Abstract

The purposes of this study are to understand and clarify the work-family balance experience of female intermediate manager with school-age children by analyzing their experience of remote working during the COVID-19 period. In-depth interviews were conducted with seven Korean female intermediate managers having school-age children, and phenomenological studies were conducted to interpret the layered meanings they experienced. As a result, a total of 18 sub-subsidies and 6 subsidies were derived. First, participants felt confusion and anxiety about self-identity due to the unclear boundary between the public and private areas in the early COVID-19 era, but gradually sought ways to adapt to new situations. Second, with COVID-19 Nudge effect, they experienced the effectiveness of remote working system and its pros and cons. Third, as a female intermediate manager, they struggled between authority and caring. Fourth, they had an unexpected opportunity to realize the importance of pausing and caring in the COVID-19 era, but fifth, they also realized that female executive positions still belong to those who do not need to work hard on caring. Finally, it was revealed that the remote working system, which was inevitably experienced during the COVID-19, helped transform themselves into a ‘flexible self’ that embraces diversity. Through the results of the study, implications for contributing to their work-family balance and personal growth were discussed by understanding in detail the newly perceived experience of intermediate managers in the current situation toward the post-COVID-19 era.