Education Demand Versus Work-family Demand: Married Female Graduate Students in a Higher Education Institute in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Changes in the global economy and cultural norms have given the opportunity for women to be employed and attain higher education. This study aims to explore the work-family-education balance of the married female graduate students. It examined how work-family-education affects the daily lives of married female graduate students and posed the question whether they manage to balance those three spheres, if so what are the ways they have developed to manage the difficulties emerging from each sphere. The sample comprised of 15 participants who were pursuing graduate degrees at a state university. The findings resulted from a qualitative research, using thematic analysis based on in-depth interviews indicated that the daily lives of the married female students are affected in several ways where they are placed in a shortage of time to meet with the demands in work, family and education, and they sacrifice their personal satisfaction to meet with the demands of the multiple roles.