Abstract
Very few studies have examined issues of work-life balance among faculty of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Utilizing data from Harvard University’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education project, this study examined predictors of work-life balance for 2953 faculty members from 69 institutions. The final sample consisted of 1059 (36%) Asian American faculty, 512 (17%) African American faculty, 359 (12%) Latina/o faculty, and 1023 (35%) White/Caucasian faculty. There were 1184 (40%) women faculty and 1769 (60%) men faculty. The predictors of worklife balance included faculty characteristics, departmental/institutional characteristics and support, and faculty satisfaction with work. While African American women faculty reported less work-life balance than African American men, the reverse was true for Latina/o faculty. In addition, White faculty who were single with no children were significantly less likely to report having work-life balance than their married counterparts with children. Faculty rank was a significant positive predictor of work-life balance for all faculty. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of department and institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible. Institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible was consistently the strongest positive predictor of perceived work-life balance for all faculty. In addition, satisfaction with time spent on research had positive associations with work-life balance for all faculty, highlighting how faculty from all racial/ethnic backgrounds value being able to spend enough time on their own research.
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Notes
Work-life balance is on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 2 = somewhat disagree; 3 = neither agree nor disagree; 4 = somewhat agree; 5 = strongly agree).
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) for granting them access to the 2011–2012 COACHE dataset.
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Appendix: Descriptive Statistics of All Variables by Faculty Racial/Ethnic Group
Appendix: Descriptive Statistics of All Variables by Faculty Racial/Ethnic Group
Variable | % Missing | Asian American (N = 1059) | African American (N = 512) | Latina/o (N = 359) | White/Caucasian (N = 1023) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Min | Max | M | SD | Min | Max | M | SD | Min | Max | M | SD | Min | Max | M | SD | ||
Outcome variable | |||||||||||||||||
Faculty work-life balance | 0 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.45 | 1.14 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.19 | 1.30 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.24 | 1.29 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.24 | 1.31 |
Faculty characteristics | |||||||||||||||||
Female (vs. males) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .34 | .47 | .00 | 1.00 | .54 | .50 | .00 | 1.00 | .48 | .50 | .00 | 1.00 | .41 | .49 |
Single without children (vs. married with children) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .13 | .33 | .00 | 1.00 | .28 | .45 | .00 | 1.00 | .18 | .39 | .00 | 1.00 | .16 | .37 |
Single with children (vs. married with children) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .02 | .15 | .00 | 1.00 | .09 | .29 | .00 | 1.00 | .07 | .26 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .21 |
Married without children (vs. married with children) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .22 | .42 | .00 | 1.00 | .20 | .40 | .00 | 1.00 | .26 | .44 | .00 | 1.00 | .31 | .46 |
Rank | 0 | 1.00 | 4.00 | 2.84 | .83 | 1.00 | 4.00 | 2.83 | .78 | 1.00 | 4.00 | 2.91 | .79 | 1.00 | 4.00 | 3.16 | .81 |
Social sciences (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .09 | .29 | .00 | 1.00 | .15 | .36 | .00 | 1.00 | .12 | .33 | .00 | 1.00 | .14 | .35 |
Physical sciences (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .06 | .24 | .00 | 1.00 | .02 | .15 | .00 | 1.00 | .06 | .23 | .00 | 1.00 | .08 | .26 |
Biological sciences (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .22 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .19 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .22 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .20 |
Visual and performing arts (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .02 | .14 | .00 | 1.00 | .06 | .23 | .00 | 1.00 | .07 | .25 | .00 | 1.00 | .06 | .25 |
Engineering/comp sci/math/stats (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .26 | .44 | .00 | 1.00 | .09 | .28 | .00 | 1.00 | .10 | .29 | .00 | 1.00 | .12 | .32 |
Health and human ecology (vs. Humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .22 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .20 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .19 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .20 |
Agriculture/nat res/env sci (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .20 | .00 | 1.00 | .02 | .15 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .21 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .23 |
Business (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .10 | .30 | .00 | 1.00 | .07 | .26 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .20 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .22 |
Education (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .03 | .17 | .00 | 1.00 | .16 | .36 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .22 | .00 | 1.00 | .07 | .26 |
Medical schools and health professions (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .19 | .39 | .00 | 1.00 | .14 | .35 | .00 | 1.00 | .11 | .32 | .00 | 1.00 | .15 | .36 |
Other professions (vs. humanities) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .03 | .17 | .00 | 1.00 | .09 | .28 | .00 | 1.00 | .05 | .22 | .00 | 1.00 | .04 | .20 |
Departmental characteristics and support | |||||||||||||||||
Collegial and supportive colleagues | 7 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.83 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.91 | 1.06 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.80 | 1.08 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.93 | 1.08 |
Mentoring from someone in your department | 18 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.60 | 1.09 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.62 | 1.17 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.58 | 1.21 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.51 | 1.12 |
Departmental colleagues do what they can to make personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible | 14 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.59 | 1.08 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.60 | 1.14 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.57 | 1.19 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.68 | 1.13 |
Institutional characteristics and support | |||||||||||||||||
Private (vs. public) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .23 | .42 | .00 | 1.00 | .15 | .36 | .00 | 1.00 | .21 | .41 | .00 | 1.00 | .17 | .37 |
Very high and high research university (vs. all others) | 0 | .00 | 1.00 | .68 | .47 | .00 | 1.00 | .45 | .50 | .00 | 1.00 | .53 | .50 | .00 | 1.00 | .56 | .50 |
My institution does what it can to make personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible | 19 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.12 | 1.14 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.92 | 1.24 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.85 | 1.32 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.92 | 1.22 |
Satisfaction with work | |||||||||||||||||
Satisfaction with time spent on teaching | 2 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.79 | .93 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.87 | .99 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.91 | .92 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.92 | .95 |
Satisfaction with time spent on research | 1 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.60 | 1.10 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.12 | 1.18 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.34 | 1.25 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.27 | 1.19 |
Satisfaction with time spent on service | 2 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.52 | .96 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.58 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.38 | 1.07 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.36 | 1.04 |
Satisfaction with time spent on outreach | 23 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.51 | .77 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.53 | .86 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.45 | .83 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.54 | .83 |
Satisfaction with time spent on administrative tasks | 10 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.20 | .92 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.16 | .98 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.97 | 1.03 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 2.90 | 1.04 |
General satisfaction with institution and department | 12 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.59 | .98 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.70 | .98 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.68 | 1.02 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.77 | 1.01 |
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Denson, N., Szelényi, K. & Bresonis, K. Correlates of Work-Life Balance for Faculty Across Racial/Ethnic Groups. Res High Educ 59, 226–247 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9464-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9464-0