Bakgrund: I och med utvecklingen av informations- och kommunikationsteknik har gränserna för var och när arbetet kan utföras suddats ut. Arbetet har med andra ord blivit gränslöst. Även om det möjliggör flexibilitet över arbetstiderna, valfrihet gällande platsen för var arbetet kan utföras samt en ökad kontroll över arbetet kan det också leda till överbelastning och arbetsrelaterad stress, som i sin tur kan ha en negativ inverkan på arbetslivsbalansen och därmed välbefinnandet. Det kan i förlängningen även påverka organisationen negativt då det kan yttra sig genom minskad produktivitet, sjukfrånvaro och personalomsättning, vilket är förenat med ökade kostnader. Som lärare inom akademin finns långtgående möjligheter att förlänga arbetsplatsens tid och rum till följd av utbredningen av informations- och kommunikationsteknik, varpå den här studien behandlar högskolelärares upplevelser av det gränslösa arbetet och hur det kan inverka på hälsan. Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka högskolelärares upplevelser av det gränslösa arbetet inom akademin för att öka förståelsen för hur det gränslösa arbetet kan inverka på hälsan och därmed öka förståelsen för på vilket sätt det kan vara en friskfaktor eller riskfaktor. Metod: Då föreliggande studie syftade till att fånga enskilda individers upplevelser, tankar och beskrivningar avseende deras arbetssituation i det gränslösa arbetet på ett nyanserat sätt, valdes en kvalitativ metod. Insamlingen av empirisk data gjordes genom tio individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer på en högskola i Sverige. Slutsatser: Studiens resultat påvisar att det sociala stödet är viktigt i ett gränslöst arbete och kan bland annat bidra till att stressfyllda perioder upplevs som mindre krävande. Att ständigt vara tillgänglig kan däremot påverka hälsan negativt i och med den upplevda stressen som följer med tillgängligheten via e-post. Vidare tyder resultatet på att egenkontroll och frihet i arbetet både kan vara en risk- och friskfaktor beroende på hur gränsdragningar gentemot det övriga livet sker, vilket kan bero på individens egna krav och karriärutsikter, liksom glädjen till sitt arbete. Det innebär att den individuella gränsdragningsförmågan blir fundamental i ett gränslöst arbete. / Background: Due to the development of the information and communication technology the boundaries of where and when to carry out your work have faded. In other words, the work has become boundless. Although this allows for flexibility over working hours, place of work and increased control over your work it can also lead to overload and work related stress, which can have a negative impact on work life balance and therefore health. Also, in the long run it can adversely affect the organization as it can lead to reduced productivity, sickness absence and staff turnover, which is associated with greater costs. As a teacher at the academy there are far reaching opportunities to extend the workplace’s hours and location due to the prevalence of information and communication technology, where this study examines the experiences university lecturers have of the boundless work and its impact on health. Aim: The aim of the present study is to investigate university teachers' experiences of the boundless work within the academy to increase understanding of how boundless work can affect health and thereby increasing understanding of how it may be a health factor or risk factor. Method: As the present study aimed at capturing individual peoples’ experiences, thoughts and descriptions regarding their work situation with boundless work in a nuanced manner, a qualitative method was chosen. The gathering of empirical data was done through ten individual semi- structured interviews at a university in Sweden. Conclusion: The study's results indicate that social support is important in boundless work and can, among other things, help stressful periods to be perceived as less demanding. Continuously being available, however, can affect health negatively, with the perceived stress that comes with availability via email. Furthermore, the result suggests that self-control and freedom at work can be both a risk and a healthy factor depending on how boundaries occur to the rest of life, which may depend on the individual's own requirements and career prospects, as well as the joy of his work. This means that the individual’s ability to create boundaries between work and private life is fundamental in a boundless work.

Title: The Janus face of the informal work - A qualitative study of women's informal work Research question: What are women’s perceptions of the informal work? Purpose: The purpose of the study was to make an inventory of women’s perceptions of the informal work that is part of a woman’s lot. Method: This study was conducted with an inductive research approach using a qualitative research strategy. The empirical material used in the study was collected through unstructured interviews with seven different women. Conclusions: The answer to this study’s research question is that the study’s women informers’ perceptions of the informal work are both positive and negative. The study’s main finding is first and foremost that the study’s women informers experience two different kinds of informal work. The first kind is informal work related to household chores and the other kind is formal- informal work. The second finding of the study is that there is a Janus face to discover when it comes to women’s informal work since the positive sides of the informal work affects the neg- ative sides and vice versa. Keywords: Gender roles, gender stereotypes, gender status, gender hierarchy, work-life bal- ance, work-life conflict, stress, motivation, job satisfaction, unpaid work, informal work, invis- ible work.

The study is based on empirical research. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with working parents having children under the age of eight (including eight years old). All informants were between 31-35 years old, from Fujian Province of China. The purpose of the research is to investigate how working parents experience work-life balance in their real lives. The research focuses on two aspects of working parents: work and personal life. The research theory mainly includes three aspects, namely, role balance and work-life balance, work-life conflict and inter-role conflict, and a gender perspective. These serve as explanatory tools for the subjective experience of working parents’ work-life balance. The study has answered and discussed the research questions from three aspects:(1) gender differences and flexible working arrangements. It is found that the incompatibility between fixed working hours and the family schedule requirements of working parents leads to work-life conflicts. Men and women adopt flexibility in different ways. (2) role and work-life conflict. The results show that blurring the blurred work-life boundaries has an adverse effect on both family roles and work roles. Furthermore, it is found that with the support and help of the elderly, the time conflict between family care and work for working parents can be reduced. However, if the concept of parenting between the two generations differs significantly, working parents’ sense of work-life conflict may still exist. (3) policies and measures for work-life balance. This part discusses how to better reconcile the work-life balance of working parents. It is divided into two sections, namely, the national policies and the measures of the organisations. Meanwhile, specific suggestions are given.

Bakgrund: Det har påvisats att brister i den organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljön kan ge upphov till psykisk ohälsa och att grundskollärare är särskilt utsatta gällande höga krav och låg kontroll i arbetet. Tidigare studier har visat på att höga krav är en stor riskfaktor för att stressrelaterade psykiska besvär kan uppkomma i den organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljön. Vidare ses att obalans mellan arbete och privatliv kan påverka den psykiska hälsan negativt och att grundskollärares arbetsuppgifter kan påverka balansen mellan arbete och privatliv. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan utmattning bland grundskollärare och deras organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljö samt den balans mellan arbete och privatliv de beskriver. Metod: Studien var kvantitativ med en tvärsnittsdesign och bekvämlighetsurval som bestod av grundskollärare. Ett elektroniskt frågeformulär baserat på Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Version III användes för att samla in data som genererade 85 ifyllda frågeformulär. Korrelationsanalys, bivariata och multipla regressionsanalyser samt oberoende t-test användes som analysmetoder i SPSS. Resultat: Resultatet från den multipla regressionsanalysen indikerade en statistisk signifikant association mellan utmattning och obalans mellan arbete och privatliv (β= ,601, SE= ,072, P< ,001). Signifikanta samband identifierades i bivariata regressionsanalyser för krav och kontroll i arbetet och utmattning. De oberoende t-testen påvisade signifikanta skillnader för utmattning där de respondenter som upplevde en hög obalans mellan arbete och privatliv upplevde högre utmattning jämfört med de som upplevde låg obalans oberoende av vilken grad av krav och kontroll som upplevdes. Slutsats: Faktorer i den organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljön påverkar utmattningsgraden negativt. Då detta är en tvärsnittsstudie går det inte att dra några kausala samband och mer forskning med longitudinella studier med större population och ett obundet slumpmässigt urval krävs för att säkerställa dessa resultat. / Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate whether there is any association between exhaustion among primary school teachers and their psychosocial work environment as well as the work-life balance they describe. Method: The study employed a cross-sectional design and an electronic questionnaire, based on Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Version III, was used to collect the data which generated 85 completed questionnaires. The data was analyzed with correlations analysis, linear regression analysis, and t-test. Results: The result indicated a statistically significant association between exhaustion and work-life imbalance (P< .001). The degree of exhaustion was significant higher for those who experienced a high work-life imbalance compared with those who experienced a low imbalance regardless of the degree of demand and control in work. Conclusion: The psychosocial work environment affects the degree of exhaustion. As this is a cross-sectional study, it is not possible to draw any causal relationships and more research with longitudinal studies with random sample and larger populations is required to ensure these results.

The purpose of this study is to examine the work-life balance experiences of Black females school leaders. Due to the inherent intersectionality of race and gender that is experienced by Black females, a study of their unique experiences with work-life balance is valuable to the field of educational leadership. The responsibilities associated with school leadership positions are extensive and those school leaders who also have spouses and children must figure out a way to fulfill responsibilities associated with each role. Work-life balance is important to understand for school leaders whose career responsibilities may interact with those associated with their personal lives. The theoretical framework, Black Feminist Thought, guided the data collection and analysis processes, and provided the basis for the resulting narrative findings. This study gave voice to an otherwise silenced, marginalized group, Black female school leaders. All data was synthesized into narratives and from these narratives came six themes: (1) Familial Sacrifice; (2) Servant Leadership; (3) Informal and Formal Work-life Balance Policies; (4) Notion of Self-Care; (5) Upbringing and Black Females’ Prideful Identity; and (6) Black Females having to prove themselves. While this study does not show evidence of school leaders having achieves work-life balance, the findings will inform the practices of perspective Black female school leaders and add the voices of Black female school leaders to the literature on Black female school leader’s experiences with work-life balance.

The thesis explores the factors affecting the availability and utilization of work-life balance programs in Canadian workplaces and how employee involvement and participation programs can help employees balance their work and life. The introductory chapter provides background information on the importance of balancing work and life. It outlines chapters two, three, and four and reveals the overarching theme that unites them. Chapter Two explores how business strategy affects the availability of work-life balance programs. This chapter uses the 2003 and 2004 Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey to demonstrate that product leadership business strategy is positively related to the likelihood of adopting work-life balance programs (i.e. employee assistance programs, fitness and recreation centers). Cost leadership strategy is shown to be negatively correlated to the adoption of these programs. This study also finds that high performance work systems mediate the relationship between business strategy and employer responsiveness to work-life balance issues. Chapter Three investigates how a company’s family-friendly culture affects the likelihood of an employee’s use of parental leave. Using a national representative and linked employer and employee survey, this study finds that a long-hour organizational culture, which is revealed through managers’ work hours, discourages new parents from taking parental leave. This study also finds that when managers work long hours, it has a greater negative effect on the probability of male employees taking parental leave than female employees. Chapter Four discusses how participation in decision making (PDM) can help employees balance the demands from work and life. Using Karasek’s (1979) job demand-job control model, this study finds that PDM can reduce work-life conflict, but the reduction only works for employees who work long hours. For those employees who work short hours, PDM increases their work-life conflict. Chapter Five summarizes the empirical results. Implications for employers, labour unions, and policy makers are discussed.

The thesis explores the factors affecting the availability and utilization of work-life balance programs in Canadian workplaces and how employee involvement and participation programs can help employees balance their work and life. The introductory chapter provides background information on the importance of balancing work and life. It outlines chapters two, three, and four and reveals the overarching theme that unites them. Chapter Two explores how business strategy affects the availability of work-life balance programs. This chapter uses the 2003 and 2004 Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey to demonstrate that product leadership business strategy is positively related to the likelihood of adopting work-life balance programs (i.e. employee assistance programs, fitness and recreation centers). Cost leadership strategy is shown to be negatively correlated to the adoption of these programs. This study also finds that high performance work systems mediate the relationship between business strategy and employer responsiveness to work-life balance issues. Chapter Three investigates how a company’s family-friendly culture affects the likelihood of an employee’s use of parental leave. Using a national representative and linked employer and employee survey, this study finds that a long-hour organizational culture, which is revealed through managers’ work hours, discourages new parents from taking parental leave. This study also finds that when managers work long hours, it has a greater negative effect on the probability of male employees taking parental leave than female employees. Chapter Four discusses how participation in decision making (PDM) can help employees balance the demands from work and life. Using Karasek’s (1979) job demand-job control model, this study finds that PDM can reduce work-life conflict, but the reduction only works for employees who work long hours. For those employees who work short hours, PDM increases their work-life conflict. Chapter Five summarizes the empirical results. Implications for employers, labour unions, and policy makers are discussed.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Theoretically, inter-role conflict can occur between any life domains that place competing demands on an individual. However, inter-role conflict research has mainly focused on the conflict between only two domains: work and family. This limited focus is problematic because it has excluded many other potential life domains in which people participate. In order to focus more attention on other life domains, however, it is necessary to understand which life domains people are participating in. As such, the goal of the present qualitative research was to identify and define the full spectrum of life domains by asking two questions: What life domains are relevant to work-life conflict, and how do people value the various life domains in which they are involved? A total of 13 life domains emerged from the data. Participants engaged in an average of 9 of these domains, indicating that people engage in many activities in life outside just work and family.