Negotiating business and family demands: the response strategies of highly educated Indian female entrepreneurs

This study explores how highly educated Indian women entrepreneurs prioritize and manage the work and family role boundaries. It also explores whether boundary management strategies vary based on motherhood and business stages. We explored these issues by interviewing twenty-five financially successful well-educated women entrepreneurs from five cities (Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Cochin) in India. We found that the mothers with younger children and entrepreneurs in the early stages of the business preferred to integrate the work and family roles than to set a clear boundary between the roles, using various boundary management tactics to achieve work-life balance (WLB). They attempted to minimize imbalance by creating a resource pool, flexible scheduling, working fewer hours, and preferring workplace proximity. Social support seemed to be essential to reconcile the multiple role demands. According to the business and motherhood stages, significant differences were observed in the type and level of WLB issues women face. The study provides recommendations for successful reconciliation between the work and non-work lives in the Indian context. In this culturally unique context, while access to institutional support for women entrepreneurs is meager, any effort to help them reconcile their work and family demands will be helpful.