Hi April,

I think with almost any job there are difficulties balancing career and home.
My two kids are out of college now, so things are definitely easier. There were certainly times when it was challenging to give both the kids and my career the attention I felt was needed. Particularly when they were small or when we were in the middle of building and testing an instrument.

But, being a scientist, at least in academia, has some big benefits that make it easier to navigate the conflicts. For example, often (not always) I can do my work from home or at ‘off’ hours. This meant that I could pick my kids up from school, go to their plays/games/events, stay home with them when they were sick, etc.

I’d like to think that my kids also benefitted from a lot of the travel I do for work. Many times I was able to take them with me on conference trips to places like Hawaii, Germany, and Australia. Of course, they complain that some of those trips happened when they were too small to remember!

-Christina

My career as a scientist tends to take a lot of hours, but there's a lot of flexibility in those hours, much more so than most jobs. As Christina has said, this can be very useful in order to give the kind of quick responses that are often needed when something comes up with family. I have also found that my colleagues and work environment are very understanding when I need time away to deal with family things, because many of them have experienced the same thing.