Distance education and work–family conflict during COVID-19: Evidence from Turkey for a gender-moderated model

Abstract

As in much of the world, during the COVID-19 pandemic Turkey switched to mandatory distance education at all formal educational levels, and teachers were required to work from home. Despite the flexibility of working from home, infrastructural challenges adversely affected the effectiveness and quality of teaching and boosted work–family conflict (WFC), creating compatibility issues between teachers’ work and family roles. The study presented in this article used structural equation modelling to explore the moderating effects of gender on the relationship between infrastructural and distance education-related challenges and WFC among teachers in Turkey. Data were drawn from an online survey conducted in December 2021 as part of a master’s project at Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University. In the survey, 562 teachers (367 female, 195 male) were asked about challenges they faced in mandatory distance education that adversely affected their work and family balance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results reveal that infrastructural and distance education-related challenges were positively associated with WFC among teachers during the pandemic. Gender was found to play a significant moderating role in the effect of infrastructure-related challenges on WFC during mandatory distance education: the interaction was stronger among female teachers. However, gender was not found to play a significant moderating role with regard to distance education-related challenges and WFC. The article concludes with several practical implications to help mitigate WFC for teachers and to improve distance education in the future.