Addressing Work-Life Balance Challenges of Asian American Female Teachers in the Post-Pandemic Era

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 2:30 pm
  In Roundtable Session: AsianCrit, Female Teachers, and Gender Differences (Table 24)

Abstract

As a minority group of educators having an immigrant background, Chinese-American female teachers struggled with limited cultural and social support and fought against overwhelmingly mental and emotional vulnerabilities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on Work-Life Balance (WLB) theory (Clark, 2000; Frone, 2003; Clarke, 2004), this qualitative study aimed to explore how Chinese-American female bilingual teachers address their WLB challenges in the post-pandemic era. Twelve female bilingual teachers, who served in an American two-way Mandarin Immersion Magnet Program, were recruited to participate in both individual interviews and focus-group discussions. The findings shed light on three aspects: a) the primary WLB challenges, b)the key causes of WLB challenges, and c) effective coping strategies, approaches, and resources to address WLB challenges.

Authors

• Yi Zhang, University of Houston

• Miao Li, University of Houston

• Xincui Zhang, University of Houston