Beyond the call of duty: realities of work-life balance in the United Arab Emirates education sector

Previous research have been intrigued to assess the mechanisms used by employees to cope with tedious work schedules and other areas of their non-work lives. While there are yet to be sufficient studies that explore the countries in the Middle East, this paper aimed to explore the realities of WLB among professionals in the education sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We further considered the implications of workplace and family support, and organisational culture on employees’ WLB and productivity. The study employs the use of qualitative data generated from semi-structured interviews of 41 lecturers across seven higher education institutions in Dubai, UAE aimed at investigating the various contexts of WLB.