Is your career compatible with a healthy home life? Take our survey

Four years ago Times Higher Education asked university staff about their work-life balance and how they cope with the many demands of 21st century life in both their chosen career and personal lives. 

The results exposed a culture of long hours and low pay, with a significant impact on familial relationships and friendships as a result. 

A lot has changed since 2018; not least, a global pandemic has fundamentally changed many people's working lives. But have the possibilities of remote working improved work-life balance or has the erosion of the line between home and office/lab only made it worse? To find out, THE has launched a new edition of its work-life balance survey. 

This global poll seeks to discover the extent to which university life – on both the academic and the professional services side – is compatible with a healthy home and personal life. It contains questions on workload, mental health, commuting, caring responsibilities and the extent to which higher education staff are able, if ever, to switch off. And as well as exploring the extent of any problems, it also seeks suggestions and opinions on potential solutions. 

Wherever you are in the world, please share your views. Most of the questions are multiple choice, so it should be possible to complete the whole survey in less than five minutes. However, there is also ample opportunity to add comments to explain answers and raise other issues. You do not have to identify yourself unless you want to. 

Click here to participate in the survey