Paper Title
Work and Life Balance of University Instructors in a Blended Learning System: A Qualitative Case Study
Abstract
The Blended Learning System has been adopted by many higher education institutes to accommodate 21st
century learning skills. The aim of this study was to explore how the work life balance of university instructors was affected
by this new mode of teaching and learning. This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with six university
instructors from a private university in Perak, Malaysia. Thematic analysis revealed that the instructors had positive
perceptions of flexibility in time management and professional enhancement which helped them as contributing factors
towards resilience and good work life balance. Nevertheless, most of them were apprehensive towards the blurred
boundaries of time and felt overwhelmed by additional workload due to transition from face to face to blended mode, which
somewhat hindered their work and life balance. These results may be contextual due to organizational and structural norms
and it is suggested that studying the phenomenon in wider populations. Varying demographic factors such as gender, marital
status, and organizational issues such as management factors and varying structure of blended modes of teaching and
learning would provide a better understanding.
Keywords - Blended Learning System, Thematic Analysis, Work Life Balance, Quality Of Life