CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE AMONGST CAMEROON FEMALE INTERPRETERS

  • NDJE, CHRIST URIELA EMILIE MA student at the Pan-African University for Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences (PAUGHSS), hosted by the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI)
  • SEBESTIAN, GANDU (Dr.) Lecturer of Interpretation Studies at the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters, (ASTI), University of Buea.
Keywords: Challenges, prospects, Cameroon female interpreters, work-life balance

Abstract

The current research aims at investigating the challenges Cameroon female interpreters face in maintaining work-life balance.It is a sociological study of the challenges faced by female interpreters in maintaining work-life balance in an African context where they are equally expected to be devoted housewives, in addition to being career women.Most youths investing in this field may never know what the field holds for them as professionals are usually distant and only mirror the good side of things.Based on a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, the study draws data from six (6) interviews and fifty (50) questionnaires. Findings revealed that Cameroon female interpreters face challenges related to family responsibilities, professional demands, health issues, disorganisation, financial constraints, job dissatisfaction, gender, stigmatisation, sexual harassment and incompetence. Results equally showed that the challenges faced across the three generations sampled are significantly similar by 88% and only different by 12%.  Somecoping strategiesto balance work and life are:defining priorities, having support systems, adopting healthy lifestyle, making consensus, sticking to values and beliefs, and investing in capacity building..

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allen, T. D. (2001). Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58(3), (pp. 414-435).

Allen, T. D., Herst, D. E., Bruck, C. S., & Sutton, M. (2000). Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(2), (pp. 278-308).

Alqahtani, M. (2020). Work-life Balance of Women Employees. Granite Journal. Volume 4, Issue no 1: (pp. 37-42).

Angelelli, C. V., & Bear, J. (2016). Defining and describing the role of the interpreter. In R. W. Brislin (Ed.), Translation and interpreting in a global context (pp. 1-10). Routledge.

Awasom, N. F. (2003). Language policy and language use in Cameroon. Language Problems & Language Planning, (pp. 1-18).

Barnette, J., & Hyde, A. (2001). Stress and burnout in college students. Psychological Reports, 88(2), (pp. 401-406).

Beauvoir, S. de (1949). Le deuxième sexe. [The second sex]. Gallimard.

Ben, S. L. (1981). Bem Sex Role Inventory: Professional manual. Consulting Psychologists Press.

Bohrer, A. (2019). Intersectionality and Marxism: A critical history. Verso Books.

Casper, W. J., Harris, C., Taylor-Bianco, A., & Wayne, J. H. (2018). Work-family conflict and work-family enrichment: A review of the literature. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(3), (pp. 343-355).

Caughlin, J. P. (2003). Family communication standards: What counts as excellent family communication, and how are such standards associated with family satisfaction? Human Communication Research, 29(1), (pp. 5-40).

Chandra, V. (2012). Work-life balance: Eastern and Western perspectives. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(5), (pp. 1040-1056).

Conrad, A., & Marshall, S. (2011). Thinking aloud: A sociolinguistic analysis of conference interpreters’ notes. In C. Alvstad, A. Hild, & E. Tiselius (Eds.), Methods and strategies of process research (pp. 83-102). John Benjamins.

Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), (pp. 139-167).

Davis, K., &Newstrom, J. W. (1985). Human behavior at work: Organizational behavior. McGraw-Hill.

Delina, R., & Raya, R. P. (2013. A Study on Work-Life Balance in Working Women. International Journal of Commerce, Business Management, ISSUE 2, (pp. 274-282).

Dizaho, E. K., Salleh, R., & Abu Bakar, A. H. (2017). The impact of work-life balance on job satisfaction: A systematic review. Journal of Management Development, 36(4), (pp. 468-482).

Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ekanem, I., Oakes, M., &Ayodele, L. (2022). Understanding the role of interpreters in public services. In The Routledge handbook of translation and public service (pp. 101). Routledge.

Eyongetah, M. (2018). Training conference interpreters in Cameroon: Challenges and prospects. Journal of Language and Linguistics, (pp. 541-554).

Frone, M. R., Russell, M., & Cooper, M. L. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(1), (pp. 65-78).

Gottman, J. M. (1999). The marriage clinic: A scientifically-based marital therapy. W.W. Norton & Company.

Greenhaus, J. H., &Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10(1), (pp. 76-88).

Greenhaus, J. H., &Beutell, N. J. (2005). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10(1), (pp. 76-88).

Grzywacz, J. G., & Carlson, D. S. (2007). Conceptualizing work-family balance: Implications for practice and research. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9(4), (pp. 458-479°.

Halpern, D. F., & Murphy, S. E. (2005). From work-family balance to work-family interaction: Changing the metaphor. (pp. 3-9). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Hancock, A.-M. (2007). When multiplicity meets intersectionality: When theory meets real life. In V. Demos & M. T. Segal (Eds.), Advances in gender research Vol. 11, (pp. 283-297). Elsevier.

Hogarth, R. M., & Bosworth, D. (2009). Decision making and judgment. In N. J. Smelser& P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences. Vol. 5 (pp. 331-338). Elsevier.

Hoppock, R. (1935). Job satisfaction. Harper & Brothers.

Kalliath, T., Hughes, M., &Newcombe, P. (2008). Work-life balance: A psychological perspective. Journal of Management and Organization, 14(3), (pp. 321-334).

Kaur, J. (2017). Socio-economic and Psychological Problems faces by Married Working Women. Asian Journal of Home Science Volume 12. Issue 2. (pp. 588-591)

Kirchmeyer, C. (2000). Perceptions of nonwork-to-work spillover: Challenging the assumptions of negative impact. Human Relations, 53(6), (pp. 737-764).

Kouega, J. P. (2007). The language situation in Cameroon. Current Issues in Language Planning, (pp. 1-12).

Krishna, S. (2010). Work-life balance amongst married women employees. Indian J Psychol Med. (pp. 112–118)

Lewis, M., & Beauregard, D. (2018). Interpreting in healthcare settings. In The Routledge handbook of healthcare and translation (pp. 1-15). Routledge.

Mawusi, A., &Manieson, A. (2015). Issues and Challenges confronting Married Women in Tertiary Institutions. International Journal of Education, Learning and Development. Vol.3, No.9, (pp.19-27).

Merton, R. K. (1949). Patterns of influence: A study of interpersonal influence and of communications behavior in a local community. In P. F. Lazarsfeld& F. N. Stanton (Eds.), Communication research 1948-1949 (pp. 180-219). Harper & Brothers.

Merton, R. K. (1957). Social theory and social structure. Free Press.

Merton, R. K. (1960). Contributions to the theory of reference group behavior. In R. K. Merton, Social theory and social structure (pp. 279-334). Free Press.

Myers, C. S. (1924). Industrial psychology in Great Britain. Industrial Psychology, 1(1), (pp. 3-15).

Nkemleke, D. A. (2011). The development of conference interpreting in Cameroon. Journal of Interpretation, (pp. 1-15).

O'Brien, S. (2009). Eye-tracking in translation process research: Methodological challenges and solutions. In I. Kemble (Ed.), Translation and technology (pp. 251-274). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Pochhacker, F. (2016). Introducing interpreting studies. Routledge. (pp. 176).

Saulat, J., et al. (2019). An Exploratory Study of Married Working Women, Work-Life Balance; Problems and Solutions. Specialty journal of Psychology and Management. (pp. 1-11)

Schrodt, P., Witt, P. L., &Messersmith, A. S. (2014). A meta-analytical review of family communication patterns and their associations with family satisfaction. Communication Monographs, 81(1), (pp. 1-29).

Sullivan, S. E. (2014). Generations at work: Managing age diversity. Journal of Management Development, 33(1), (pp. 6-13).

Teuma, M. (2017). The Routledge handbook of translation and philosophy. Routledge. (pp. 90)

Vinora, V. (2019). A Study on Work-life Balance amongst Married Women in Banks with Refernce to Madurai City. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research. ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 2, (pp. JETIR1902149)

Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. Jossey-Bass.

Zakrisson, I. (2022). Interpreting in legal contexts. In The Routledge handbook of interpreting (pp. 14542). Routledge.

Published
2025-01-12
How to Cite
CHRIST URIELA EMILIE, N., & GANDU, S. (2025). CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE AMONGST CAMEROON FEMALE INTERPRETERS. GPH-International Journal of Business Management, 8(01), 298-321. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14634557