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Studies on gender differences in work-life conflict have shown that women often report higher levels of work-life conflict due to social mores of undertaking a larger proportion of childcare and household work. Similarly, emergent research on the impact of the Covid pandemic on work-life conflict have shown that women experienced more work-life conflict. During the pandemic, educational work and provision took place within the home. The current study therefore sought to investigate work-life conflict for employees in the further education sector during the pandemic. The findings of the current study suggest that there were no gender differences, at least in the case of the further education sector, which is contrary to extant research on work-life conflict. Thus, there is scope to explore through future research whether there is trajectory towards gender equalitarianism in the sharing of household work, whether the pandemic as a crisis was an episodic event that necessitated gender equalitarian work distribution, or whether the blurring of boundaries between work and non-work domains is a continuum of neoliberal institutional demands.

In a turbulent working environment with varying expectations and challenges is it fair to expect further education teachers and managers to maintain and improve standards? This article highlights that with the incorporation of colleges began a series of initiatives to professionalise the FE sector. This coupled with pressures for those who work within it to meet key performance indicators in a climate of financial constraint and inconsistency of policy decisions led to a culmination of challenges. By reviewing current literature, the article goes on to suggest that a conceptual shift in our thinking about teachers and managers based within the further education sector is necessary; one that considers the parallels in the two roles and the similarities in the expectations and challenges of each. This could considerably assist our understanding of the commonalities between these roles, and that instead of discussing teachers and managers as separate and seemingly opposing forces, it will develop a teacher--manager relationship model. This model creates an opportunity for further research to build upon, to either consider how the roles may seek a collegiate response to challenges; or, how the gap in expectations may be narrowed.