Work-life balance among women construction workers: a conceptual approach

Abstract

home and workplace. The concept of Work-Life balance is not entirely new in the construction lexicon, it has advanced over time. The idea of work-life balance developed from the fact that an individual have varying roles which often places mutually exclusive demands on one another; for instance, wife versus worker. However, striking a balance between work and personal life among female construction employees has been a herculean task confronted by women due to the nature of roles being played at home and the overflow of personal life over work life. This paper presents a literature review of past studies relating to work-life balance with specific focus on the construction industry. An extensive review of existing literature assist in identifying constructs such as work life balance of women employees, organisational commitment, organisational strategies for improving work-life balance and their influence on organisational performance. Findings from the literature on the links between these constructs provided the basis for the development of a conceptual approach used in demonstrating the hypothesized interaction among the constructs and their influence on organisational performance. The developed conceptual model forms the basis for further empirical study aimed at quantitatively demonstrating the nature of relationship that exists among the constructs and their joint influence on organisational performance in the context of the Nigerian construction industry.