{"id":{"repo_id":"western-cape","oai_identifier":"oai:uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za:10566/21183"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/western-cape/oai:uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za:10566/21183","repository":{"repo_id":"western-cape","name":"University of the Western Cape","base_url":"https://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za:8443/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Exploring family support and job satisfaction on work-life balance among academic staff at a South African university","abstract":"The Covid-19 pandemic significantly altered traditional work environments, resulting in many professionals, including academics, transitioning to remote work. This shift created challenges for maintaining work-life balance, particularly as home and work responsibilities became increasingly blurred. This study examines the impact of family support and job satisfaction on work-life balance of academics at a South African university in the post-pandemic era. An exploratory study using semi-structured interviews was adopted to obtain the data. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants. The sample comprised of ten full-time academics from the Economic and Management Science Faculty who had some form of family responsibility and had to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. The thematic qualitative data analysis technique using the Atlas-ti software (Version 24) was used to analyse the data from which 14 sub-themes emerged. The findings revealed that while working from home offered flexibility, it also introduced heightened work-life conflicts. Family support emerged as a factor in overcoming conflicts and enhancing well-being. Academics who received robust family support were able to better manage the demands of work and family, leading to greater job satisfaction and improved work-life balance. Conversely, those lacking sufficient support struggled with increased stress and reduced job satisfaction leading to a reduced work-life balance. The role of institutional policies in fostering a supportive work environment, particularly in terms of promoting job satisfaction and family-friendly initiatives to increase work-life balance, was also an important finding that emerged.","abstract_html":"The Covid-19 pandemic significantly altered traditional work environments, resulting in many professionals, including academics, transitioning to remote work. This shift created challenges for maintaining work-life balance, particularly as home and work responsibilities became increasingly blurred. This study examines the impact of family support and job satisfaction on work-life balance of academics at a South African university in the post-pandemic era. An exploratory study using semi-structured interviews was adopted to obtain the data. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants. The sample comprised of ten full-time academics from the Economic and Management Science Faculty who had some form of family responsibility and had to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. The thematic qualitative data analysis technique using the Atlas-ti software (Version 24) was used to analyse the data from which 14 sub-themes emerged. The findings revealed that while working from home offered flexibility, it also introduced heightened work-life conflicts. Family support emerged as a factor in overcoming conflicts and enhancing well-being. Academics who received robust family support were able to better manage the demands of work and family, leading to greater job satisfaction and improved work-life balance. Conversely, those lacking sufficient support struggled with increased stress and reduced job satisfaction leading to a reduced work-life balance. The role of institutional policies in fostering a supportive work environment, particularly in terms of promoting job satisfaction and family-friendly initiatives to increase work-life balance, was also an important finding that emerged.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Orie, Merissa Jenelee"],"institution":"University of the Western Cape","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024","date_published":"2024","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:00:38Z","subjects":["Academia","Post pandemic era","Work-life balance","Job Satisfaction","South African University"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za/bitstreams/854b7efc-a882-4438-af6d-3e1c41ba150e/download"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Orie, Merissa Jenelee"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of the Western Cape"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10566/21183"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Academia","Post pandemic era","Work-life balance","Job Satisfaction","South African University"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za/bitstreams/854b7efc-a882-4438-af6d-3e1c41ba150e/download"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za/bitstreams/70f4c14b-e51b-49f6-91cc-a6df680c1b95/download"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Covid-19 pandemic significantly altered traditional work environments, resulting in many professionals, including academics, transitioning to remote work. 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