European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.6, No.12, 2014 184 Work Life Balance Policies and Practices: A Case Study of Nigerian Female University Students IBIYINKA STELLA OJO P.hD Department of Business Management, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria Ibiyinka.ojo@covenantuniversity.edu.ng HEZEKIAH OLUBUSAYO FALOLA (Corresponding Author) Department of Business Management, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria Hezekiah.falola@covenantuniversity.edu.ng CHIMA MORDI chimamordi@ brunel.ac.uk Abstract The significance of work-life balance has increased over time from the traditional focus on mothers with young children in employment to include a greater aspect such as female students in tertiary institutions. The number of female students combining full-time study with part-time employment has increased in recent years attaining this balance can be a complex and challenging task for female students. The purpose of this paper is to examine Nigerian female student’s perception on work life balance. This paper also explores how female students of tertiary institutions balance the competing demands of work, study, and social activities. The paper is based on a mixed method approach utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results showed that the female students had difficulties when balancing the multiple demands of work, study, and social activities. Adverse effects of this imbalance were found in the form of missed lectures and, increased stress. However, female students indicated the benefit of working such as obtaining relevant skills which improves their CV’s far outweighs the difficulties. The female students recognized that it was not the responsibility of the university to ensure that female students who were engaged in part-time employment were not overly distracted from school work. Although, they indicated that the university should show more concern towards female students financial conditions. Keywords: work life balance, Nigerian Universities, Nigerian female students. Paper type: Case study 1. Introduction This study examines how undergraduate and graduate female students within the Nigerian Tertiary institutions combine full-time study, part-time work, with other areas of their life and achieve a balance. Since most of the past literature on work-life balance concentrates on employees in the corporate sector, the study aims at shifting the knowledge on existing literature of work-life balance into more current areas such as undergraduates and graduate female students combing full-time study with term-time employment. McPherson and Reed (2007) have suggested the term work-life balance is not exclusively limited to those in professional roles but also includes female students who combine full-time study and term-time employment. The trend for female students to combine work and study has been increasing rapidly over recent years for various reasons which include the rising costs of living and tuition fees. In Nigeria for instance, the introduction of private university has led to a significant increase in tertiary fees over the last ten years (NUC, 2009). In addition, the federal and state government has reduced the amount of students has receiving financial allowances such as bursaries it gives to students (NUC, 2009). Hence, many female students have undertaken part-time employment to meet these increasing costs and have become a vital part of survival among many tertiary female students. Work-life balance among female students is a newly emerging phenomenon which has received little attention and has potentially significant implications for the universities, employers, and female students themselves. Specifically, the main objectives are as follows: The paper critically examines (a) Nigerian female students understanding of the concept of work-life balance and b) how the female students achieve work life balance. The paper is organised as follows. The first section provides a brief review of literature as it relates to WLB. The second section discusses the Tertiary educational system in Nigeria. The third section provides an overview of the research process that was used to address the research aims and objectives raised in this study. Section four presents the main findings of this research. In the final section findings and the contributions of this paper are discussed. 1. Theoretical Underpinning One of the inhibiting factors which must be acknowledged in the discussion of WLB is the relative scarcity of