The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Egyptian Women Psychological Empowerment and Work-Life Balance

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Egyptian Women Psychological Empowerment and Work-Life Balance. The study was conducted on (107) Egyptian working women in different sectors and located in the Greater Cairo region. An online survey link was sent directly to these respondents to answer. They were selected using the non-probability judgmental sampling method; the only criterion for inclusion was that these respondents were working women operating in the Egyptian business context. Research hypotheses were tested using correlation and multiple regression analysis. After testing the effect of Egyptian working women’s psychological empowerment dimensions on the perceived work-life balance, it was concluded that competence and self-determination dimensions were the two main psychological empowerment dimensions that positively affected the perceived work life balance. The other three dimensions: meaning, impact, and trust dimensions, had an insignificant effect on the perceived work-life balance. This research will help in designing a practical roadmap showing how to empower women psychologically while preserving their well-being and balancing their work-life duties and responsibilities. In addition to implementing work-life strategies and HR policies that will support working women in Egypt. Most of the studies have tackled the positive benefits of women empowerment and ignored its consequences on women’s emotional and psychological well-being. Besides, few researches have been empirically administered on working women’s psychological empowerment especially in Egypt.

Why Telecommuting Became Redundant During the COVID‐19 Pandemic?

“…In addition, the virtual work environment [15,72,73,74], virtual training [75,74]; and selfmanagement of the employees [15] also affect WLB [30,23,76] have provided supportive evidence for findings of this study. To eliminate conflict and stress from the virtual environment, decision-makers must adequately study the situation, identify the issues, and take proactive action to enhance employee performance and organizational well-being.…”

“…Those women in paid employment are liable for the housework and family care [30]. This dual responsibility leads to stress among employees, as work life and family life need to pay attention and prioritize equally [24,31].…”

“…As a result, employees feel lonely while being prevented from usual physical interactions and lack communication with managers and peers, lacking main infrastructure facilities like WIFI, laptops, or computers to execute their official duties. Therefore, a systematic approach (rather than ad hoc) is required to enable employees to shift from the physical office to the virtual office [37,38,30].…”

“…Employees' fulfillments lead to enhance their morale, work satisfaction, and job performance. During pandemics, employees' daily selfmanagement practices positively impact work at home [44,45,30]. Karim et al [46] and Zoughaib et al [47] suggested that work engagement positively impacts job performance.…”

“…Only a few organizations, a few members of society, and families provide the support required for employees to overcome these issues [56]. It is worth noting that WLB is a challenge for many women employees than men [30] and changes with how each employee handles it and the time and place [57]. Some findings prove that WLB will lead to happiness and work achievement in the digital workplace [58,59,60,61].…”