Exploring the determinants of work-life balance for university student workers within Lebanon

Abstract

Purpose – This research aims to explore the determinants of work -life balance for university student workers within Lebanon. The proposed relationships consist of causality between each of the variables of working hours, proximity to employment, proximity to university, workload, study leave, leaving early, work from home, study at work, and flexible working hours on one hand, and work-life balance on the other. Design/methodology/approach – Employing a deductive approach, this study presents one main research question and quantitatively tests 11 hypotheses using a sample of 300 workers studying in both Lebanese University and Notre Dame University. Findings – The findings show that work-life balance significantly varies according to demographic factors. As for variables, the number of courses were found to have a significant negative causal relation with work -life balance, while the ability to obtain a study leave and leaving early have a significant positive causal relation with Work -life balance. Practical implications – The findings provide employers with empirical proof that the inclusion and focus on certain aspects in work-life balance strategies can highly impact the work-life balance of student workers. This can be done by advising on how many credits should a student worker be enrolled in throughout different phases of his/her business cycles. This along the possibility of obtaining study leaves as well as early leaves when required time may hence support student workers’ well-being as well as other aspects such as organizational commitment. Theoretical implications – This research adds quantitative empirical proof that number of courses, study leave, leaving early significantly affect “work -life balance” of today’s private and public university student workers in Lebanon. Not only are such results relevant but also consistent with the majority of the existing knowledge and literature on work -life balance. Therefore, the findings offer a theoretical enrichment to the topic of work -life balance in general, and open way f or new research to expand internationally as well as locally.