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Who gets to overwork in academia? Time and inequality in research


I was talking with a friend about work. She kept mentioning ‘OT’. ‘What’s that?’ I said. ‘Overtime’ she replied. I found it amusing that overworking had an acronym. ‘Can’t you work overtime if you need to?’ she asked. ‘No’, I replied ‘We are expected to work overtime but for no extra pay’. She found this very strange. And if you think about it, it doesn’t really make sense. I am not saying that putting in an extra hour or two, here and there, need always be financially compensated. However, in academic research, the expectation is not that we work a couple of hours over our contracted hours. Reports suggest that some researchers are working nearly as much as having another full-time job. All for free. The Wellcome Trust Research Culture survey (2020) found that 37% of full-time researchers are working an average of 41–50 hours per week, with 11% working more than 60 hours (the standard contracted hours for a UK university is 35 hours per week). So even if you feel adequately compensated by your salary, if you are overworking, your hourly rate may not be much more than someone on a lower salary. This makes it challenging when you consider that people work to financially support themselves. With an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the rise of income-boosting ‘side hustles’, the expectation of overwork for career progression is not an option that is equally available to all. Indeed Nature’s 2023 post-doc survey reported that only 20% of postdocs can save the money they want (/need) from their salary (Nordling, 2023). With a stubbornly opaque career path, this means researchers are constantly gambling the promise of job security against risk of future financial poverty. 


So why do we value overwork so much in academic research?

In a sector that has innovation somewhat assumed within its job title, overwork is counterintuitive. As neuroscientists, we know that a stressed, tired, and overworked brain is far from an ideal substrate for the creative ideation needed to innovate. This disconnect between optimal and actual behaviour can be partly explained by the structural and cultural shaping of the research sector. For example, the highly time-intensive performance metrics that we are constrained by today are off-shoots of a process known as ‘neoliberalization’. This highly competitive management style was embraced by the university sector somewhere around the 1980s, ushering in the ‘publish-or-perish’ culture, competition for funding, and over-reliance on fixed-term contracts. These pressures are exacerbated by the enduring cultural image of the ‘ideal academic’: someone who can work long hours, travel, and endlessly churn out research (aka 1950s working man). Bolstering this blueprint is the selection of a highly ambitious group of individuals. No-one gains the credentials to become competitive for a PhD without the predisposition for overwork built into their genes. The modern-day research system may have accidentally tapped into this innate tendency, blurring the boundaries between justifiable work and taking advantage of the underlying drive of many researchers. 


Overlaid atop this structural and cultural matrix are more personal reasons for choosing to overwork. Of course we may simply enjoy our work. Researching the complexities of brain function is exciting. But current dissatisfaction within the research community suggests that the positive/enjoyable side of overwork is not the norm (Wellcome Research Culture Survey 2020). Unsurprisingly given their probable stage of life, postdocs aged 31–40 are more negative about their job prospects, job security, and work–life balance than those under 30 (Nordling, 2023), a not unreasonable response to the realities of precarity. We may also have developed a habit of overworking. Laying down the neural pathways of this habit might have felt enjoyable at first - there is the anticipation of a reward (a permanent position) for our work. But as only 10–15% of researchers secure a permanent job role (Prosper, 2025), this ‘reward’ remains firmly out of reach for most. Overworking can start to feel unwanted, a ‘bad’ habit – do you continue overworking for a job that is unrewarding, or do you stop overworking and feel like you are constantly underachieving? Even if you do obtain a permanent position, your work success has been built on a precedent of overwork. It is not hard for a feeling of inadequacy to slip in when switching to a healthier working pattern. Lastly, you may genuinely have too much work to do. Although a lack of clarity on what is achievable in a 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) role may contribute here. Choosing to overwork under a veil of job security and career progression can easily be justifiable. But because of the increasingly protracted and uncertain route to job stability for the majority of researchers, the risk is that overwork becomes a way of working and not a means to an end. To prevent your working life from becoming one big unintentional habit, it may be easier to build boundaries around your work from the get-go. 


How to change the narrative around overworking

Unfortunately though, with overwork being the expected norm, an individual’s time abundance or scarcity has become a career discriminating factor. Comparing someone who is restricted to working 0.6 FTE (3 days or 21 hours/week) with someone who is employed 1.0 FTE (35 hours/week) but routinely works 1.5 FTE (52.5 hours/week), and sometimes as much as 1.7 FTE (60 hours/week), is not an equitable comparison. People who work part-time or to their contracted hours tend to be women and those with other caregiving and/or health responsibilities, groups currently under-represented in neuroscience. Advance HE figures on the UK Higher Education workforce show that the majority of staff on part-time contracts are female (56.8% of academic staff and 79.4% of professional and support staff; Advance HE, 2024), with considerably less women working part-time in academic roles than other job roles. Simply asking people to state how much time they actually work is not the solution. This may adversely impact those already coming from a time deficit, such as non-native English speakers. In fairness, it may not be the number of hours worked that is damaging, rather the hours (in)visible at work. This is reflected by proximity bias, whereby people who are ‘seen’ are more likely to be unconsciously favoured. Perhaps starting to view overwork as an equality issue though could strengthen attempts to tackle it.


The Nobel prize winning economist, Claudia Goldin, coined the term ‘greedy work’ to describe work with excessive time demands. Sectors such as the service industry, where time is beholden to a client, thrive on ‘greedy work’. Academia, to me, does not need to fit this description; overwork in research is culturally imposed. If we feel confident that we can rewire the brain, a complex biological system that has evolved over millions of years and whose inner workings are still mostly a mystery, surely we must be able to reverse the inequities of a decades-old man-made structure. To do this, we could:


  • Start by addressing the stigma and stereotyping of individuals that comes with an overwork culture. Acknowledge that not everyone can work ‘24:7’, check any assumptions made about those working part-time or to their contracted hours, and disentangle ‘presenteeism’ from capability or potential. 

  • Clarify our own roles and responsibilities, learn to set boundaries around our time, and how to say no. Do the inner work to understand your drive and motivations. Recognise that we all have different life experiences that affect our choices and decisions made. Otteline Leyser, the CEO of UK Research and Innovation, alluded to this in her book ‘Parent Carer Scientist’: “An optimal scientific community will [therefore] include people weaving their research activities into their wider lives in different ways” (The Royal Society, 2016).

  • Build awareness around achievable 1.0 FTE outputs. Funders as well as institutions and individuals have a role to play here.  

  • Engage with staff at all levels around overworking and its impact on wellbeing, productivity, and innovation. 

  • Seek to understand how non-linear career progression can be supported. The challenges for researchers ‘stuck’ at the fixed-term stage for prolonged periods of time are different and not yet widely appreciated.

  • Rather unlikely, but optimistically, ensure people are compensated for the time they work, either financially or with some other benefit (e.g., time off in lieu).


Personally….

For me, the pressure, and indeed expectation, to overwork for career progression became unavoidable during my second postdoc. But by then I was pregnant with one small child or parenting two small children, working part-time, and a solo weekday parent. Overworking was just not possible. Not unusually for mothers, I also have an atypical career path, in that I have worked mostly part-time in multiple job roles and sectors, and incorporating extended breaks for caregiving reasons. My hours of working have rarely been 9–5, leaving little time to prioritise or afford unpaid work outside my role as a caregiver. To help clarify my time boundaries, I have learnt to recognise what I am saying no to (usually my family or income) when I say yes to something else. I have accepted that the maxim ‘hard work equals success’ has a caveat, and I've worked hard to stop making assumptions about how I think others view me. Working outside the norm in an environment that values and rewards only one way of working has not been easy, but the trade-offs for me have been worth it. When asked about life regrets, older people mention not spending enough time with family and friends or living life on their terms. No-one regrets spending too little time at work. 


Key takeaways

  • Overworking is a requirement for academic career progression.

  • However, working long hours for job security is a gamble that carries significant personal and financial costs.

  • Crucially, not all researchers have equal freedom to work extended hours, making time an axis of inequality.

  • As a result, time has become a career-discriminating factor within academia.

  • Tackling this inequality requires valuing diverse working patterns and embracing non-linear career trajectories.


References

  1. Advance HE. Equality in higher education: statistical reports 2024. London: Advance HE; 2024. Available from: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/equality-higher-education-statistical-reports-2024

  2. Ahmad S. Family or Future in the Academy? A Review of Educational Research. Rev Educ Res. 2017;87:204–39. doi:10.3102/0034654316631626

  3. Bourke AM, Spanò T, Schuman EM. A European perspective on structural barriers to women’s career progression in neuroscience [Perspective]. Nat Neurosci. 2023;26:1842–7. doi:10.1038/s41593-023-01467-5

  4. Gavett G. The problem with “greedy work”. Harv Bus Rev. 2021 Sep 28. Available from: https://hbr.org/2021/09/the-problem-with-greedy-work

  5. Goldin C. Career and Family: Women’s Century‑Long Journey toward Equity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2021. p. 9–13

  6. Krishnan M. Webinar recording & slides: Women in work: a lifecycle approach to tackling gender inequalities in UK workplaces [Internet]. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies; 2025 Mar [cited 2025 Jun 24]. Available from: https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/webinar-recording-slides-women-work

  7. Kucirkova NI. Academia’s culture of overwork almost broke me, so I’m working to undo it. Nature. 2023;614:9. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-00241-8

  8. Megoran N, Mason O. Second class academic citizens: The dehumanising effects of casualisation in higher education [Internet]. Brighton: University and College Union; 2020 Jan [cited 2025 Jun 24]. Available from: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10681/second_class_academic_citizens/pdf/secondclassacademiccitizens

  9. Menard CB, Shinton S. The career paths of researchers in long‑term employment on short‑term contracts: Case study from a UK university. PLoS One. 2022;17:e0274486. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0274486

  10. Nature Research Partnerships. Nature’s 2023 Postdoc Survey [Internet]. 2023 Dec 11 [cited 2025 Jun 24]. Available from: https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/article/nature-2023-postdoc-survey

  11. Nordling L. Falling behind: postdocs in their thirties tire of putting life on hold. Nature. 2023;622:881–3. doi:10.1038/d41586-023-03296-9

  12. Olssen M. Neoliberal competition in higher education today: research, accountability and impact. Br J Sociol Educ. 2016;37:129–48

  13. Prosper. Understanding postdocs’ career development needs. In: Boosting the career development of postdocs with Prosper [Internet]. Liverpool: University of Liverpool; 2025 [cited 2025 Jun 25]. Available from: https://prosper.liverpool.ac.uk/institution-resources/boosting-the-career-development-of-postdocs-with-prosper/work-with-postdocs/

  14. The Royal Society. Parent Carer Scientist. London: The Royal Society; 2016. p. 3

  15. Sang K, Powell A, Finkel R, Richards J. ‘Being an academic is not a 9–5 job’: Long working hours and the ‘ideal worker’ in UK academia. Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work. 2015;25:235–49. doi:10.1080/10301763.2015.1081723

  16. Tsipursky G. What is proximity bias and how can managers prevent it? Harv Bus Rev. 2022 Oct 4. Available from: https://hbr.org/2022/10/what-is-proximity-bias-and-how-can-managers-prevent-it

  17. Ware B. Regrets of the dying [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2025 Jun 24]. Available from: https://bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying/

18. Wellcome Trust. What researchers think about the culture they work in [Internet]. London: Wellcome Trust; 2020 [cited 2025 Jun 24]. Available from: https://wellcome.org/reports/what-researchers-think-about-research-culture


This article was written by Rachel James and edited by Lauren Wallis, with graphics produced by Suzana Sultan. If you enjoyed this article, be the first to be notified about new posts by signing up to become a WiNUK member (top right of this page)! Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch.

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