provide a model for explaining the factors affecting work – life balance.

since early of 1970s, composition of the labor force changed and increased the number of women in work place. coordinating work and family responsibilities became a problem to employees and even organizations. hr professionals and managers had decided to find a solution to this challenge. although many studies have been done to identify and solve problems in this area and many concepts created in the work-family literature, but the concept of balance is still unclear. this study identifies the concept of work-family balance and investigates its causes and contributing factors. the data is collected through the questionnaire and from a sample of 330 women who work in four universities in tehran. the correlation and path analysis were used to analyze the data. the results show that there is a negative relationship between work- family support and work-family conflict. also is a negative relationship between individual resources and conflict. work-family support, individual resources, and work flexibility have positive relationship with work-family enrichment and work-family balance. work-family conflict has negative relationship with work-family balance and work-family enrichment. it is recommended to provide training programs to improve individual resources and work-family supports. also it is proposed to provide the necessary conditions for the implementation of the work flexibility schedules