Role Conflict and Work‐Life (Dis)Integration During the COVID‐19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Scholars at a Research University

ABSTRACT In this paper, we explore the influence of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the work‐life balance and role conflict of various groups of academic scholars at a large university in the United States and qualitatively analyze how outcomes were navigated by the household composition, gender, and quality of the home–work environment. Before the pandemic, a sustainable work–life balance (WLB) was considered important to achieve among employees and was particularly challenging in sectors such as academia that tended to reward high levels of productivity through the implementation of flexible work conditions. This included increased opportunities for remote work and the use of technology. Thus far, recent literature on the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on WLB in academia has revealed the exacerbation of the twin challenges of achieving WLB and navigating role conflict. We contribute to the expanding body of literature by emphasizing the rich experiences of 7 scholars from 100 qualitative interviews with 5 groups of scholars from different disciplines about the impact of the pandemic on their WLB and work productivity, among other things. Utilizing border/boundary theory in concert with the concept of unboundedness as a lens, we reveal that most of the scholars interviewed experienced what we conceptualize as work–life disintegration (WLD) in different ways. Moreover, we reveal that how scholars were impacted varied by gender, caregiver status, household composition, and the quality of workspaces available, where women were more likely than men to lack a quality workspace during the pandemic. The way that men and women navigate caregiving and work interruptions also varied. Whereas previous studies rightfully emphasize the role of gender and caregiver status, we find that it is important to consider the intersection of gender alongside factors such as household composition, the quality of the work environment, and caregiver status to achieve a well‐rounded understanding of the impact of the pandemic on academic scholars' WLB. As the world moves beyond the pandemic, we demonstrate that taking these factors into consideration jointly can enhance current understandings of gender dynamics in achieving WLB in academia.