Abstract
Work-family conflict is a widely known phenomenon and occurs when work and family roles
are irreconcilable and incongruous in some way. Work-family conflict is perceived as having
a detrimental effect on employees' well-being, coupled with increased stress, anxiety, and
turnover intentions, especially in the workplace. It is believed to create a competition between
one’s personal and professional life and results in the disbalance between their work and family
roles. This may hinder the employee’s performance and impact on the overall organisational
output, productivity, and growth.
Despite the high prevalence of work-family conflict, it has been under researched in countries
like Lebanon. Little research investigates work-family conflict in the private higher education
sector in third world countries, and Lebanon is no exception. Therefore, this research focuses
on work-family conflict and investigates the variables that contribute to the two amongst
Lebanese employees in the private higher education sector in Lebanon. These variables include
employees’ demographic factors, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and emotional
intelligence. Additionally, the researcher seeks to explore how Covid-19 contributed to the
increase or decrease of work-family conflict.
A mixed methods approach, using a questionnaire and semi structured interviews, was
implemented. Participants included 203 employees of Lebanese private universities, who
voluntarily responded to the questionnaire; eight of whom participated in audio-recorded
interviews. Data emerging from the questionnaire was analysed using SPSS and the qualitative
data was analysed using thematic analysis. Through the utilisation of the quantitative and
qualitative methods, this study has identified that these employees face unique challenges,
including being underpaid, overloaded, and overworked. The challenges faced in the sector of
interest differ between men and women. This may be due to being single parents, culture,
family ties and positions.
The findings also shed light on the impact of the Lebanese culture on work-family conflict and
turnover intentions. The economic recession and devaluation of the Lebanese currency were
identified as significant stressors that affected employees' work-life balance and job security,
leading to migration in some cases. The findings suggest that understanding the cultural context
and economic factors is crucial for addressing work-family conflict and turnover intentions in
this particular context.