Finding Work-Life Balance as an Academic Professor with a Growing Family

Work-Life Balance My two cents Martine Ceberio Associate Professor of Computer Science {

Because we need / want (?) to attend to both Because we feel time-conflicted Why Work-Life Balance?

Certain job and career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged on a day-to-day basis with a young family It's up to us as individuals to take control and responsibility for the type of lives that we want to lead. If you don't design your life, someone else will design it for you, and you may just not like their idea of balance. We have to be careful with the time frame that we choose upon which to judge our balance. A day is too short; "after I retire" is too long. There's got to be a middle way. We need to approach balance in a balanced way. The small things matter. Being more balanced doesn't mean dramatic upheaval in your life. Some interesting points http://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how_to_make_work_life_balance_work/transcript?language=en

Pick a career that will make you happy You need to know what you want Set your priorities and do your best to stick to them There are all sorts of possible priorities Take Control

There is no perfect day There is no need to postpone hope of balance until retirement Example: When I travel, there is no balance Just like on vacation, there is no balance either But over time, you can achieve it Be Realistic

As was said earlier, it depends on your career It depends on what you want I am going to focus on what I know: Being a professor at a university With 2 children (almost 6, and 7) How about an academic career?

Flexible Run by passion (of research, of teaching) So that helps with taking control , doing what you like Good things about this job

On the tenure track (and possibly beyond ) Pressure to produce scholarly work, to obtain funding Challenge to balance Research / Teaching / Service Trips away from home and family Challenges for Work-Life Balance

80-hour weeks ~ 11-hour days, 7 days a week 80-hour weeks before children Doable but consistently? I did it before children but did not make me the most interesting person 80-hour weeks with children Has happened but was very exceptional Impossible in the long run, for me What people say and some do

I set my priorities Family first: my children Resist pressure: e.g., tenure-clock stop I yearn to achieve balance over time Weeks are my time-frame Some days are harder than others How do I address that?

My experience Had my two children during tenure track Tenure-track lasted 8 years (stopped the tenure clock twice) Took a summer off for my first child, an FMLA for my second child, another FMLA for my mother s illness Had health issues Stopped working 80-hrs 3 years in My tips Do what you like: resist pressure Stand for your values You do not want to get tenure on a job you do not like, at an institution and with colleagues who do not share your values It is possible!

Questions?