Sophie Inge
The Times of Higher Education
Originally published on April 4, 2018
Fresh calls have been made to tackle a crisis of overwork and poor mental health in academia in the wake of two worrying new studies.
US academics who conducted a global survey found that postgraduate students were more than six times more likely to experience depression or anxiety compared with the general population, with female researchers being worst affected.
Meanwhile, a survey of more than 5,500 staff in Norwegian universities found that academics reported higher levels of workaholism than their administrative colleagues and revealed that the group appears to be among the occupations most prone to workaholism in society as a whole. Young and female academics were more likely than their senior colleagues to indicate that this had an impact on their family life.
The information is here.
Showing posts with label Work-life Balance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work-life Balance. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Monday, February 12, 2018
Can we please discuss ethics in the future of work?
Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith
Forbes
Originally published
Here is an excerpt:
Our brains have a very distinct and subliminal way of normalizing just about anything we are exposed to if we experience it long enough – even if we don’t like it. Look at how social norms have evolved over the past fifty years: back then a teenager would instinctively forego a seat on a bus for the elderly, men in suits wore ties, women never touched up their makeup in public and no one swore at policemen. Today, these aspects of social etiquette have changed significantly. Some for better, some for worse. New norms apply.
Equally, the workplace is a very different environment to what it used to be. Much of it better – safer, more engaging, more stimulating, more collaborative. But there have been trade-offs. Our working days are longer, technology has dissolved many of the boundaries between home and work and we are expected to be more self-sufficient and productive than ever before. And that’s before the next wave of innovations.
The information is here.
Forbes
Originally published
Here is an excerpt:
Our brains have a very distinct and subliminal way of normalizing just about anything we are exposed to if we experience it long enough – even if we don’t like it. Look at how social norms have evolved over the past fifty years: back then a teenager would instinctively forego a seat on a bus for the elderly, men in suits wore ties, women never touched up their makeup in public and no one swore at policemen. Today, these aspects of social etiquette have changed significantly. Some for better, some for worse. New norms apply.
Equally, the workplace is a very different environment to what it used to be. Much of it better – safer, more engaging, more stimulating, more collaborative. But there have been trade-offs. Our working days are longer, technology has dissolved many of the boundaries between home and work and we are expected to be more self-sufficient and productive than ever before. And that’s before the next wave of innovations.
The information is here.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Why are doctors burned out? Our health care system is a complicated mess
By Steven Adelman and Harris A. Berman
STAT News
Originally posted December 15, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
Burnout and dissatisfaction with work-life balance are particularly acute for adult primary care physicians — the central figures in our unsystematic health care “system.” A system that was already teetering in 2011 has been stressed by the addition of 20 million covered lives by the Affordable Care Act. It’s little wonder that in Massachusetts, where near-universal coverage has filled up the offices of primary care physicians, malpractice claims against them are rising. Patients and physicians alike complain about the unsatisfying brevity of office visits, and many harbor intense feelings of antipathy towards cumbersome electronic health records and growing administrative burdens.
We believe that to alleviate the stress and burnout in the medical professions, we must pay attention to system factors that lead to what we call the “occupational health crisis in medicine.” We recently surveyed 425 practicing physicians and health care leaders and executives, seeking their opinions on the importance of eight approaches to transforming health care. We presented the results this fall at the International Conference on Physician Health.
The article is here.
STAT News
Originally posted December 15, 2016
Here is an excerpt:
Burnout and dissatisfaction with work-life balance are particularly acute for adult primary care physicians — the central figures in our unsystematic health care “system.” A system that was already teetering in 2011 has been stressed by the addition of 20 million covered lives by the Affordable Care Act. It’s little wonder that in Massachusetts, where near-universal coverage has filled up the offices of primary care physicians, malpractice claims against them are rising. Patients and physicians alike complain about the unsatisfying brevity of office visits, and many harbor intense feelings of antipathy towards cumbersome electronic health records and growing administrative burdens.
We believe that to alleviate the stress and burnout in the medical professions, we must pay attention to system factors that lead to what we call the “occupational health crisis in medicine.” We recently surveyed 425 practicing physicians and health care leaders and executives, seeking their opinions on the importance of eight approaches to transforming health care. We presented the results this fall at the International Conference on Physician Health.
The article is here.
Friday, December 18, 2015
Physician Burnout Climbs 10% in 3 Years, Hits 55%
By Diana Swift
Medscape
Originally posted December 1, 2015
Professional burnout among US physicians has reached a dangerous level, with more than half of physicians affected, according to the results of a 2014 national survey across various medical specialties and practice settings. Compared with responses from a similar survey in 2011, burnout and satisfaction with work–life balance have worsened dramatically, even though work hours have not increased overall.
"American medicine is at a tipping point," lead author Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, from the Mayo Clinic's Department of Internal Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, told Medscape Medical News. "If a research study identified a system-based problem that potentially decreased patient safety for 50% of medical encounters, we would swiftly move to address the problem. That is precisely the circumstance we are in, and we need an appropriate system level response."
Friday, January 2, 2015
Women in Academic Science: A Changing Landscape
By Stephen J. Ceci, Donna K. Ginther, Shulamit Kahn, and Wendy M. Williams
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2014, Vol. 15(3) 75–141
Summary
Much has been written in the past two decades about women in academic science careers, but this literature is contradictory. Many analyses have revealed a level playing field, with men and women faring equally, whereas other analyses have suggested numerous areas in which the playing field is not level. The only widely-agreed-upon conclusion is that women are underrepresented in college majors, graduate school programs, and the professoriate in those fields that are the most mathematically intensive, such as geoscience, engineering, economics, mathematics/computer science, and the physical sciences. In other scientific fields (psychology, life science, social science), women are found in much higher percentages.
In this monograph, we undertake extensive life-course analyses comparing the trajectories of women and men in math-intensive fields with those of their counterparts in non-math-intensive fields in which women are close to parity with or even exceed the number of men. We begin by examining early-childhood differences in spatial processing and follow this through quantitative performance in middle childhood and adolescence, including high school coursework. We then focus on the transition of the sexes from high school to college major, then to graduate school, and, finally,
to careers in academic science.
The entire article is here.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2014, Vol. 15(3) 75–141
Summary
Much has been written in the past two decades about women in academic science careers, but this literature is contradictory. Many analyses have revealed a level playing field, with men and women faring equally, whereas other analyses have suggested numerous areas in which the playing field is not level. The only widely-agreed-upon conclusion is that women are underrepresented in college majors, graduate school programs, and the professoriate in those fields that are the most mathematically intensive, such as geoscience, engineering, economics, mathematics/computer science, and the physical sciences. In other scientific fields (psychology, life science, social science), women are found in much higher percentages.
In this monograph, we undertake extensive life-course analyses comparing the trajectories of women and men in math-intensive fields with those of their counterparts in non-math-intensive fields in which women are close to parity with or even exceed the number of men. We begin by examining early-childhood differences in spatial processing and follow this through quantitative performance in middle childhood and adolescence, including high school coursework. We then focus on the transition of the sexes from high school to college major, then to graduate school, and, finally,
to careers in academic science.
The entire article is here.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Dark thoughts: why mental illness is on the rise in academia
By Claire Shaw and Lucy Ward
The Guardian
Originally published March 6, 2014
Mental health problems are on the rise among UK academics amid the pressures of greater job insecurity, constant demand for results and an increasingly marketised higher education system.
University counselling staff and workplace health experts have seen a steady increase in numbers seeking help for mental health problems over the past decade, with research indicating nearly half of academics show symptoms of psychological distress.
The entire story is here.
The Guardian
Originally published March 6, 2014
Mental health problems are on the rise among UK academics amid the pressures of greater job insecurity, constant demand for results and an increasingly marketised higher education system.
University counselling staff and workplace health experts have seen a steady increase in numbers seeking help for mental health problems over the past decade, with research indicating nearly half of academics show symptoms of psychological distress.
The entire story is here.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
The Workplace and Social Networking - Got Boundaries?
By Kate Anthony
Online Institute
Originally published January 23, 2014
Negotiating the boundaries between our professional and personal lives is increasingly a part of our work as therapists. If you use social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn you are probably aware of the sometimes inappropriate statuses or updates people post. Even if you are not a user of them, you will likely have seen the media reports about an staff’s Facebooks posts made while off sick coming back to haunt them, or ill-advised crude tweets resulting in an employee instantly losing their job despite having deleted it within 14 seconds of posting (see example here).
The entire article is here.
Online Institute
Originally published January 23, 2014
Negotiating the boundaries between our professional and personal lives is increasingly a part of our work as therapists. If you use social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn you are probably aware of the sometimes inappropriate statuses or updates people post. Even if you are not a user of them, you will likely have seen the media reports about an staff’s Facebooks posts made while off sick coming back to haunt them, or ill-advised crude tweets resulting in an employee instantly losing their job despite having deleted it within 14 seconds of posting (see example here).
The entire article is here.
Friday, June 14, 2013
How Danish Work Design Creates Productivity and Life Quality
Copenhagen Balance
By Camilla Kring, Vivi Bach Pedersen, and Andres Raastrup Kristensen
The future can be found in Denmark. In this report we show how some of the most successful companies in Denmark developed their business through an innovative, results-oriented focus on balancing employees’ work and private lives.
Denmark has a unique position in the world when it comes to balancing work and private life.
The Danish model is known as ‘flexicurity’. In this model, it is easy for organizations to hire and lay off employees, while government subsidies assure a safety net if people cannot find jobs. Denmark is also known for a variety of public initiatives that make it easier to have children. For example, the state subsidizes parental leave for a year after childbirth. After the leave, parents can go back to work, while the children are cared for in subsidized nurseries and preschools. 92% of Danish children in the age group 3-5 years are in preschool. Thus, having a family can be combined with holding down a job.
(cut)
Introduction
In this report we discuss how six leading Danish companies innovate with work-life balance as an integrated part of their strategy. We provide you with a variety of concrete ideas and inspiration that work with Balance. These case examples demonstrate unique versions of the concept, and show how to implement such initiatives in order to simultaneously improve employee well-being and productivity. The report describes not only the current and new innovative best practices in the field, but also points to the new directions in which work-life balance is most likely to progress.
Balance is about Business
All the companies described in this report have worked with balance between work and private life for many years. In this process they have left the traditional understanding of Balance behind. This was an understanding built on the sharp dichotomy of the industrial era, during which work and private life were seen as conflicting entities in two distinct spheres that were to be balanced as if on a scale.
The entire work-life balance report is here.
By Camilla Kring, Vivi Bach Pedersen, and Andres Raastrup Kristensen
The future can be found in Denmark. In this report we show how some of the most successful companies in Denmark developed their business through an innovative, results-oriented focus on balancing employees’ work and private lives.
Denmark has a unique position in the world when it comes to balancing work and private life.
- Denmark has one of the highest participation rates for women in the workforce. (75% of women are in the workforce).
- Among all EU countries, Danish employees have the highest degree of influence over their work. (85% of employees indicate that they have an influence on their work situation).
- Danish employees have some of the world’s most flexible work conditions. (43% of employees can regulate their work hours to meet their private needs).
- Danish employees have some of the best maternity/paternity leaves in the world (combined one year leave per child).
The Danish model is known as ‘flexicurity’. In this model, it is easy for organizations to hire and lay off employees, while government subsidies assure a safety net if people cannot find jobs. Denmark is also known for a variety of public initiatives that make it easier to have children. For example, the state subsidizes parental leave for a year after childbirth. After the leave, parents can go back to work, while the children are cared for in subsidized nurseries and preschools. 92% of Danish children in the age group 3-5 years are in preschool. Thus, having a family can be combined with holding down a job.
(cut)
Introduction
In this report we discuss how six leading Danish companies innovate with work-life balance as an integrated part of their strategy. We provide you with a variety of concrete ideas and inspiration that work with Balance. These case examples demonstrate unique versions of the concept, and show how to implement such initiatives in order to simultaneously improve employee well-being and productivity. The report describes not only the current and new innovative best practices in the field, but also points to the new directions in which work-life balance is most likely to progress.
Balance is about Business
All the companies described in this report have worked with balance between work and private life for many years. In this process they have left the traditional understanding of Balance behind. This was an understanding built on the sharp dichotomy of the industrial era, during which work and private life were seen as conflicting entities in two distinct spheres that were to be balanced as if on a scale.
The entire work-life balance report is here.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Most Professors Say They've Considered Quitting Over Work-Life Conflicts
by Audrey Williams June
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Originally published December 10, 2012
Work-life conflicts have caused roughly three out of every four assistant professors to think about leaving their institution, according to the results of a new survey.
For some assistant professors, leaving their institution isn't enough to solve their work-life problems.
Almost 45 percent of those surveyed said they could see themselves leaving academe altogether.
Meanwhile, 65 percent of full professors surveyed said that they had considered leaving their university in the last year.
<snip>
The survey found that nearly 80 percent of faculty members would consider leaving their institution in search of a more-supportive work environment.
About 60 percent would consider leaving where they now work to spend more time with their families.
About 35 percent of respondents would think about leaving to deal with elder care, while about one-fourth would consider leaving their institution because of problems related to child care.
The entire story is here.
Thanks to Ken Pope for this information.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Originally published December 10, 2012
Work-life conflicts have caused roughly three out of every four assistant professors to think about leaving their institution, according to the results of a new survey.
For some assistant professors, leaving their institution isn't enough to solve their work-life problems.
Almost 45 percent of those surveyed said they could see themselves leaving academe altogether.
Meanwhile, 65 percent of full professors surveyed said that they had considered leaving their university in the last year.
<snip>
The survey found that nearly 80 percent of faculty members would consider leaving their institution in search of a more-supportive work environment.
About 60 percent would consider leaving where they now work to spend more time with their families.
About 35 percent of respondents would think about leaving to deal with elder care, while about one-fourth would consider leaving their institution because of problems related to child care.
The entire story is here.
Thanks to Ken Pope for this information.
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