Work-life balance (WLB) has become a critical issue in higher education due to increasing work intensification, performance pressures, and expanding role expectations. Female teachers are particularly vulnerable to work-life imbalance as they simultaneously manage professional responsibilities and socially ascribed family and caregiving roles. Despite growing scholarly interest in work-life balance, empirical studies focusing on female academicians in semi-urban Indian contexts remain limited. This study examines the determinants of work-life balance among female teachers serving in higher education institutions in the Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.

Adopting a descriptive and analytical research design, primary data were collected from 407 female teachers working in universities and colleges across nine districts of the Rohilkhand region. A structured and validated questionnaire was used to measure work-life balance, work interference with personal life (WIPL), personal life interference with work (PLIW), and personal work-life enhancement (PWLE). Data were analysed using SPSS through reliability testing, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis.

The findings reveal that WIPL and PLIW exert a significant negative influence on work-life balance, whereas PWLE positively contributes to overall balance. The study confirms the relevance of spillover theory and role conflict theory in explaining female teachers’ work-life experiences in a regional Indian context. The paper offers important theoretical contributions and provides practical and policy-oriented recommendations for higher education institutions to design gender-sensitive work-life balance interventions