Striking a Balance: A Case Study of Working Women in Karachi

Abstract

The issues associated with balancing work and family are of paramount importance to individuals, the organizations that employ them and the families that care for them. The research attempts to explore the work-life balance issues for working women and problems faced in managing work-life conflicts. Also, the objective is to determine how working women strike a balance between conflicting work-life issues. Five key factors are identified to evaluate the conflicting issues of work and life: Work Overload, Work to Life Interference, Family to Work Interference, Self Time and Caregivers Responsibilities. Furthermore, the research focuses to find what companies are doing to help working women solve their work-life dilemmas by offering, if any, flexible work arrangements. This research study discusses the responses of a qualitative survey on work-life conflicts for working women in Karachi and which companies are doing to help them cope with these work- life challenges in the form of flexible work arrangements. The data for this survey was collected from 175 working women and also complimented with 50 in-depth interviews (semi-structured) across Karachi, from the corporate, medical and educational fields. The sampled working women had varied work backgrounds, qualification, social status, age groups, income levels, and different levels of management.