non-work boundaries have as a result been blurred, the work and family interface needs to be reconsidered. This collection is the result of a careful selection of articles presented at the Sixth International Conference for Work and Family organized by the International Center for Work and Family at IESE Business School, Spain. It has a clear focus on technology, managers, globalization, and gender, and contributions analyse the state of affairs in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America. The chapters here offer innovative approaches to how technology, globalization, managers and gender issues are affecting the dynamics of work and family balance around the world. As such, the book will help practitioners and academics to make better decisions, to stay up to date on current developments, and to think critically about these fascinating and complex topics.