If like me, you are a woman in academia or a scientist, you have
probably already heard about the best seller "Lean In: Women, Work,
and the Will to Lead" by Sheryl Sandberg. If you haven't seen or read the book yet, I
suggest you get a copy as soon as possible.
In this book, Sandberg (chief operating officer of Facebook)
argues that in many cases professional women hold themselves back in their
careers by failing to "lean in" to opportunities. According to Sandberg, the main reason why
women hold back is because of concerns about how professional positions might
affect future life choices. The author
suggests that some women prefer to
remain as associate professors or faculty members because they anticipate
challenges they may face in leadership positions or the promotion process. Sandberg also mentions that other women choose
part-time or non-tenure-track positions as a way to avoid potential conflicts
between academic work and motherhood or family.
Although I agree with the author that is difficult to balance work
and family-life, I don't think that the situation is as simple as Sandberg
describes it in her book. As indicated
in an article that Kelly
Ward and Pamela L. Eddy wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education, "increasing
the number of women in leadership positions means not only looking at the
individual women, as Sandberg does in her book, but also looking to
institutions to create environments that encourage and support women who want
to integrate family life and personal goals with their career aspirations for
leadership and advancement". I
would add to this that it also depends on the individual’s priorities.
Let’s see
my case
Personally, I think that
each person (woman or man) has his/her own reasons to avoid or pursue
leadership positions. In my case, I have
consciously avoided to apply for leadership positions during the last five
years. Perhaps, one day I will regret
this, but for the moment, I think that I am doing the right thing. Two reasons have dictated my decision:
motherhood and personal life.
As some of you know, I am a biology professor who has been in academia
for the last 25 years, 7 as graduate student and 18 as faculty member. Throughout all these years, I have learned
many things about academia, but the most important one is that keeping a
work-life balance is a big challenge. I would even go so far as to say that
it's practically impossible unless you set your priorities clearly, and are
prepared to assume the consequences without regrets.
In her book, Sandberg says "There
is no such thing as work-life balance".
Of course, her argument is supported by stats that indicate that in most
disciplines, professors work 60+ hours a week. Interestingly, professors work less than that,
or are engaged in activities outside their academic lives are often perceived
as not serious. Even when trying to balance
work and personal life, you still end working more than 50 hours per week; it’s
really unavoidable the extra work in academia!
Now, don't get me wrong, I love academia most of the time. I love to teach and enjoy immensely the
contact with students. Although I still
love many aspects of research, I hate the stresses associated with publishing
papers and writing grants. So, although
I want to be an academic, I also believe that success in academia should not
require giving up on having an outside life.
What are my priorities?
My family is my #1 priority. It's fundamental for me to have quality time
with my children and husband. Of course,
this is not always easy because as most people in academia, both my husband (who
is also in academia) and I don't work the typical 8 hours per day. We both bring work to home, work until late
hours, and often times have to work during the weekends. Our work-related
activities often overlap with our children’s extra-curricular activities.
Although work at home is sometimes unavoidable, it is crucial that
you know what you are willing to do and not do.
In my case, I figured out that if I wanted to be present for my family and
have personal time for myself, I needed to prioritize things a bit differently than
I used to do 5 or 10 years ago. I guess, you
have to do what it works for you, but for me what is working is to be selective
and to learn to say no. I have
also had to adjust my definition of success to my current priorities. Although it sounds simple, it’s not!
Balancing work and life is a continuous job that certainly requires
a lot of practice and dedication. I also
find that you need to work on your ability to ignore negative comments or
critical faces. In addition, I keep
reminding myself that we only have one chance to live, and that it is not
necessary to sacrifice an outside life in order to succeed in academia. I don’t want to wait until I retire to start
living!
How do you do to balance work and personal life?
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