Chapter 12: The Elusive Goal of Work–Life Balance: Lessons From Women Leaders on Creating a Meaningful Work Life Fit

This chapter draws on evidence from our 3-year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research study of the lives, careers, experiences, and aspirations of Generation X (under 40 years of age) principals and vice-principals in London, New York City, and Toronto. A review of literature pertaining to gender and leadership was undertaken. Data was gathered using networking events/focus groups and individual interviews. Across all three cities, leaders expressed consistent and worrying experience with finding a suitable and sustainable balance between their work and home lives. As most education systems are struggling to recruit and retain school leaders, the importance of ensuring a wide and diverse cadre of leaders gains importance. As women leaders are often historically underrepresented, ensuring aspiring women leaders have access to role models, support, and strategies to address their most pressing concerns about ascending to school leader roles are important. We will highlight how women leaders across our study experience, and are tackling work–life balance constraints; and share their advice on how to best achieve a work–life fit that works. We also identified, and will discuss, our emerging concept of a work–life balance hierarchy which has played out in the lives of participating leaders. This hierarchy exists implicitly and explicitly and often influences who is perceived to be deserving of work– life balance beyond school.