Preparing Future Faculty

Great resource! I liked that the article described how academic life has changed due to technology.

Some age statistics of women and men earning their PhDs. Also findings from surveys.

Very interesting! Gives a realistic overview of what academic work looks like. I learned that the average age to receive a Ph.D. is 33.

These are great tips that are useful in higher education. When I was an undergraduate, I never built downtime into my schedule and wish I did. It gives a person time to relax.

Douglas Skinner is a leading expert in corporate disclosure practices, corporate financial reporting, and corporate finance, with a focus on payout policy. He teaches accounting at The University of Chicago.

This is the professional page for one of my favorite undergraduate professors. Terry Kubichan is a senior lecturer in the accounting department of Old Dominion University.

The Google Scholar site for a December graduate of my program. I thought this would be a good contrast to the others, with each example being at different points in their career.

My undergraduate advisor's professional page at Virginia Tech. It is a nice one page format with just the most important information. Similar to my current advisor's official site, it has no blog or commentary.

My advisor's ODU directory page. I suppose this a standard template for faculty here. It has many of the same categories as LinkedIn, but not blog or commentary capability.

This is my favorite professional website. It's cool, professional, and very informative. I would like to create something similar for my specialty in national security analysis.

I loved this for the simple truth it reveals: we all find balance in our day through a full and extended network of supports and services - whether IT or a maid, or whatever else - that make it "work." It's just as true for academia as for any other profession.

A very interesting, albeit dated, study examining how an institution's culture can be (or attempted to be) changed to facilitate greater work-life balance. The results revealed that questions of work-life balance largely had gendered components that were more difficult to transform through typical culture approaches.

This is alike many other recent, and trending, articles/blogs/etc. on HuffPo and elsewhere that explore the ties between feminism and work-life balance, and the structured inequalities that perpetuate the misnomer of work-life balance, particularly for women. What it helpful about these discussions is that - increasingly - they extend beyond the female-professional-as-mother dialogue and to the professional-as-caregiver dialogue, which so many of the Sandwich Generation, Millennials and Generation Y will face all too well.

This article helps us to understand how the work-life balance conversation emerged and why it is so meaningful, and so different, from traditional conversations about work versus personal life of prior generations and decades. The dialogue is largely driven by the new economic realities of the 21st century and, in turn, the inability and/or attempt by large employers and employees to adjust.

This article says all of the things I want to shout from the rooftops. Work-life balance is an artificial construct, but it has real implications, and so many of those implications are determined by the workplace culture and "home" culture developed for and by us through large employers. More to the point, "It's imperative then that the companies we work for and lead develop values, culture and policies that support the full lives of employees."

I learned that pacing yourself can be crucial for balancing work and personal life.

I learned that you have to sometimes change your definition of success when it comes to balancing work with your personal life.

One of the best tips is letting go of being a perfectionist. Unfortunately you have to give a little in one area to better the other areas.

It is important to set clear boundaries about your time for yourself and others. It is also important to do this in a way that t doesn't make you look bad.

EXPECTING work/life balance is impossible. One has to be intentional and CREATE balance by setting clear boundaries on their time and attention.

I posted this after looking at OECD's Better Life Index in my previous post. After some quick research, per capita GDP seems to be the most widely accepted measure of national productivity. It would be interesting to crosswalk productivity with life satisfaction.

Work_Life Balance All

Another quick list of work-life balance ideas. I use the early wake-up plan myself and find that those 2 or 3 hours before the rest of the family awakes can be really productive. I also like to exercise at mid-day while most of my colleagues eat lunch. I find it easier to eat lunch piece-meal before and after my workout. I think it keeps my energy more even throughout the day.