Abstract
Many studies have examined that how the simultaneous demands of
occupational role and family obligations are affecting dual career
couples, there is very limited studies exploring this issue in Pakistan.
This study was carried out to examine the lived experiences of
marital partners having dual career marriages in Peshawar city of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The main objective
underlying this study was to explore how husband and wives having
dual career marriages experience the demands of multiple roles and
how they cope with the simultaneous demands of family and
occupational role. A qualitative research protocol was adopted and
22 study participants including wives and husbands having dual
career marriages were interviewed in the three selected universities
of the targeted locale. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed
five themes including 1) Role balancing is difficult; 2) Child care is
difficult to manage with occupational role; 3) Have little but quality
time together: 4) Friendly communication is helpful: 5) Coping
mechanisms are very useful. It was concluded from the study that the
simultaneous demands of family and occupational role was
challenging and problematic for the study participants. Moreover,
the storyline of the study participants revealed that role balancing
became more challenging when parenting role was added to the
existing workload because of the lack of organizational support and
non-availability of child care assistance in the workplace. The best
possible coping strategies reported by the study participants were
role sharing, friendly negotiation, positive communication, proper
planning and appropriate scheduling.
