The family-work conflict among Israeli mothers-teachers in an era of changes and reforms in teaching and in motherhood

The teaching profession and motherhood have both undergone multiple changes in the last decades. The current study aims to examine perceptions of mothers who are teachers in relation to major change processes that have taken place in recent years in the teaching profession as well as in the mother’s role and how they have shaped their role perceptions as mothers and teachers, and the work-family conflict. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 Israeli teachers who are mothers. Thematic analysis showed that the mother role has expanded recently to many more roles than in the past. This study indicates the need to re-examine the characteristics of the teaching profession, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has extremely blurred the boundaries between work-related and family-related roles and might lead to a more significant presence of conflict in the lives of teachers who are mothers.