ABSTRACT

The paper explores whether work-life balance (WLB) is affected by the unbounded work context and how organisational support, work flexibility and gender affect this relationship. It is a quantitative study, involving a survey of academics based in three UK institutions, using OLS regressions. There is a significant negative relationship between the perception of the unbounded nature of work and WLB among academics, irrespective of their gender. While flexible work and organisational support are positively associated with WLB, they have limited effect in an unbounded work context. This study makes original contributions for practitioners and academics. First, it provides empirical evidence of the relationship between the unboundedness of work and WLB, and finds no significant gender differences in WLB within an unbounded work context. Second, it helps to understand how flexible work and an organisational support culture are insufficient to eliminate the negative effect of unbounded work. Although the research involves a relatively small sample of UK academics provides insights into WLB in an unbounded work context. As became evident during the coronavirus pandemic, the boundaries between work and non-work domains in contemporary work settings are more and more blurred. Work will therefore become increasingly unbounded, potentially undermining WLB and causing tension between growing work demands and the necessities of family and personal lives.

摘要

本文探讨了工作与生活平衡 (WLB) 是否受到无限工作环境的影响，以及组织支持、工作灵活性和性别如何影响这种关系。这是一项定量研究，涉及使用 OLS 回归对英国三个机构的学者进行的调查。无论性别如何，学者对工作的无限本质的看法与 WLB 之间存在显着的负相关关系。虽然灵活工作和组织支持与 WLB 呈正相关，但它们在无限工作环境中的作用有限。这项研究为从业者和学者做出了原创性贡献。首先，它提供了工作无界性与 WLB 之间关系的经验证据，并发现在无界工作环境中 WLB 没有显着的性别差异。第二，它有助于了解灵活的工作和组织支持文化如何不足以消除无限制工作的负面影响。尽管该研究涉及相对较小的英国学者样本，但在无限的工作环境中提供了对 WLB 的见解。正如在冠状病毒大流行期间变得显而易见的那样，当代工作环境中工作和非工作领域之间的界限越来越模糊。因此，工作将变得越来越无限制，可能会破坏 WLB，并导致日益增长的工作需求与家庭和个人生活的必需品之间的紧张关系。尽管该研究涉及相对较小的英国学者样本，但在无限的工作环境中提供了对 WLB 的见解。正如在冠状病毒大流行期间变得显而易见的那样，当代工作环境中工作和非工作领域之间的界限越来越模糊。因此，工作将变得越来越无限制，可能会破坏 WLB，并导致日益增长的工作需求与家庭和个人生活的必需品之间的紧张关系。尽管该研究涉及相对较小的英国学者样本，但在无限的工作环境中提供了对 WLB 的见解。正如在冠状病毒大流行期间变得显而易见的那样，当代工作环境中工作和非工作领域之间的界限越来越模糊。因此，工作将变得越来越无限制，可能会破坏 WLB，并导致日益增长的工作需求与家庭和个人生活的必需品之间的紧张关系。