Family-Work-Life Balance:
Is it always going to be like this???
A presentation geared toward PhD students who will
be going on to academic, tenure-track faculty positions
in research intensive institutions
What does "leading a lead a balanced life"
mean to you?
• I would consider my life balanced if I could do what is expected of
me at work and at home without feeling like a failure at either one. I
consider balance with respect to months or years rather than days
or weeks.
Please enter the extent to which you agree
or disagree with the following:
Challenges to a balanced life:
Graduate Students
• Unreasonable expectations:
– Significant others? Friends? Advisors? Yourself?
• Lack of work environment without interruption
– As your schedule permits, find a quiet place and GO THERE
• Lack of a support system in a new place
Suggestions for Graduate Students
• Get involved with the graduate-student, religious, sports/recreation
organizations
– Knowing that there are others that face your challenges is
comforting
• Don't work all the time.
– Research shows that the brain needs rest and time for free
thinking to be most productive. If you are having difficulty
concentrating that may be a sign that you need to take a break
so… take a break and come back to the work later.
4
Important considerations for First Faculty Position
• Do a post-doc
– gain more research skills, build your CV, develop your own independent
line of research (even if that is not your mentor’s goal for you).
• have a grant proposal in hand before you enter your first faculty position
• after that, you may rarely have time to focus only on research
– What you and your family sacrifice for this will pay off when you enter your 1st
faculty position
•
•
•
•
Don’t be the “Token Researcher”
– Hard to maintain momentum alone; brainstorming is fun and productive
– You may be expected that you will help other faculty become researchers
Negotiate, Negotiate, Negotiate - even if you feel uncomfortable doing so
– The ONLY time you can really negotiate is when you are hired
– Within reason, accept a position only if there is a firm commitment (in
writing) to provide equipment, lab space, time to succeed
Consider how important being close to family or friends is to you when
considering jobs.
Make sure there are mentors that have been successful at securing the type of
funding for which you will be applying. It is difficult for junior people to "get a
foot in the door" of a federal agency without having a seasoned investigator on
your grant proposals.
What should I negotiate for in securing my 1st job?
• Ask for protected time for research in first 1-2 years to get your
research lab going.
• If equipment won't arrive for 6 months or more, ask for the protected
time to start when the equipment arrives.
• Ask for a technician for the lab who will help you to set up and learn
to collect data who will not leave at the end of each year.
• Ask for a research assistant for several years.
• Ask for time and funds to attend a grant writing workshop
– sponsored by the agency to which you will be submitting
proposals - if possible
Challenges to Life Balance:
tenure-track, un-tenured faculty
• Starting a faculty job means starting to teach classes that you may
not have taught before, usually setting up a lab or learning to use
equpiment that is unfamiliar, having students to advise
(undergraduate and graduate), starting your own line of research
and EVERYTHING is the top priority. If you are new to the area you
will want to explore and develop relationships, spend time with your
spouse/significant other, children etc.
What do you think is the biggest challenge to maintaining a
balanced life for a tenured faculty member and/or what
suggestions do you have that might be helpful to those who
wish to maintain a balanced life??
Please enter any questions or comments that you have that
you would like addressed at the BIOMS Seminar: "FamilyWork-Life Balance: Will Life Always be Like This?"
10
11
12