Chapter 17: Interrogating Work–Life Balance Discourses: An Alternative Explanation for Black, African, Female, International Students in the United States

Discourses about work–life balance posit that professional men and women should be able to have and should actively seek out some balance between their careers and their non-work lives. I argue that these discourses are Western-centric, portray women as a homogenous group, and fail to take into account the unique career experiences of Black African, female, international students. Using Crenshaw’s (1991) intersectionality as a theoretical framework, I interrogate and deconstruct the notion of work–life balance as a universal good and ideal. Ultimately, I highlight how the failure to account for Black African female’s unique histories and experiences makes existing constructs of work–life balance unsuitable and in need of revision.