During the afternoon of the 11th March IAD Careers Consultant, Darcey Gillie spoke “in conversation with Prof Sue Fletcher-Watson on the subject of work-life balance”, as part of the wider Researcher Realities 2025 programme. Within this hour long insightful session the audience took a deep-dive into the careers theory surrounding work-life balance.
Prof Fletcher-Watson kicked things off with an overview of how attitudes towards work-life balance have changed in the last 20 years or so, highlighting that previously it wasn’t seen as a priority that needed to be achieved. In more recent times there has been a shift towards changing the reward recognition process and the gender disparity that can exist around parenthood and caring issues in general. Prof. Fletcher-Watson highlighted the need to reflect on the personal costs to always saying “yes” to invitations and to be aware of the extra work that these initiatives can generate. She discussed that earlier in her career she had found other ways to “maximise her professional opportunities without travel”, whether this was participating in activities like grant writing or reviewing journals and articles. Prof Fletcher-Watson shared that she never has more than one journal review “on the go” at any one time. She also advocated for the importance of being aware that taking on extra initiatives can in fact generate further work and that the importance of setting boundaries is key.
Another topic that arose from the discussions was the ability to “let go of guilt”! If you have clear rationale for what your priorities and boundaries are regarding your working priorities and when this takes place that is a good thing. Prof Fletcher-Watson revealed that she doesn’t actually like the term work-life balance, and prefers to think of it instead as whether she find activities “energising or draining”. Her own personal example, included being happy to use a Sunday afternoon to review a thesis as a good use of her time and something that she finds interesting and is part of what she finds “energising” about her work. A key theme that was explored was identifying what work tasks you find recharging and energising and identifying those that you find draining.
Professor Fletcher-Watson discussed the idea that it’s ok not to be completely available all of the time. By this she highlighted that she was readily available and very responsive to her immediate team’s needs but perhaps not immediately responding to all email enquiries, which may give people the space to seek alternative solutions to their problems.
The discussion drew to a close around the importance of knowing one’s own skills and strengths, negotiating our own priorities, advocating for what’s important to us. The question was posed to the audience “what do you value professionally?” The importance of what your organisation values was also highlighted. It was noted by several participants that the honesty and openness was much appreciated and that the conversation had provided real value for the audience opening up new perspectives and empowering participants to feel “energised” to take charge of their own priorities and work-life balance. All in all a fantastic session!
Resources shared in the chat included:
https://institute-academic-development.ed.ac.uk/research-roles/research-only-staff/career-management/micro-workshops/career-values-and-drivers-micro-beyond – Career Anchors exercise underneath the video
https://institute-academic-development.ed.ac.uk/research-roles/research-only-staff/career-management/micro-workshops/capitalise-on-your-research-skills-beyond – Skills Audit exercise underneath the linked video
* A recording of the session will be shared in due course
