WORK THAT NEVER ENDS

ACADEMIA

FEELING OVERWORKED? That's probably because you are. A new report, "Overworked Faculty: Job Stresses and Family Demands," finds that the average workweek for academies is 50 hours-plus, and a third of you put in more than 60 hours a week. Some of the extra time may be self-imposed by professors who enjoy their work and want to ensure they're performing at acceptable levels. But there's no doubt that academies also feel time-squeezed by job demands, including research, publishing, classroom time, and endless meetings. Jerry A. Jacobs, a University of Pennsylvania sociologist who co-wrote the report -which is based on Department of Education statistics thinks most professors are overworked mainly because of increasing demands. Those who work the longest hours report the most job dissatisfaction. "The common view that academics work such long hours because they love their work so much does not fit with that finding," he says. Other possible factors include poor time-management and technology making "it hard to turn off the constant flow of information. One positive result of long workweeks: Professors who put in the most hours are the most productive. The study didn't, however, measure the quality of their work. "In general, it's assumed that there is a correlation between publishing more" and qualitv, Jacobs says. One bright spot is the flexibility of academic schedules and the ability to often work from home.-THOMAS K. GROSE