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Work–life balance in the context of this paper means keeping a balance between home and workplace responsibilities and roles. In more traditional societies, such as in Pakistan, working women often find it difficult to keep a balance between their responsibilities in the workplace and their home responsibilities. This paper is based on findings from a qualitative research study that explored the perceptions of working women regarding their home–work responsibilities and how these impact their lives. Data were collected from 10 female academics working in a university in the north of Pakistan, using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings reveal that most women academics find it challenging to keep a balance between their home and workplace responsibilities. Participants faced a range of problems both at home and in the workplace that impacted their life in both places. These problems included lack of support and facilities at home and in the workplace. These problems, however, did not seem to deter them from carrying on with their work–home responsibilities. Some of the strategies the participants adopted to keep this balance included separating and scheduling home–work time, securing support of the family and utilising time in the workplace more productively. The downside of this, however, seemed to be that these women academics found little time for themselves as leisure time or time entirely devoted to their own mental and physical wellbeing. The research has important implications for working women, their employers, families and policy makers in Pakistan and other societies with similar contexts.

This study explored school heads' perceptions regarding their school leadership styles. The study adopted a qualitative research design. The sample of the study consisted of 10 male and 10 female head teachers from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that school heads adopted a number of leadership styles. The main leadership styles included instructional leadership, transformational leadership and moral leadership. These different leadership styles were adopted keeping in view the needs of different situations that heads found themselves working in. The study has important implications for school management, schoolteachers, researchers and policy makers.

Leaders' ethical behaviours and conducts are prerequisites for an effective change. The purpose of this qualitative comparative case study was to explore ethical leadership practices in selected transformed schools from Selangor, Malaysia. Two schools (a primary school and a secondary school) were selected as study sites. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and document reviews. Interviews were conducted with 28 participants including school heads (2), school administrators (3 þ 3 ¼ 6) and schoolteachers (10 þ 10 ¼ 20) selected from both schools using purposive sampling. The constant comparative analysis method was used to analyse the data. Analysis revealed demonstration of friendly and trusting relationships, openness to school members, professional commitment, acting as role model, and warranting ethically appropriate conducts as important ethical leadership practices. This study has value for policy and practice pertaining to school transformation; the implications, strengths and limitations of the study and recommendations for future research have been discussed as well.