Work-life balance woman working in the government sector

Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of the work-life balance (WLB) of women working in government and develop the concept of gender as the primary focus. Design/methodology/approach Women employees are hypothesised to have an unbalanced work-life balance due to dual roles in the office and family. The phenomenological approach explores the understanding and experience of woman employees and quantitative descriptive analysis to measure specific categories of work-life balance. Findings Woman employees in the public sector experience a low work-life balance category dominated by the work dimension of personal life disruption. Namely, woman employees have been unable to manage workplace distractions, especially the dominance of personal problems. Research limitations/implications The results of this study need not be generalised to other organisations or underdeveloped regions in Indonesia or around the world. However, these results may provide a basis for future research. Practical implications Woman employees will realise that one of the barriers to career development is low work-life balance. Hence, organisations need to be mediators and facilitators so that organisational goals do not disrupt the performance of women employees. Social implications This theoretical framework can be advantageously used in human resource management, organisational behaviour, strategic management and change, and people in organisational contexts, including human resource management and human resource development. Originality/value This research primarily uses quantitative methods to analyse variable relationships, applying Fisher’s (2009) theory across four dimensions: work interference with personal life, personal life interference with work, work enhancement of personal life and personal life enhancement of work. Focusing on female employees in Indonesia’s public sector, where strong patrilineal values persist, the study offers fresh insights by adapting WLB theory to the Indonesian context. Through a mixed-method approach, it examines socio-cultural influences, recommends policies to support women’s work-family balance and identifies key research gaps, proposing a future agenda with cross-cultural, technological and gender-sensitive WLB analyses.