In the search for work-life balance, going part-time could provide an answer

In terms of workload and work-life balance, I’d like to give a “shout-out” to part-time academic work, combined with the other adventures and passions life may bring. Even in the cut and thrust of academia, I think it’s important to consider our life trajectory, periodically – in particular mid-career or when you are considering, or having to consider, an ending or change of course.

Shakespeare had Malvolio say in Twelfth Night: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” The academic take on this might be: some achieve a secure post, some don’t, some suffer ill health and relationship troubles, and some have unemployment thrust upon them. The trapdoor is only ever a step away – and it may be well camouflaged. Part-time work can constitute an appropriate and attractive plan B in the event of sickness, family difficulties or losing your job.

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In my case, one minute I was, and then I wasn’t. By which I mean a P45 arrived. But I was also lucky enough to land part-time work (two days a week) on undergraduate programmes teaching mature, local council staff about community governance. The topic and modules were similar to ones I had delivered at an earlier stage of my academic career and, in addition and completely by chance, just as Covid and lockdowns kicked in, we were able to slot into online delivery with just a minor adjustment from previously blended approaches used in “normal” times.

As Iain Hay states in his 2017 book, How to be an Academic Superhero, it’s crucial to keep refreshed and stay happy and healthy. But how to deliver on this? Part-time positions are often given a bad press as exploitative and insecure but, on the other hand, they may also free the individual to do other things – while having a regular paycheque. I know a mid-career artist, for example, who stitches together a portfolio of online teaching for a university while continuing their art practice and covering childcare duties.

In my case, the money is certainly welcome, but so is the intellectual stimulation. Then there is the fact that the part-time hours online give a definite “spine” to my week but also enable me to collect family from airports, do the weekly shop, look after a family member who is unwell and visit family abroad without travel costs being magnified by school holidays.

Furthermore, part-time work can be a great way for the individual to get a taste of academic life – either as researcher or teacher – or, as in my case, see it as a step off the full-time treadmill. Not to mention the inevitability that tempus fugit (time flies). As we become older, our health and vigour likely diminish, while at the same time priorities alter. Sure, I love my teaching, but I also love visiting family in Copenhagen, where we have a little grandson, and Brighton, where our daughter lives. I know it’s a cheesy aphorism but, when looking back over a life, few wish they’d worked harder.

Part-time work also potentially offers space for volunteering, and there is research evidence that volunteering can lengthen a person’s lifespan – and apparently even improve their sex life! Furthermore, by stepping back, you create a space for someone else to fill, perhaps a career entrant. And older part-timers may well have valuable experience, expertise, insight, even wisdom to share with colleagues as mentors.

So, how does one begin this transition and, more importantly, make a success of it?

First, you can strategically introduce the idea of part-time work as a point for discussion with your boss at the annual staff development review. You might prefer to gradually shift from full- to part-time employment and, in doing so, focus on those modules, topics and activities that you really want to hold on to and keep exploring. Second, and the flip side of the previous point, can you lift the personal burden by – for example – relinquishing the role of course leader or committee convenor? Creating space by reducing work hours can enable you to dip your toe in to see how you like (or not) having the extra free time and how you might use it. Similarly, gradually stepping down or away can help you see and adapt to the financial realities of earning less.

Equally, you have to be vigilant that part-time hours do not stray into exploitation, whereby real hours worked sweep way beyond hours paid. Keep a note of hours worked and tally these at the end of each working week or month. In this way you can gauge whether and by how much you may be exceeding the hours for which you are contractually employed. Also, make clear to students – verbally and as part of your email sign-off – that you only work, for example, Monday through Wednesday, so they can see when you are around and thus when they might reasonably hear back from you. 

If part-time hours persistently and significantly go beyond those contracted, then you must discuss with your manager. Unless you tell them, they won’t know, or they might misread the situation as personal choice failure. Working for free also sets a bad precedent for others; your overwork can be presented by management as dedication for colleagues to emulate, rather than being called out for what it is – exploitation.

If we see ourselves as a boat, progressing through work and life, then part-time work, mid-passage, can enable us to slow, ponder and even carry out what we urge our students to undertake – reflective and critical thinking. As Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard put it in the 1840s: “Life can only be understood backwards; but must be lived forwards.”

James Derounian lectures on community governance. He is a national teaching fellow and a visiting professor at the University of Bolton, UK.

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