Last month we looked at faculty members’ time reallocation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We used data from our 2021 survey of physics and astronomy faculty members. This month, we consider faculty members’ work-life balance. Prior to the pandemic more than half of the faculty members agreed they were successful in maintaining the work-life balance. Only about one in four (26%) somewhat or strongly disagreed with the statement. During the pandemic, more than 40% of the faculty members responding to our survey disagreed that they were successful in maintaining work-life balance. Perhaps some of the increased stress on faculty members’ work-life balance can be traced to the additional time they were spending on teaching and advising (as we reported last month).
This graph comes from our report Physics and Astronomy Faculty Members’ Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The full report includes an examination of burn-out and faculty members’ concerns...