Work and Life Balance Support of Female Midlevel Noninstructional Staff at Community Colleges

Abstract

Two-year public institutions are known for their nurturing academic environments that support students from diverse backgrounds and experiences. One would assume that these nurturing and supportive environments would also go beyond the students to include employees. Family-friendly working environments support the needs of employees to balance work and life obligations without affecting career advancement opportunities. To decide whether two-year public institutions are family-friendly working environments, this quantitative study explored the perceptions of female midlevel noninstructional professional staff in various administrative positions at 215 two-year public institutions. A survey designed to obtain participant perceptions of their working environments and institutional policies pertaining to work and life balances was completed by 590 respondents. By understanding the perceptions of midlevel noninstructional professional staff, institutions can address the areas of concern by establishing formal policies that support the needs of working adults to help them balance work and life obligations without affecting future career advancement opportunities.