Work-Life Balance in Higher Education

This book explores the issue and struggle of work-life balance in higher education. It provides a rare opportunity to shape the conversation surrounding work-life balance in academia and provide a venue for dialogue around balance that had previously been forced into secret.

The challenges that surround work-life balance are something that we must all confront, but they are also something that is rarely discussed within academia. Faculty and graduate students face increasing demands to publish, while also being expected to effectively teach and engage in service to both the university and the community. The demands of an academic career have been cited as a reason for faculty and students to leave the academy, but they have also been tied with rising rates of depression throughout the community. Concerns about balance have led to challenges in recruiting diverse students and faculty for academic careers.

Each chapter explores how faculty and graduate students have sought and found balance. The research included in this book is by leading scholars who discuss the challenge for academia to pay attention to the cultures and policies that may improve, or hinder, work-life balance.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Public Affairs Education.

Bruce D. McDonald III is Associate Professor of Public Budgeting and Finance at NC State University. He is the editor-in-chief of Public Administration, the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Affairs Education and is general editor for the Routledge Public Affairs Education Book Series.

William Hatcher is Professor of Public Administration and Chair of the Department of Social Sciences at Augusta University. He also serves as the co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Affairs Education and is general editor for the Routledge Public Affairs Education Book Series.