Questions tagged [work-life-balance]

Questions that each member of academia may face during his academic careers, because of personal problems, and contradictions between academic life and personal life. These may include marriage, childcare, etc.

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Can I keep my full-time job while I pursue a PhD in Psychology, and if so, for how long?

I have read this question posed a lot for math and science doctoral degree, but my question pertains to pursuing a social sciences doctoral degree. I'm currently working as a Management Analyst in ...
Amy Chamberlain's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
371 views

Is it recommended to invest in stocks as a typical broke graduate students? [closed]

I openly admit that I am financial illiterate and for most of my life neither know about nor cared about investing. I am currently doing research in a field that is tangentially, but not exactly ...
Olórin's user avatar
  • 1,342
2 votes
0 answers
98 views

How to efficiently work on multiple machine learning and data science-related projects? [closed]

I am working on multiple projects on Machine Learning and Data Science. Is there any systematic way to work/manage projects to maximize efficiency in terms of getting things done while maintaining a ...
ffl's user avatar
  • 115
0 votes
1 answer
291 views

How can I ease in to the research arena?

I'm a first year graduate student and my age is 24. I got a degree in statistics, but it was not that interesting. I barely got into a below average grad school program in mathematics. I want to ...
geocalc33's user avatar
  • 103
2 votes
1 answer
394 views

Year abroad in a country with low coursework standards: Am I sabotaging my future career?

I am an Economics student, with an interest in Statistics and Data analysis. I recently started my graduate studies, attending a M.Sc. in Economic and Social Sciences at Bocconi University (Milan). ...
Baiyuxuan's user avatar
24 votes
9 answers
7k views

Balancing empathy and deferring to the syllabus in teaching responsibilities

Questions of similar topics have been asked here for the situation of instructing a course and here and here for the situation of 'no late work' policies. Additional questions about balancing teaching ...
user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

What's a realistic workload per blackboard hour for teachers during the semester?

There is this excellent thread about teaching workloads across the world on Academia SE: Is 100 hours per year of teaching a heavy load for a lecturer? I would now like to continue this discussion ...
Michael's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
240 views

How do you balance school and study? [closed]

I know there's many different questions that involve having a life with a healthy work-life balance but my question is different: I'm looking for a balance between my school life(high school) and ...
user avatar
37 votes
8 answers
14k views

Is it possible to have a healthy work-life balance as a professor?

I am an MSc student and one future direction I have been thinking about is the potential of pursuing a professorship after I do a PhD. Why do I want to be a professor? I enjoy the back and forth of ...
GrayLiterature's user avatar
18 votes
4 answers
2k views

How do academia and graduate advisors deal with the fact that the cost of living is dramatically higher but graduate wages is stagnant? [closed]

My supervisor got his PhD in the 1970s while having two kids and a house. He spent 25k on the house. Everyone from that era, even the 80s or 90s, said that their degree was dirt cheap and they were ...
Sin Nombre's user avatar
  • 1,029
2 votes
4 answers
782 views

Not enjoying post doc work environment

I think this is more of an interpersonal/workplace question rather than an academic but still related I think. I'm in the first year of a three year post doc in the UK. I enjoy the work I do with my ...
user110661's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
239 views

Prepared for 40 Hour Research Internship - Changed to 20

A bit of backstory- I'm a rising sophomore undergraduate student studying computer science who is strongly interested in urban planning as well. This spring, I put about 12 hours a week of work into ...
user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
681 views

Physician assistant school rescinded my acceptance [closed]

I'm in a complicated situation. I was accepted to physician assistant school and was told I'm one of the most qualified candidates. I'm also a mother of 2 children (under age 3) and living with their ...
Lola's user avatar
  • 61
-1 votes
1 answer
246 views

Work life balance and managing the effect on mood in mathematical physics research [closed]

For the last year, I have been working on my thesis in the area of mathematical physics. It's been a long project with many challenges and hurdles and progress has been slow. At the same time, I have ...
Sandesh Jr's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
119 views

Organization tips for a newcomer to academic learning

I missed my chance to attend university when everyone else did and I'm out of school for seven years. Now I'd like to get a degree (BA History & English) through the Open University. I've never ...
Wottensprels's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is work-life balance like in academia in Japan?

I am a current PhD student, still a couple years off from graduation. I'm still keeping my options open, but I've started to idly consider interesting places to do a postdoc. Fit with a mentor and ...
lmrta's user avatar
  • 251
2 votes
2 answers
166 views

International Student applying for a PhD in a university in Taiwan

I am a student doing my Masters in India, and was considering doing a PhD (in computer science, specifically ML) in a university in Taipei, Taiwan. I went to their website, but couldn't find some of ...
Jihadi's user avatar
  • 396
62 votes
11 answers
17k views

How do I gain back my faith in my PhD degree?

I am 3 years into a PhD program at a top North American university in STEM. My daily routine includes working on my research and preparing for courses I am assisting. In general, I would say that ...
Masked's user avatar
  • 347
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

Workload of PhD in US/Europe/Canada [closed]

I am a Masters student applying for PhD in computer science to various universities in the US/Europe/Canada. I wanted to know about the workload in general which we will have while pursuing it in ...
Jihadi's user avatar
  • 396
7 votes
2 answers
890 views

Lose my nerve while doing research [duplicate]

I'm a starting graduate student in math. Without a doubt I'm not a genius or even that smart, and that creates a serious problem: I often lose my nerve while doing research or studying other people's ...
Daniel Li's user avatar
  • 437
1 vote
2 answers
583 views

Found startup or finish PhD?

I'm on last year of my Ph.D. However, I got an offer from investors for my project and investor required to full-time work in a new company. Would it be an advantage or a disadvantage to have worked ...
Ruslan Dautov's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
998 views

Differences Between Academic Research Positions in US and Canada?

I am considering the possibility of applying for a faculty or possibly other research positions at a Canadian university. I am curious to know what are the differences in terms of work experience, ...
James McCullen Destro's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
651 views

What are some strategies to deal with perfectionism?

In my writing, teaching and research, I always do much more than I should. I produce excellent work, but it's always late because I seem to be incapable of scaling back my (unrealistically high) ...
user18424's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
143 views

What to do when research is ending up in useless clinical trial

I wonder a bit whether I should have behaved differently. I worked in a institute. They developed "drug candidates" for a disease. At the end of my PhD I definitely proofed that the binding mechanism ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Can principal investigators use leftover grant money to take a vacation with their families?

Can one use leftover grant funding to take a vacation? Or does leftover funding get returned to the funding agency? For reference, I am asking about research labs in American universities.
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2 votes
3 answers
373 views

Is there a way to do serious social justice-related work or research while working on scientific research?

I am currently working in the sciences (broadly speaking, the STEM field) in the United States as a researcher. I have been following quite closely to the social-political trend of the US for the ...
Shamisen Expert's user avatar
120 votes
5 answers
23k views

Gender transition as a starting faculty member: a terrible idea?

I'm a computer scientist at the point in my postdoc where I will have to decide soon whether to apply for faculty positions this fall or go to industry, in the US/Canada/UK/maybe Europe.1 But I've ...
anon's user avatar
  • 901
12 votes
2 answers
338 views

How to find enjoyment in teaching being a research oriented professional?

I have recently (one year ago) started work in academia as an assistant professor or a lecturer in NZ system. We don't have tenure track system which is great. I was wondering how long does it take ...
Math_manul's user avatar
31 votes
7 answers
3k views

How much patience is needed in a PhD?

I am a PhD student who works in theory. I have been patient but nowadays I am losing my temper, patience, etc. Many publications have been rejected as well as my proposals for grants. I have submitted ...
abaa's user avatar
  • 1,339
24 votes
5 answers
5k views

Can I live off post-docs?

I'm currently a theoretical/mathematical physics PhD student in Brazil. I still have little more than a year until my PhD finishes, and as far as tradition goes, it's soon time to look for a post-doc ...
QuantumBrick's user avatar
  • 1,681
2 votes
1 answer
268 views

Hours worked in research vs teaching professorships

Are there any studies that have compared the number of hours worked by faculty members who are teaching-focused vs. those at research intensive institutions? I have the impression that faculty that ...
CephBirk's user avatar
  • 1,404
1 vote
1 answer
3k views

Consulting during PhD?

Say I got a Master's degree in Machine Learning and had 3 years experience as a machine learning engineer and 2 years experience as a software engineer. Would it be possible to do freelance/consulting ...
Kulgurae's user avatar
  • 131
5 votes
2 answers
701 views

Being artist and scientist at the same time [closed]

Although I do research in science as my day job, I spend most of my free time for my life-long hobby, drawing cartoon. But I keep this fact in secret to my research co-workers since the culture of ...
glauser's user avatar
  • 59
14 votes
5 answers
2k views

How to deal with PhD advisor ignoring correct answers

I am a PhD student. I am feeling something unusual in my PhD: to me it appears that my supervisor ignores my correct answers and always gives me a feedback when my answer is wrong. I know this is a ...
user avatar
47 votes
6 answers
11k views

How to get through the rigorous phase of PhD?

I am currently a PhD student working out research and also doing mathematics for my PhD research. Most of the time these days I spend on studying -- maybe 15 to 16 hours per day. I believe that I ...
alha hu's user avatar
  • 421
83 votes
10 answers
15k views

Stay in academia or become professor without overworking, is it possible?

I am referring more to young scientists after the PhD than professors, although I am also wondering about people with a stable position. I see many people overworking themselves, burning-out, being ...
Herman Toothrot's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
317 views

What can a grad student do when their assistantship requires more hours than specified in their contract?

I'm currently finishing my second year as a STEM PhD student at a fairly large research university. As a grad student, I am expected to fulfill 20 hours of extra duties each week. Typically this ...
Simon's user avatar
  • 111
13 votes
3 answers
12k views

Any advice about having children during grad school, from the perspective of (a) female grad students and (b) students without stay-at-home partners?

I've seen a lot of "kids-in-grad-school" advice that's geared towards male PhD students with stay-at-home wives. I'm a female MD PhD student married to a male MD PhD student, and neither of us is ...
veritessa's user avatar
  • 295
19 votes
3 answers
10k views

Post-doc and family considerations

I’m doing my PhD in Europe but I’m researching my opportunities for doing a postdoc in the US. There is a reasonable amount of job postings in my field, so I hope I’d have a decent chance of obtaining ...
hejseb's user avatar
  • 520
13 votes
2 answers
353 views

Is it appropriate/wise to include personal/family reasons in a "Justification for Choice of Host" on a fellowship application?

I am applying for a fellowship that would allow me to start an independent research group--something between post-doc and faculty levels. Part of this application requires that I explain my choice of ...
cajawe's user avatar
  • 131
1 vote
1 answer
603 views

What is a typical teaching load? [closed]

Are four 3-credit classes a typical burden for full-time faculty? Assume all are in-person courses, no new preps, no new books, no TAs, 15-25 students per class, no research/publishing required, and ...
nicomp's user avatar
  • 121
35 votes
1 answer
5k views

Strategy for revealing pregnancy to new department/department chair

I am a new tenure-track assistant professor who is expecting a baby in January (just after spring semester starts). I will be arriving on campus in the next couple of weeks and need to tell my ...
Dawn's user avatar
  • 15.8k
26 votes
2 answers
1k views

How to finish PhD and get through the academic job market as a new mother and primary caregiver?

I am a female graduate student in a competitive phd program. I recently had a baby. Although this is a planned pregnancy, and I thought I had thought through the complications having a baby would ...
initial_D's user avatar
  • 1,591
72 votes
7 answers
12k views

How to care less about teaching?

Fifth year math grad student as of this Fall. ABD, currently on target for six years in total. I have very strong feelings about the way courses should be taught, graded, and organized. I have ...
dedekindpoetssociety's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
1k views

Relearning how to work (becoming much more efficient). Is it even possible?

I’ve been considering a career in academia ever since I was an undergrad. I’m turning 30 this year. I think I should either get to it (PhD and beyond) or give it up once and for all. The key source ...
WarbyNutella's user avatar
-1 votes
2 answers
346 views

Informing bosses that I finish my job in 10 hours / week [closed]

This question made me think about my situation. After different academic jobs, I took a tenure-track position that I can typically do in 10 hours/week. With the extra time I do hobbies or am with my ...
carl's user avatar
  • 31
39 votes
7 answers
6k views

How do academics with teaching responsibilities, etc. find the time to do research?

How do academics manage to do research when they are lecturing and running courses, helping students, writing up assignments and tests, marking assignments and tests, supervising graduate students, ...
user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
853 views

How much damage could a 'C' in Abstract Algebra Course cause? and How to minimize the effect? [duplicate]

I'm an undergraduate math major student in my junior year. I've taken Abstract Algebra 1 last fall. I got a C in that class (I got 65%). In most of my previous courses I got A's, and in some courses ...
Fawzy Hegab's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
1k views

How is life as a PhD student in Germany? [closed]

I have a PhD offer from a German university in Nanotechnology. It is a 3 year position (which is a short span). I would like to know how is the general experience of doing a PhD in Germany? Is it ...
Das's user avatar
  • 955
7 votes
2 answers
6k views

What are the working hours for full time PhD students in Germany?

What are the working hours per week for full time PhD students in Germany? Also, how many holidays are granted in a year? How is the work-life balance for full time PhD students? Thanks!
Das's user avatar
  • 955