• Question: Does your job affect your family life?

    Asked by Lilpop to Craig, Flavia, Giuditta, Jack, Sheona on 7 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Jack Carlyle

      Jack Carlyle answered on 7 Nov 2015:

      Working in science means you get to travel the world and work in all kinds of different places! Unfortunately, this means you do have to leave your family for a while sometimes, but thanks to the internet I never get too lonely. My loved ones are always just a Skype call away 🙂

    • Photo: Flavia de Almeida Dias

      Flavia de Almeida Dias answered on 7 Nov 2015:

      Hello!

      My life as a scientist involves living in many different places, traveling around a lot, and having erratic working schedules often. However, the important people in my life always understand when I have to be away for a bit, or work late one evening, or be away in a conference during a birthday. It has a lot of upsides too! We can normally have more flexible work schedules if we need to be with a family member for some emergency, or to go on vacation when the tickets are not the most expensive 🙂

    • Photo: Craig Bull

      Craig Bull answered on 8 Nov 2015:

      My working hours are very random and often at weekends – so yes my family are affected – however they know I enjoy what I am doing and I always make time for all my family everyday (when I am not travelling around the world)

    • Photo: Giuditta Perversi

      Giuditta Perversi answered on 9 Nov 2015:

      Getting into science for me was equivalent to travelling far away from my family and long-term friends.

      Seeking a good university to study and work in is usually something for which you need to travel for, and a diverse experience in multiple places is something that your employers tend to like.
      I moved 600 km from home in Italy for my undergraduate. Then I went to Denmark for the final year of my master degree. Then I landed in Edinburgh for my PhD, and I travel around for conferences, experiments and the like.

      Now I usually go home only for the big holidays, but it’s not like I am estranged from my family and old friends. We do keep in touch and I fit right in when I do come back, so I seriously can’t complain!

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