BALANCING WORK, STUDY AND HOME: A RESEARCH WITH MASTER'S STUDENTS IN A BRAZILIAN UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT Purpose: Understand the tactics that nontraditional students use to manage the boundaries between work, home and study. Originality/gap/relevance/implications: The originality of this study relies on transfer of the focus from the conflict to the balance between work, home and study. It also breaks new ground by directing attention to the micro level of individual action, in contrast to a literature that traditionally studied organizational actions. Finally, it performs an innovative reading of the interface between work, home and study domains from the perspective of the boundary theory. Key methodological aspects: This qualitative study was held from 18 interviews that were recorded, transcribed and content analyzed, which revealed a list of individual tactics employed by respondents to reconcile the demands of work, home and study. Summary of key results: The analysis allowed us to identify 18 tactics that our respondents employ to negotiate the level of permeability between the boundaries between work, school and home. These tactics were classified as behavioral, communicative, physical and temporal. Key considerations/conclusions: The study revealed that students develop an active role by interpreting the expectations of the social actors from the home and work domains and from the institution where they study and adopt boundaries with degrees of permeability that enable a state of greater balance between these domains. RESUMEN Objetivo: Comprender las tácticas que estudiantes no tradicionales utilizan para gestionar las fronteras entre trabajo, hogar y estudios. Originalidad/laguna/relevancia/implicaciones: El estudio cambia el foco del conflicto para el equilibrio entre el trabajo, el hogar y estudio. También abre nuevos caminos al dirigir la atención al nivel micro de la acción individual, en contraste con una literatura que estudia tradicionalmente acciones organizacionales. Por último, realiza una lectura innovadora de la interfaz entre trabajo, hogar y estudios desde la perspectiva de la teoría de las fronteras. Principales aspectos metodológicos: El estudio, de naturaleza cualitativa, se realizó a partir de 18 entrevistas grabadas, transcritas y que se sometieron a un análisis de contenido, que reveló una lista de tácticas individuales empleadas por los participantes para conciliar las exigencias del trabajo, hogar y estudios. Síntesis de los principales resultados: El análisis identificó 18 tácticas que los encuestados emplean para ne