Differences in Work/life Balance and Stress at Work Between Male and Female Academic Librarians

Abstract

A Review of:

Galbraith, Q., Fry, L., and Garrison, M. (2016). The Impact of Faculty Status and Gender on Employee Well-being in Academic Libraries. College & Research Libraries, 77(1), 71-86. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.77.1.71

Abstract

Objective – To measure job satisfaction, personal fulfilment, work/life balance, and stress levels of male and female academic librarians.

Design – Survey.

Setting – ARL institutions.

Subjects – Male and female librarians who work in ARL institutions.

Methods – The survey was emailed to deans of 110 ARL libraries for completion by professional librarians. Participants were asked to rate their work/life balance, job satisfaction, stress at work, and personal fulfillment on Likert scales (1 low -7 high). Overall, 846 librarians from 25 ARL libraries responded to the survey. In total, 719 valid responses were analysed using a 2-tailed 2-sample t-test and multiple linear regression to explore variables.

Main Results – Results of this study indicate that differences exist between male and female librarians’ well-being in academic libraries. Differences in work/life balance and stress at work were most significant. However, at non-faculty institutions this difference was smaller between male and female librarians than faculty institutions. Hours worked per week and the number of years worked at the library were found to have a statistically significant impact on work/life balance. Data analysis also suggested that there is no association between gender and job satisfaction and personal fulfillment. Tenure at faculty institutions also did not have a statistically significant impact on job satisfaction.

Conclusion – The study concluded that support for workplace flexibility and well-being may make the most difference in reducing stress and promoting work/life balance by librarians at ARL institutions.