Relationships between Work-Family Balance, Job Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction and Work Engagement among Higher Education Lecturers

Abstract Background and Purpose: Our research examines the impact of work-life balance on work engagement, both direct impact as well as through job and life satisfaction. The main aim of our research is to empirically test relations between work-life balance, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and work engagement among higher education lecturers from Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Serbia, and Slovenia. Methods: Using validated questionnaires, we collected data on work-life balance, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and their work engagement. The quantitative data for our analysis were collected through a survey of 164 online participants. Based on an extensive literature review, we have formulated five hypotheses, which we tested in one structural model by using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results: Our findings show that an increase in work-life balance positively relates to life and work satisfaction and that life satisfaction leads to an increase in work engagement. Conclusion: The knowledge of important impact of work-life balance, together with the understanding of the relations between the researched constructs of work-life balance, life satisfaction, job satisfaction and work engagement, can strengthen teachers’ work engagement by respecting employees as actors in other roles and supporting work-family balance in the form of family-friendly policies and practices, and thereby contributes to the area of employee’s behaviour and improves the teacher’s productivity.