Since the 1970s, WLB has been understood subjectively and broadly, depending on who defines it (Khan & Fazili 2016). Some adopt a conservative, traditional understanding of WLB, while others adopt a more modern, liberal conception, where work is not an exclusive full-time employment by one employer, and social life is multifaceted (Kelliher, Richardson & Boiarintseva 2019). Work-life balance has increasingly gained traction in research over the years, with a notable lack of coverage in the SLP-A disciplines (Akobo & Stewart 2020; Kelliher et al. 2019). Work-life balance can be viewed from a range of theoretical perspectives. Khateeb (2021) and Bello and Tanko (2020) review some of those theories. The Border Theory posits that borders exist in distinct domains, such as between work and life, whereas the Spill Over Theory suggests that some domains may spill over and dominate the space of the other. The Conflict Theory contends that domains always conflict, with prioritisation of one diminishing the other. The Compensation Theory contends that an individual typically compensates by capitalising on one domain when they lack fulfilment in the other. These theories all influenced the theoretical perspective adopted in the study, with a dominance of the Conflict Theory, as applied by Akobo and Stewart (2020).

Therefore, Work-Life Conflict (WLC) and WLB in this article are regarded as the opposite ends of one spectrum, which has three key elements (Akobo & Stewart 2020). The time-based element relates to how academics allocate their time between family and work. The strain-based aspects relate to the physical and psycho-emotional well-being of an academic, particularly in relation to the demands of social life and work. Lastly, there are behavioural aspects, which relate to behaviours that an academic may exhibit because of the demands of work or social life, including the people close to them (Greenhaus & Beutell 1985).

In the absence of a universally agreed upon definition (Mwangi et al. 2017), WLB in this study is defined as effectively managing the time, physical and emotional investments required by both work and social life domains, as well as behavioural patterns that manifest as a result of work and social life responsibilities (Akobo & Stewart 2020; Fazal et al. 2019; Kelliher et al. 2019) (Figure 1).

With the above-stated theoretical understanding, the study’s aim was to explore the female SLP-A academics’ experiences of WLB within a South African tertiary institution, a University of Interest (UoI) (pseudonym), with objectives being to explore:

This article invites the reader to compare the shared participant experiences with those in their own context, with the understanding that the findings are not intended to be generalised, but transferable to similar contexts. This study further seeks to inspire a critical discussion about managing a WLB, its impact on developing academics, and the need for transformation in this regard.

Female (biological female) academics are the interest group for this research because of their unique susceptibility to WLB challenges, which can negatively affect their ACD more than that of their male counterparts. Gender disparities in societal expectations stem from many factors, including societal norms, values and socioeconomic status. Some cultures emphasise the importance of a woman’s role within their domestic setting, while diminishing their role in commercial spaces, as has been observed in some Asian and African societies (Fazal et al. 2019).

In Pakistan, Fazal et al. (2019) explored how female academics experienced WLB challenges and reported that an unconducive work environment was a barrier to their career progression. As a result, they invested considerable time and effort into their academic work and sacrificed their social life as a compensatory strategy to meet the demands of their academic careers. Similarly, a scoping review on literature from American, Asian, and European countries reported that work-life imbalance can emanate from unhealthy working conditions where gender inequality was evident (Franco et al. 2021). Twenty per cent of the studies they reviewed found that female academics’ career ambitions were not as accepted or embraced as those of their male counterparts by their societies.

Africa is no exception, as some African countries’ cultural and societal expectations typically pressure women to excel domestically but not in their academic and other careers. In Nigeria Ogbogu (2011) reported that marriage responsibilities negatively affected women’s ACD. Mwangi et al. (2017) studied the relationship between WLB and staff productivity at Kabarak University in Kenya and found that it was negatively affected by their social life or family responsibilities, which disadvantaged both male and female academics.

In South Africa, Hlatshwayo and Ngcobo (2023) report on the negative impact of gendered expectations from some societies, which restricts the ACD of female academics. Their study, conducted at a South African university, found that the typical home nurturing duties disadvantaged female academics, exposing them to a lack of time to work after hours, which slows down their rate of publication and, therefore, their career progression. This suggested that being female in academia comes with unique challenges.

In a study conducted by Muthala and Pillay (2023) at a university in Gauteng province, South Africa, most black female academics reported challenges in meeting expectations to excel both in the workplace and at home. Patriarchal cultural expectations, coupled with a lack of support at home and in the workplace, were among the challenges they experienced. Their families expect them to perform the homemaking responsibilities, as well as help children with homework and tend to their husbands (Muthala & Pillay 2023). They were also expected to excel at work with limited support from supervisors, and when they did, they received limited recognition from their family for it. These and other challenges are among the reasons for the slower pace of credentialing towards attaining PhD degrees and fewer publications (Marnoto et al. 2024).

A Speech Therapy and female Audiology academic, Professor Khatija Khoza-Shangase, reflects on the intersectionality of being a black female professor in a historically white institution, and regards the system as being oppressive towards female academics (Khoza-Shangase 2019). However, it remains unclear whether the system is similarly oppressive for developing female academics in these disciplines and whether this challenge has affected WLB.

To cope with the above-mentioned challenges, some female academics typically resort to compromising family and marriage responsibilities while prioritising their academic careers (Dubois-Shaik & Fusulier 2017). Some elect to have fewer children than they desire in an effort to limit their domestic responsibilities and focus on productivity and ACD (Dubois-Shaik & Fusulier 2017). Alternatively, some female academics must sacrifice their career development opportunities to dedicate their time and energy to raising children, as balancing both appears virtually impossible (Darisa et al. 2010). Such demands can lead women in academia to experience depression and anxiety, which can further compromise their productivity and performance at work (Gallardo 2021; Ysseldyk et al. 2019). In light of the above, this study contributes to the existing knowledge gap concerning SLP-A’s academic WLB experiences in the South African context.

Typically, 8–15 participants are involved in the chosen design (Tiwari, Tripathi & Srivastava 2025). Because of reaching data saturation, where no new themes emerged beyond Participant 7, data generation was terminated after the first eight participants (Ahmed 2025). The female academics had to be pursuing a PhD qualification with at least two years of full-time lecturing experience at the UoI to be considered as potential participants. Those who did not meet this criterion, including part-time staff or fully credentialed (with PhDs) lecturers, were excluded.

To maintain confidentiality, the UoI is used as a pseudonym for the university where the study was conducted. The semi-structured interviews were conducted using the Zoom software platform, with each interview guided by a schedule informed by the literature, study objectives, and overall focus. Using Zoom for online data generation was a convenient choice that eliminated the need for the researcher to travel to each participant without compromising data quality. Rapport was established with each participant through general greetings, small talk, and discussions regarding the study, which were not recorded. The English language interview schedule consisted of three sections covering their (1) demographic details, (2) conceptions of WLB (Objective 1) and experiences of WLB (Objective 2) and related reasons (Objective 3), as well as the impact of being female on WLB (Objective 4). The Zoom transcription function was used to transcribe the data, with each transcript verified by the researcher who listened to the audio recording (at two times slower speed for clarity) while reading the text and correcting any errors. Non-word verbal cues, such as ‘ahm, like’ were omitted as deemed redundant, to optimise the clarity of the transcriptions (Nascimento & Steinbruch 2019). The text for each interview was uploaded into NVivo version 12 for thematic analysis, guided by Braun and Clarke (2006:87) within the Hermeneutic strategy recommended by Ajjawi and Higgs (2007, Table 2, p. 622). All the above analysis was performed by the researcher using NVivo, including coding and thematisation. After familiarisation with the data (immersion and understanding), coding was performed, and themes were subsequently generated from related codes (abstraction). Those themes were revised as necessary if the next interview data provided better insights (synthesis and theme development).

Trustworthiness was ensured through methods consistent with suggestions by Treharne and Riggs (2015) and Ramsook (2018). The rigorous and transparent application of the methodology, combined with the selection of academics with first-hand experience of the phenomenon of interest in the study, ensured the credibility of the findings. Verbatim transcription and reporting direct excerpts from the findings ensured the strength of the representation of their experiences. Repeated analysis of each interview data ensured that the generated themes were reproducible or dependable (Ahmed 2024). Being a developing academic, the researcher had a deep insider perspective on the higher education career journey. I, the interviewer, therefore probed with deep insight for optimum reflection from the participants. Objective measures, such as member checking and bracketing, are not necessary in hermeneutic phenomenology (McConnell-Henry et al. 2011; Vella 2024). The researcher’s interpretations of the participants’ experiences of WLB present one perspective that may differ when conducted by another researcher, an acceptable subjectivity within the chosen design. However, the extensive use of direct quotations from the participants and the transparency with which the findings are interpreted did not compromise the quality of the study.

The institutional Human and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, granted ethical clearance (HSSREC/00002775/2021) to conduct the study. Written gatekeeper permission to access potential participants from the institution where the study was conducted was granted. Each participant signed the informed consent form and verbally consented to participate in the study, which was audio-recorded. All other ethical considerations were taken to ensure that the study was ethically sound. None of the participants were exposed to physical or other forms of harm, with all their details being kept confidential and known only to the researcher. To ensure anonymity, no participant identification details were included in the data analysis, as each participant was assigned a number (Participant 1 – Participant 8). Therefore, all the generated data were stored anonymously in a password-protected computer that was accessible only to the researcher.

Objective 1 concerned the participants’ conceptions of WLB. The participants’ conceptions of WLB could be summarised into two emergent themes as depicted in Table 2.

Under the first theme, the SLP-A academics conceived of WLB in two ways. For some, WLB is a situation where clear boundaries exist between the two domains, where social life does not interfere with work. For others, WLB entails an equal distribution of attention between social life and work. Participants 1 and 7’s conceptions of WLB emphasise the importance of a clear separation between the two domains:

Other participants reported a lack of clear distinction between work and social life. Participants 3 and 2 conceived of work as life, suggesting that the two are intertwined, with work dominating over social life:

Objective 2 concerned the experiences of WLB. Only one theme emerged within this objective, suggesting that the participants experienced a dominance of work at the expense of their social life. When asked to elaborate by indicating how they split their time on a typical day between work and social life, most participants reported that they spent the majority of their time on teaching and related administrative tasks (Figure 2).

In response to Objective 3 of the study, which sought to identify the reasons for the way WLB or lack thereof was experienced, three themes emerged as depicted in Table 3.

Some participants neglected their social lives because of overwhelming work responsibilities. Participant 6 elaborates on how she had to neglect her social life and herself while developing as an academic. Participant 1 experienced having to neglect their families by taking work home. Participant 4 also elaborates on how she had to neglect friends because of work demands:

Participants 3 and 7 share their experiences of an institutional culture that demands an imbalance between work and social life, further attesting to the experiences reported by Participant 1 earlier:

The participants felt that the academic culture that normalises WLC sets them up for failure in their pursuit of ACD. As a result, academics adopt a lifestyle (or culture in academia) characterised by a work-life imbalance or conflict, as suggested by Participant 5 and Participant 3:

To understand if being female affected the experiences of WLB, the participants were asked to reflect on this. Being female was experienced as a hindrance against WLB. Participants 5 and 7 elaborate:

These findings suggest that female SLP-A carry more responsibilities at home than their male counterparts. To cope with the demands of academia, they also take work home, further contributing the WLI.

Qualitative research does not intend to generalise the findings beyond the studied or similar contexts. Therefore, the study’s findings are only transferable to contexts similar to those at the UoI. Data generation was conducted through a virtual platform, which may have influenced how participants expressed themselves. However, because all participants were familiar with Zoom and used it at work, there were no signs of its use compromising the quality of this study. It was at each participant’s discretion to trust that the interviewer would not break confidentiality agreements, but there is no guarantee that all participants trusted this promise and responded honestly to questions asked. Furthermore, member checking was not conducted as it deviates from the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology, as some authors (McConnell-Henry et al. 2011; Vella 2024) have argued. Despite all the experienced challenges, the study’s aim and objectives were achieved.

The study’s findings suggest the need for tighter policy guidance towards enhancing or aligning the female academics’ career expectations with their social lives in order to enhance WLB (Opoku et al. 2023). Future research should explore the role that HR departments can play in facilitating WLB for developing female academics, and examine stronger control measures to address intradisciplinary and institutional interference in female academics’ efforts to attain WLB by imposing excessive workloads or other related expectations. Work-life balance should be explored across a wider range of participants, institutions, and research methodologies, including quantitative research, to produce results that are generalisable and applicable to the broader contexts. Lastly, similar studies should be conducted with more heterogeneous groups to yield findings that are not specific to one gender.