*3.9. Superordinate Theme 4: Emergence of New Vision for Women's Workplace*

All four of the participants emphasized the need for flexibility in the postpandemic workplace. "The myth of inflexibility between work and home has been disproven", Tammy said. "It is amazing what we can do when we have no choice ... Not everybody has to be in the office 8 to 5", she added. "Women need to demand more flexibility ... Our empowered self-leadership has shown our meddle and we have blazed our own trails".

*"The stigma of not being able to work from home has been shattered", Amira explained. "Companies are going to be more tolerant and more receptive that you can do work from home and go to the office a couple of times a week because there are some things that you really need to do ensemble with the rest of your colleagues. And again, depending upon the nature of the work. In international development, I think the hybrid modality of working from home and the office will continue. This is a shift of paradigm. "Tammy emphasized that "Women are demanding a new narrative for their future work, one that sees the complexities of their diverse needs". "I have lived in Europe", she continued and we are so backward in the United States in terms of family support".*

#### **4. Discussion**

It is clear from this study that the lockdown and the pandemic had a tremendous impact on the study participants and that it served as a time not only of great stress but also of reflection and opportunity to reconsider what is important in life and at work. Three of the participants experienced a merging to work and life, and hence, the notion of work–life balance lost its meaning. These three participants expressed dissatisfaction with their performance both in work and life. Although Murphy was able to keep work and life separate unlike the other three, she expressed a loss of work–life balance because she could no longer go to the gym or have massages and because she had to play an enormous care role on her job, which added to her stress. The study findings are similar to the findings of other studies related to the impact of the pandemic on women and their work–life balance. Pettigrew [26] found that women's satisfaction with their work–life balance declined during the pandemic while their hours of work and care increased. She found that women's fears increased, a finding similar to that of this study, and that what she called "mental load" and "emotional labor" increased as a result. Women suffered increased stress and even burnout, leading Pettigrew to conclude that "never have the worlds of work and life collided so violently" [26]. Ruzungunde and Shou [27] found, by analyzing images of work–life balance for men and women on the Internet, that the traditional role of women as responsible for caretaking was still prevalent during the pandemic, reinforcing the finding that women's work–life balance worsened during this period. Woodbridge et al. [28] found that increased childcare responsibilities during the pandemic contributed to both increased work–life conflict and life–work conflict, and that social support mitigated life–work conflict and contributed to career success. On the other hand, Riaz, Begum, and Khan [29] found that the pandemic had a positive impact on family life for many. This finding supports the assertion by the study participants that they enjoyed having time to spend with their families and got to know their children better because of lockdown during the pandemic.

The stories of the four participants in this study also support several of the findings of the 2022 McKinsey & Company Report [30]. First of all, the report calls the exodus of women leaders from their companies the "Great Breakup". Women are leaving because they do not experience conditions conducive to their health and wellbeing and because work is not providing the flexibility women need to maintain work and life and a healthy work–life balance. This finding is in tune with what the four participants in the current study indicated when they asserted that flexibility is key in a post-COVID workplace. The McKinsey report illustrated that women now demand a hybrid workplace and the

opportunity to increasingly work from home, something that participants in this study also indicated. The McKinsey report also noted the still high level of burnout women have experienced during the pandemic, an experience highlighted by all four of the study participants. Women are demanding that companies ensure their wellbeing in the postpandemic workplace, according to the McKinsey 2022 report, something participants in this study also highlighted [30]. Respondents to the survey want to be able to take leave for mental healthcare, want support for emergency childcare, the ability to take off extended leave and return to their same positions, and other benefits. Overall, women do not want to return to a workplace characterized as prepandemic business as usual, a fact emphasized by all four of the participants in this study.

Demers [31] reported on an MIT colloquium that discussed the possibility of achieving a better work–life balance in the postpandemic workplace. One recommendation included searching for a subgroup within one's organization with shared values to solve work–life challenges together. For women, this is a similar recommendation to that of the study participants, who found a community of like-minded women to solve their lockdown challenges.
