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39 - The Meanings of Work–Life Balance: A Cultural Perspective

from Part VIII - Individual Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2018

By
Suzan Lewis  and
T. Alexandra Beauregard
Edited by
Kristen M. Shockley ,
Winny Shen  and
Ryan C. Johnson
Kristen M. Shockley
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Winny Shen
Affiliation:
University of Waterloo, Ontario
Ryan C. Johnson
Affiliation:
Ohio University
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Summary

This chapter reflects on the meanings and understandings of work-life balance (WLB) in a range of contexts, drawing on and integrating work-family interface research and critical management and organizational studies. We theorize understandings of work-life balance as shaped by intersecting layers of context: global, national (noting diversity within as well as across national contexts), organizational, and temporal. Evidence suggests that understandings of work-life balance vary within and across organizations, and that the concept of work-life balance is not static; meanings of WLB can change over time within a given context. Given the dearth of research investigating the meanings attached to WLB in cultures outside the Western sphere, we ask how and why these meanings might vary cross-culturally.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of the Global Work–Family Interface , pp. 720 - 732
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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