Abstract

Education plays a significant role in every country in this world. Nowadays, lecturers are burdened with many roles, such as researcher, administrator, counsellor, and others. The position of a lecturer is very important for the success of institutions. To provide a professional service, they should be mentally and physically fit. High levels of work stress were associated with lower work-life balance and increased conflicts in their jobs. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it tougher for lecturers to perform the duties of teaching online while working from home. So, it is essential to see what factors matter to the lecturers in Malaysia in balancing their work and life. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the factors affecting work-life balance among lecturers in Malaysia. The dependent variable in this study was work-life balance, while the independent variables were made up of three major factors, i.e., individual, organizational, and environmental, with six sub-factors, namely emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, work overload, organizational support, technological advancement, and telecommuting. For this research, 435 lecturers participated and were contacted by email to answer the online survey questionnaire. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software (SPSS) was used to conduct multiple regression analysis in evaluating the relationships between the variables. The findings of this study revealed that the individual factors, organizational factors, and environmental factors were partially supported because only one sub-factor was significant in each factor. Work overload is the most influencing factor affecting the lecturer's work-life balance in Malaysia, while emotional intelligence is the least influencing factor. In addition, the result depicts that only emotional intelligence, work overload, and technological advancement made a significant impact on work-life balance. Whereas spiritual intelligence, organizational support, and telecommuting do not explain the variance in work-life balance significantly. The findings of the study provide the Ministry of Higher Education and policymakers with key information to increase and maintain the lecturers’ work-life balance. At the same time, this study helps the lecturers themselves to improve their skills in managing their emotions and their time in order to meet their deadlines which can help foster and reinforce a separation between work and home environment.