WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT AND BURNOUT AMONG FEMALE UNIVERSITY TEACHERS IN PAKISTAN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Female faculty in Pakistani higher education operate at the intersection of escalating academic performance pressures and deeply gendered expectations for unpaid domestic and caregiving labor. Such cross-domain demands may generate work-family conflict (WFC), defined as inter-role conflict in which work and family pressures are mutually incompatible. This study examined the association between WFC and burnout, operationalized as emotional exhaustion, among female university teachers in Pakistan. A cross-sectional online survey recruited female faculty from multiple public and private universities nationwide (n = 259). WFC was measured using the Netemeyer et al. (1996) work-to-family conflict scale, and emotional exhaustion was assessed using established burnout items derived from Maslach and colleagues’ framework (Maslach et al., 2001). Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated acceptable measurement model fit (CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.04). Structural equation modeling indicated that WFC was positively associated with emotional exhaustion (β = 0.54, p < 0.001), explaining 29.34% of its variance (R² = 0.29). Findings align with the Conservation of Resources theory, suggesting that sustained cross-domain role pressures deplete finite emotional and energetic resources, culminating in exhaustion. Results underscore the importance of family-supportive organizational climates within Pakistani universities.