Abstract
The question of how work-family conflict affect working mothers in
traditional societies has been one of the foci of research during recent
decades. This area of academic interest has mainly been explored in
corporate organizational contexts but is less investigated in the context
of women educational leadership in traditional cultural milieu. The
current qualitative study explored the work-family interface: conflict
and balance regarding women school heads in a traditional society i.e.
Peshawar, Pakistan. Data was collected from 15 female school heads
using semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed using thematic
analysis. Findings reveal that most of the women school heads
experienced conflict in keeping a balance between workplace
responsibilities and their family obligations. The problems women
school heads encountered in keeping a balance between workplace and
family centered responsibilities included the dual burden of
responsibilities and the resultant socio-psychological tensions, a sense
of frustration and guilt resulting from neglect of responsibilities
regarding care for family and children, and an overall mental and
psychological stress as a result of coping with the dual nature of their
undertaking as working women. This study has important implications
for women school heads, their employers and policy makers dealing
with school education .
