Women’s concerns about work-life balance are cited as a key factor underlying their continued
underrepresentation in particular domains and roles. This gendered pattern is often attributed to
factors in the home, such as women’s disproportionate share of domestic work and childcare
responsibilities. We offer an additional explanation ...
Women’s concerns about work-life balance are cited as a key factor underlying their continued
underrepresentation in particular domains and roles. This gendered pattern is often attributed to
factors in the home, such as women’s disproportionate share of domestic work and childcare
responsibilities. We offer an additional explanation that focuses on workplace identities. Across
four studies we demonstrate that perceptions of work-life balance are not only a matter of
balancing time, but also a matter of balancing identity, and that the availability of attainable
leaders plays a key role in determining these processes. More specifically, a survey study (Study
1, N=1223) among participants working in a historically male-dominated profession shows that
gender differences in work-life balance perceptions are, in part, explained by women’s perceived
lack of fit with leaders and, in turn, their perceptions of incompatibility between who they are at
home and who they are at work. In Studies 2 (N=207), 3a (N=209), and 3b (N=191) we
demonstrate that gender differences in anticipated work-life balance can be ameliorated through
exposure to attainable female leaders. These findings have implications for organisations that
seek to recruit and retain women and demonstrate that issues of identity are crucial for
facilitating work-life balance.