Exploring the link between work-life balance and mental health: Insights from faculty in unaided colleges

The purpose of the present study is to find out the association between WLB and MH of faculty
members from unaided Arts and Science Colleges in Kannur District. 100 faculty members were
randomly selected to complete a structured questionnaire and data were analysed using SPSS,
correlation analysis, t-tests and ANOVA. The results found the following evidence of a strong
negative relationship between WLB and MH, therefore poor work life balance equals poor mental
health. Further, consistent support indicated that WLB and MH were significantly affected by
cohesive support structure and moderate correlation was also observed between job satisfaction and
WLB. Age and marital status were found to have behavioural effects on WLB results with young
faculty and single people enjoying a higher WLB than their counterpart. All these highlight that
scholars require better support arrangements in their institutions including; enhanced mentorship,
counselling, and flexibility at the workplace in terms of working hours and other stress factors hat
take a toll on wellbeing. The paper would therefore suggest more studies to be conducted in the area
with regards to the effectiveness of interventions that seek to improve faculty well-being in the long
term.