Work-Study-Life Balance: Gender-Specific Challenges for Non-Conventional University Students in the GCC

While pursuing a university degree can be a challenging experience for all students, it is particularly demanding for non-conventional students, i.e., those who work, have demanding familial responsibilities, or experience difficulties in their personal lives while studying. Moreover, these factors can be particularly challenging for working female students in the Gulf region, with its specific socioeconomic structures of family, culture, and work life. In this context, the present review explores the work-study-life balance (WSLB) of working students in the Gulf countries, with a particular focus on those students’ gender roles, experiences, challenges, and personal coping mechanisms. The results reveal the adverse consequences of a poor WSLB on students’ lives, including but not limited to work-family conflict, stress, decreased levels of productivity, depression, and feelings of life dissatisfaction, as well as inability to thrive at work or in study. We also review major socio-cultural factors that impede working female students’ progress and adversely affect their WSLB and outline directions of further research in this area. Based on the results, we concluded that addressing the issue of WSLB among female students in the Gulf region requires the combined efforts of governmental policy reforms, institutional support by both employers and higher education institutions, and a greater public awareness of the importance of WSLB.