Improving Work–Life Balance in Academia After COVID-19 Using Inclusive Practices

Eva O. L. Lantsoght ()
Additional contact information
Eva O. L. Lantsoght: Department of Engineering Structures, Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands

Societies, 2025, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-27

Abstract: Work–life balance (WLB) in academia remains a challenge as a result of increasing workloads, precarious employment, and expectations of constant availability. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed these structural barriers to work–life balance in academia and also clearly showed the inequities related to hybrid and remote work for women, caregivers, and underrepresented minorities. This paper highlights the key factors that pose challenges to WLB in academia, how these challenges have been worsened by COVID-19, and what we can learn from pandemic times solutions to devise inclusive practices for long-term structural change. The methodology used in this paper is a critical review of 298 published articles. This review is structured as follows: The structural barriers, inequities, and workplace policies that impact academic WLB are first inventoried. Then, the lessons learned from the pandemic are studied by dividing the short-term disruptions from the permanent shifts. Finally, inclusive solutions, focusing on institutional boundary-setting, workload redistribution, hybrid work policies, and mental health support are presented. This paper makes three key contributions: (1) it provides an intersectional understanding of WLB, accounting for gender, caregiving, ethnicity, migration, and social class; (2) it frames COVID-19 as a driver for structural reform, rather than an anomaly; (3) it bridges WLB research and policy design, proposing actionable strategies for universities and policymakers. By placing equity and inclusion at the core of the analysis, this work advocates for systemic solutions that promote a sustainable academic environment aligned with principles of social justice.

Keywords: caregiving; faculty well-being; gender; higher education policy; hybrid work; institutional reform; telework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/8/220/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/15/8/220/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:15:y:2025:i:8:p:220-:d:1721969

Access Statistics for this article

Societies is currently edited by Ms. Farrah Sun

More articles in Societies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().