Title: Work-life balance coping strategies of self-employed women: the case of nursing homes owners in Northern Cyprus

Authors: Şenay Sahil Ertan; Gözde Inal-Cavlan

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, European University of Lefke, Lefke, 99728, Northern Cyprus, TR-10 Mersin, Turkey ' Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, European University of Lefke, Lefke, 99728, Northern Cyprus, TR-10 Mersin, Turkey

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the work-life balance (WLB) coping strategies of self-employed women in nursing home businesses in Northern Cyprus. A phenomenological qualitative approach to research is adopted and semi-structured face to face interviews are conducted with five women business owners of privately owned nursing homes. Three main themes emerged from the data analysis; extending family with aged care employees¹ and elderly people;² prioritisation versus let it go strategy; and setting up a business to achieve flexibility to manage work-life. The present study is the first to examine WLB coping strategies of women business owners in the nursing home sector in Northern Cyprus context. The study provides valuable contributions to work-family literature on the variety of strategies women used to achieve work-life balance in nursing homes by highlighting the contextual factors.

Keywords: women business owners; Northern Cyprus; nursing homes; work-life balance coping strategies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2021.115565

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2021 Vol.28 No.3, pp.279 - 303

Received: 04 Oct 2018
Accepted: 24 Feb 2019
Published online: 10 Jun 2021 *

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