Beyond economic rationality: Gendered labor, moral economy, and women's working duration in an Islamic educational institution https://doi.org/10.35719/an-nisa.v19i1.466 Authors Rahma Sandhi Prahara Universitas KH. Abdul Chalim Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia Farida Ulvi Na’imah Universitas KH. Abdul Chalim Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia Diah Syifaul A’yuni Universitas KH. Abdul Chalim Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia Sundari Sundari Universitas KH. Abdul Chalim Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia Aulia Herdiani Universitas Negeri Malang, East Java, Indonesia Salshabila Syifa Nurendra Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Ankara, Turkiye Women's Working Duration, Gendered Labor, Moral Economy, Administrative Burden, Islamic Educational Institutions Abstract How to Cite Metrics References Similar Articles Women’s working hours in Islamic educational institutions reflect competing economic incentives, institutional expectations, gendered caregiving responsibilities, and religious values, yet their interrelationships and implications for household welfare remain insufficiently understood. This study examines the economic, institutional, and sociocultural factors associated with female educators’ working duration, its relationship with household expenditure allocation, and women’s negotiations of professional and unpaid domestic responsibilities. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design combined surveys of 100 married female educators, regression and mediation analyses, and thematic analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews, supplemented by relevant internal institutional policy documents. Working duration was positively associated with household income, opportunity cost, flexibility, administrative burden, and domestic support, but negatively with gender norms. Administrative burden had the largest coefficient (β = 0.35; R² = 0.68). Working duration was positively associated with education and healthcare expenditure allocation after controlling for household income (coefficient = 0.41; p = 0.001). Mediation was reported (indirect effect = 0.21), although its predictor remained unspecified. Interviews revealed administrative pressure, gender negotiation, and religious commitment (ikhlas). Female educators’ working duration reflects interconnected economic, institutional, gendered, and moral-religious conditions among participants. Its association with education and healthcare expenditure does not establish improved overall household welfare or causality. Faith-based educational institutions should review administrative workloads, protect reasonable working-time boundaries, provide caregiving-responsive flexibility, and ensure that ideals of sincerity and service do not justify excessive professional demands on women. Prahara, R. S., Na’imah, F. U., A’yuni, D. S., Sundari, S., Herdiani, A., & Nurendra, S. S. (2026). Beyond economic rationality: Gendered labor, moral economy, and women’s working duration in an Islamic educational institution. 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China Economic Quarterly International, 1(2), 97–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceqi.2021.04.002 Downloads Full Text (English) 2026-07-27 Vol. 19 No. 1 (2026): An-Nisa' Journal of Gender Studies Section Articles Copyright (c) 2026 Rahma Sandhi Prahara, Farida Ulvi Na’imah, Diah Syifaul A’yuni, Sundari Sundari, Aulia Herdiani, Salshabila Syifa Nurendra This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. How to Cite Prahara, R. S., Na’imah, F. U., A’yuni, D. S., Sundari, S., Herdiani, A., & Nurendra, S. S. (2026). Beyond economic rationality: Gendered labor, moral economy, and women’s working duration in an Islamic educational institution. An-Nisa’ Journal of Gender Studies, 19(1), 113-130. https://doi.org/10.35719/an-nisa.v19i1.466 More Citation Formats ACM ACS APA ABNT Chicago Harvard IEEE MLA Turabian Vancouver AMA Download Citation Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX
