Career and life-balance of professional women: a South African study.

Abstract

A woman’s ability to balance multiple life-roles is directly related to her physical and mental well-being, and her career performance and success. This study aims to infer a theoretical framework for the in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of life-balance in the lives of 24 South African professional women. The Grounded Theory as a qualitative method was applied to derive a theory about the phenomenon inductively. Purposeful sampling was used to identify 24 professional women. In-depth interviews and a group session were conducted to gather data, and to confirm themes and concepts on which the theoretical framework was based. It was concluded that life-balance is a life-process with a cyclical nature, and a useful tool for achieving personal growth. Life-balance is therefore not “one, single ultimate experience”, but a series of individual experiences unfolding over time, which could be better described as “life-balance moments”