Some Thing Left!-Woman Scientist
Sukarma Rani Thareja from India, wrote a poem to celebrate women in science. Read more [...]
Tag Archives: Work-life balance
Increasing awareness of researcher mental health
Recently, there has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the mental health of researchers. Research is an activity that aims to confront the boundaries of human knowledge: it demands excellence from all researchers, who aim to publish in peer-reviewed publications, submit grant applications, achieve tenure or defend a PhD thesis. Researchers identify with and are dedicated to their work to a very great extent. A recent report noted that researchers simultaneously demonstrate high levels of job satisfaction and high levels of stress and depression. Nevertheless, hard work does not have to lead to suffering. Read more [...]
Family Friendly Research to boost Science Careers of Women
The balance between professional and personal life plays a key role for successful careers of European researchers, especially for women scientists. As far as employment and reconciliation of work and life are concerned, female employment rates remain low especially in Southern Europe and East Europe and in general even more for women with low education. Antidiscrimination laws have been adopted, but gender gaps are still large. Lack of child care services and care facilities for the elderly combined with rigid work arrangements make it hard to reconcile work and family life. Read more [...]
The secret to making family life compatible with an academic career
EuroScientist celebrates International Women's Day 2017 by covering a study giving food for thought on the issue of work/life balance for career scientists. Germany has traditionally looked down on mothers pursuing their career in the immediate few years after their children were born. However, a new survey by the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) shows that there are several key factors influencing researchers to stay in academia. These include the ability to self-determine their working hours, a flexible workplace and the existence of a long-term professional perspective. Clearly, respondents to the survey from both genders appear to strive for a better work/life balance. But it may take another generation for old habits to die. Read more [...]
European scientists: too often, like acrobats without a net
The constant need to juggle between work and life commitments drives some scientists to shy away from a career in research, as the precarious positions and the need to be highly mobile, does not always sit well with the notion of family life, or the possibility to pursue research as a long term career option. Read more [...]
The science of sleep, the sleep of scientists
Sleep. We all need it. From working long hours in the lab or field, researchers often get much less sleep than the average person requires. Conducting research into the twilight hours is prevalent in all fields of science, from life science to particle physics. But the cognitively demanding tasks of conducting experiments and analysing data require a clear mind. So how do scientists manage their research—let alone their personal lives—with little rest? Here, a few scientists share lessons about sleep they have learned from their life and work. Read more [...]
Work-life balance on hold, for the love of science
A flavour of the life of some scientists working in extreme conditions shows how work-life balance is heavily tilted towards work. Yet, there are ways to preserve a sense of down time and enjoy the extreme beauty of these remote places. Above all this sort of human experience will make scientists involved stronger and better equipped to face future life and career challenges. Read more [...]
Inadequate childcare policies affect scientists’ careers
The inadequacy of childcare policies across Europe, means that scientists who do not wish to be away from their lab for too long are struggling to balance their life as parents and as researchers. There are still some significant decisions concerning harmonisation of such childcare provision to be made in Europe, while further policy support would be welcome. Read more [...]
Part-time managers in Europe: culture and gender matter
Achieving a work-life balance is a challenge for many people working today. Yet, the idea of a shorter working week is undergoing something of a revival. Part-time work can, in principle, contribute to calming down the ‘rush hour of life’. However, it is not always a possible. This is particularly the case for people in management positions. The proportion of managers working part-time varies considerably across countries. Our multilevel analyses show that it is cultural factors and normative expectations rather than legal regulations, which explain these differences. Read more [...]
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