The impact of funding deadlines on personal workloads, stress and family relationships: a qualitative study of Australian researchers

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of applying for funding on personal workloads, stress and family relationships.DesignQualitative study of researchers preparing grant proposals.SettingWeb-based survey on applying for the annual National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant scheme.ParticipantsAustralian researchers (n=215).ResultsAlmost all agreed that preparing their proposals always took top priority over other work (97%) and personal (87%) commitments. Almost all researchers agreed that they became stressed by the workload (93%) and restricted their holidays during the grant writing season (88%). Most researchers agreed that they submitted proposals because chance is involved in being successful (75%), due to performance requirements at their institution (60%) and pressure from their colleagues to submit proposals (53%). Almost all researchers supported changes to the current processes to submit proposals (95%) and peer review (90%). Most researchers (59%) provided extensive comments on the impact of writing proposals on their work life and home life. Six major work life themes were: (1) top priority; (2) career development; (3) stress at work; (4) benefits at work; (5) time spent at work and (6) pressure from colleagues. Six major home life themes were: (1) restricting family holidays; (2) time spent on work at home; (3) impact on children; (4) stress at home; (5) impact on family and friends and (6) impact on partner. Additional impacts on the mental health and well-being of researchers were identified.ConclusionsThe process of preparing grant proposals for a single annual deadline is stressful, time consuming and conflicts with family responsibilities. The timing of the funding cycle could be shifted to minimise applicant burden, give Australian researchers more time to work on actual research and to be with their families.

Struggling within and beyond the Performative University: Articulating activism and work in an “academia without walls”

“…To try to cope with these apparent individual failures, we seek individual solutions centred on enhancing our working practices and adjusting our lifestyle. As Sandra Acker and Carmen Armenti found in two studies in Canada, many female scholars respond to increasing pressures in academia by regularly "work[ing] harder and sleep[ing] less" (2004, p. 3) over very prolonged periods, a strategy that unsurprisingly has extremely negative impacts on their health and family life (see also Herbert et al, 2014;Shaw, 2014 (2002, p. 98, original emphasis). Indeed, what many feminist academics do to try to cope with contemporary academic pressures is to focus on adapting to them: we work on the self and tighten self-regulation and self-discipline; we "go without sleep to produce a better curriculum vitae" (Acker & Armenti, 2004, p. 21); we purchase gadgets, download apps and read books that promise to make us more productive; we design and manage our timetables with military precision; we organise our environment and diaries with an eye to maximising opportunities for multitasking; we attend courses on project management, on speed-reading, on time management and priority-setting, on controlling our email inboxes (Gill, 2010(Gill, , 2014 and even on "resilient adjustment" to academic and institutional change, often organised by our universities.…”

“…As a result of the vertiginous development of information and communication technologies in recent years, any place and moment can, in principle, be used to do one's academic work. Moreover, in many countries academic workloads have increased, and the current "normal" workload is so heavy that academics can only complete all their teaching, research and administration duties by working beyond the contracted number of working hours -at night, during the weekend, in the holidays (Butterwick & Dawson, 2005;Gill, 2014;Herbert, Coveney, Clarke, Graves, & Barnett, 2014)… and even on Christmas Eve (Buikema & Van der Tuin, 2013). A survey conducted in the UK by the Trades Union Congress shows that in 2013 54% of education professionals (including, but not limited to, academics) worked, on average, an extra 12 h per week of unpaid overtime, with the number of hours rising every year.…”

What do postdocs need to succeed? A survey of current standing and future directions for Australian researchers

“…When the funding agency tried to streamline the application process to reduce the burden on researchers, the average time spent writing NHMRC grants increased by 67 years, to 614 working years per annum (Barnett et al, 2015). With success rates around 15% depending on the scheme, this has a considerable impact on personal workload and family relationships (Herbert et al, 2014). The NHMRC is currently undergoing a structural review of its funding schemes through a national consultation process (NHMRC, 2016).…”

“…Inhabitants of the Postdocalypse are characterized by a family of shared traits: productivity, with respect to writing both grants and papers (Herbert et al, 2013;Barnett et al, 2015); innovative ideas and uses for existing technologies (Packalen and Bhattacharya, 2015); and, an increase in their personal workload to fund their research (Herbert et al, 2014). For most, the goal is still to land a permanent role in research.…”

What do we know about grant peer review in the health sciences? An updated review of the literature and six case studies

“…A survey of 215 NHMRC applicants concluded that the 'impact of preparing grant proposals for a single annual deadline is stressful, time consuming and conflicts with family responsibilities' (p.1), although it did not quantify the effects or time taken (Herbert et al 2014). Particular effects noted included restriction of family holidays, increased stress and prioritising applications over other work responsibilities.…”