Fall 2021 Member Survey: Work / Life Balance during COVID-19  By

Fall 2021 Member Survey: Work / Life Balance during COVID-19

Los Angeles, CA (11/19/21) As a follow up to our survey in 2020, recently we asked members who work in academic and research institutions for feedback on their work / life balance. We received many responses and comments from our community across the globe.

Many are still dealing with COVID-19 at their academic institution. Some are working in-person, many have a virtual component to their workflow, and most are navigating their personal life with their careers, as always. We always appreciate the time and thoughtful responses to our surveys, and this is no exception.


SabbaticalHomes.com 2021 Survey Results

We saw a theme of “optimistic uncertainty” from many of our survey respondents. The pandemic caused an immense amount of personal and professional stress, but many people have found silver linings for the past year and a half plus.

Time spent with family and outside in nature are still some of the most highly valued ways to maintain balance. It was heartening to see that many academics feel confident in their academic institution’s COVID protocols, although there are definitely some who feel these measures should be more stringent. Read on for the consolidated results of our survey.

Related: 2020 SabbaticalHomes.com Member Survey during COVID-19


Pie chart of survey responses about work / life balance overall compared to 2020.

Bar chart of survey responses about work-related trips for research, sabbaticals or conferences.

Donut chart of responses if people agreed with COVID protocols at their college or university.

Bar chart of responses to how academics feel about the COVID situation in their area over the next 6 months.

Bar chart of responses for how COVID affected people’s life outside of work in the last few months.

Pie chart showing if people see any of the pandemic changes in how they work becoming permanent.

Pie chart of survey responses about the pandemic inspiring a change to job or career for academics.

Bar chart showing survey responses of the best parts of the past few months.

Bar chart showing survey responses with the hardest parts of the past few months.

SabbaticalHomes.com 2021 Survey Methodology

  • Survey responses above were for 10 quantitative questions, each with qualitative comment box available.
  • Sent on two dates in October 2021.
  • 490 SabbaticalHomes.com members who work in academic settings, museums or research institutes responded to the survey from all over the globe. Responses came from: Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Ann Arbor, Michigan USA ; Asheville, North Carolina, USA ; Austin, Texas, USA ; Bangkok, Thailand ; Barcelona, Spain ; Berlin, Germany ; Biarritz, France ; Boulder, Colorado, USA ; Bologna Italy ; Boston, Massachusetts, USA ; Bristol, UK ; Buffalo, New York, USA ; Calgary, Alberta, Canada ; Cambridge, Massachusetts , USA ; Cardiff, UK ; Chicago, Illinois, USA ; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA ; Dallas, Texas, USA ; Damascus, Lebanon ; Doha, Qatar ; Dubai, United Arab Emirates ; Edinburgh, Scotland ; Florianópolis, Brazil ; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA ; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada ; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ; Huddinge, Sweden ; Jerusalem, Israel ; Johannesburg, South Africa ; Kingston, Ontario, Canada ; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ; Kraków, Poland ; Lima, Peru ; Lisbon, Portugal ; London, UK ; Los Angeles, California, USA ; Madison, Winsconsin, USA ; Manchester, New Hampshire, USA ; Maui, Hawaii, USA ; Melbourne, Australia ; Mexico City, Mexico ; Milan, Italy ; Montreal, Canada ; Nantes, France ; New York City, New York, USA ; Newmarket, New Hampshire, USA ; Nicosia, Cyprus ; Orlando, Florida, USA ; Oslo, Norway ; Oxford, UK ; Paris, France ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA ; Pomona, California, USA ; Portland, Oregon, USA ; Prague, Czech Republic ; Providence, Rhode Island, USA ; Reykjavik, Iceland; Rome, Italy ; San Diego, California, USA ; San Francisco, California, USA ; Sao Paulo, Brazil ; Seattle, Washington, USA; Sevilla, Spain ; Shanghai, China ; Sharjah, United Arab Emirates ; Springfield, Ohio, USA ; Stuttgart, Germany ; Sydney, Australia ; Tempe, Arizona, USA ; Tokyo, Japan ; Toronto, Ontario, Canada ; Uppsala, Sweden ; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ; Vienna, Austria ; Waterloo, Ontario, Canada ; Wellington, New Zealand ; Zvolen, Slovakia.

Let us know what you think! If you are a member who has figured out a great work / life balance strategy, especially during the pandemic, please share in the comments below or Contact Us. You can also connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook,  Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.