'I'm an academic, but I do other things'

Round the clock or round the bend? The time has come for flexible working hours in academia, says Eleanor Highwood. Photograph: Alamy

Working 24/7 is not the only way to achieve success in academia. There, I've said it. A recent article described the working week of people across academia. This included the science professor who "compensates for the time he spends with his young children in the evening and at weekends by getting up before they do", and the early career researcher who "tries to take at least a half-day off a week".

While many colleagues have similar working patterns and are happy (or at least not unhappy) working in this way, I am meeting increasing numbers of promising academics who reject it.

Maintaining the eight days a week culture is a threat to the diversity of our academic environment. Diversity has been shown to lead to more productive and creative teams, and thus will be invaluable as we face the multiple challenges ahead for the academic sector. So why does this perception persist? And how much truth is there in it?

Undoubtedly it's true that an academic position is unlikely to be a nine to five job. An academic's brain probably never switches off from work entirely; indeed, those research ideas or lectures that ferment while stirring risotto, pushing the pram or weeding the veggie patch are often hugely beneficial.

However, academia actively encourages the extension of working hours. I'm an academic who has worked 80% of a full-time role for the past five years, first as senior lecturer, then professor and head of department at a world renowned research centre in meteorology and climate science. My contract doesn't even specify hours – it merely says that I am expected to work the time needed to perform the role. Try figuring out what 80% of full-time is when full-time is not defined.

A former head of department is reputed to have said: "If you are in the office fewer than 40 hours a week, they had better be really good hours." Departments in which 60 hours per week is the accepted norm are not unusual. Overseas collaborations can mean teleconferences at all hours, and it is possible for a document to be edited round the clock between the UK and Australia.

The list of things academics "should" do pushes us towards unmanageable workloads, particularly at the early stages of our careers. Holidays appear to be a strange concept. Funding agencies and universities alike insist on setting proposal deadlines on 4 January, encouraging work over the holiday period. One colleague sent me a paper on Christmas Eve requesting comments back by New Year's Eve (my institution shuts down completely between the two). Recently, I have had several "something to read on your sun-lounger" emails. The next such one I receive will be filed in the recycling.

It does not have to be this way. Academia can be one of the easiest environments in which to make flexible working work. In the school of mathematical and physical sciences at the University of Reading, we have spent the last year publicising the extent of successful flexible working. There is a vast range of these arrangements in place either formally via the university's wellbeing programme, or informally between staff member and line manager.

While most of these arrangements refer to working full-time with flexible hours (for example, starting early and finishing early to do the school run, or making up hours in the evenings and at weekends), there are also those who have reduced their hours.

There is no evidence that these people are any less productive, or contribute any less to the academic environment on a pro-rata basis than their full-time counterparts. On recent evidence at least, success in academic promotion rounds is also consistent between full and part-time staff. Both men and women across the school hierarchy work flexibly and part-time. We have also had one of the first instances in our university of a male colleague sharing parental leave.

By publicising these varied case studies, we hope to encourage staff that there are options other than the eight-day week, thereby retaining as many of our staff as possible. Indeed our approach to flexible working was an important factor in recruiting to two senior posts in the past six months.

According to our human resources department, 80% full-time-equivalent is around 29 hours per week. For my part-time years, I have logged my hours, and taken time off in lieu. I also kid myself that reading about gender in science or science communication (my pet subjects) is a hobby, and therefore acceptable to do outside my logged hours. I wouldn't claim I always succeed in sticking to HR's definition of my working hours, but last year I only worked two days 'unpaid'.

It is not always easy to work in a different way, but I seem to be meeting more and more people who don't buy into the 24/7 culture. To avoid losing these valuable contributors, global academia must make the working culture supportive of alternative ways to scale the ivory tower.

Eleanor Highwood is professor of climate physics and head of the department of meteorology at the University of Reading – follow her on Twitter @EllieHighwood

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Top 5 best and worst things about my time studying abroad in America | Richard Morris

50 States and their Mottos by artist Emily Wick, from the book Mapping America, Exploring the Continent. Photograph: Black Dog Publishing Ltd

A Brit studying abroad across the pond might not sound that adventurous, but it's been an eye-opening year for me at the University of West Georgia in the much stereotyped US south. Here's the best and worst of what I learned about America:

I'm not very good with numbers, so maybe this didn't help me, but I still cannot understand American coins after living here for 10 months. One of the coins which is larger actually has a lower value than a coin which is smaller (and of the same colour), go figure. "Dimes" and "nickels," still mean nothing to me.

Having said that, you get phenomenal value for money everywhere. Buy a drink which isn't alcoholic (because you're under 21) and you get free unlimited refills at the vast majority of establishments. First few months I was here I kept rejecting refills, presuming they'd show up on the bill, but they never do. You'll also find the portion sizes here are more than generous, taking home meals in "to-go boxes" is commonplace.

Beyond meals, shopping is also generally cheaper in America. Even organic foods are basically on sale.

I paid $687.44 per semester for the mandatory international student health insurance that all internationals must take upon enrolling at my institution. It covered me for the student health centre, a couple of practices outside the campus and one hospital. Republicans say that Britain's National Health Services is evil and doesn't work … try private medical insurers.

When you're not embroiled in a spat with a local hospital as to whether or not your insurance plan covers you for that particular treatment at that particular hospital, the hospitality you receive when visiting American homes is second to none. I have been shown nothing but kindness from Americans, and I've been invited to countless people's homes during the year to spend the weekend with them, rather than being trapped in university dormitories. The TVs are also huge, which makes a day of Netflix after finals a reliable choice.

I don't know about you, but there is nothing better than hearing the same Top 40 songs repeated over and over again. I thought the repetition of songs on Capital FM in the UK was bad enough, but here it's just the same playlist, almost hourly. In the south it's either that or country music stations, choose your poison.

Also, try and get any informed debate from any major national news network in the US, MSNBC will invite on mostly liberals to their shows and come to the conclusion that background checks for gun buyers are a good thing. Fox News will do the exact opposite. CNN doesn't quite have the open debate that I'd like to see. As a result, all politics here is skewed towards spin, not facts. Don't get me started on the one third of every televisual hour being advert breaks, either.

Yes, Intercourse, PA does really exist. There are also some amazing street names, if you fancy living on a student visa in a country in which most streets use any of the following names "Creek", "Lakeview", "Circle", "Way", "Court" and "Drive" then be my guest. I have no issue with the names here, but some of them are a little bizarre, if overly optimistic: "Happy Valley Circle", for instance, in Georgia. The numbering idea for towns and cities is very wise, however, "1st Street", "2nd Street" and so on. I like the system, the names just take a while to adjust to.

The interstate highways are a beautiful system, modelled by President Dwight Eisenhower on the autobahns in Germany, but unfortunately that is where my love for American roads ends. Each junction in America is of increasing complexity, it seems to me, with some angles almost making it impossible to make a turn quickly enough. Road networks here also seem to have either too much information, meaning an information overload three miles before an exit is due, or not enough, and without a GPS you'd be completely stuck.

How can a Brit go abroad and not mention the weather? While Georgia weather is bipolar (it snowed in February, the next day it was 24 celsius, we also had hailstorms during spring break), when it is beautiful, it is stunning. Fortunately, the weather being beautiful accounts for about 70-80% of the year.

Asking for Oregano in any Subway sandwich causes a minor crisis at every outlet I have been to. For some reason, all the syllables from this word are removed, yet one of my host "moms" complains how the Brits drop the ends of words (Buckingham, Birmingham, Manchester, etc), usually, Americans are the ones to extend the vowels, but with oregano, this does not apply at all, clearly. I did once find myself saying to a friend on Skype after three months of being here, "oh, what a beautiful accent you have", I thought that was something only Americans said.

Clumsy sentences are also abound, "Gotten sick" and "Keep off of the grass/rocks/enjoyable water feature" are personal favourites.

America is beautiful. I went travelling out west over the Christmas break and took over 1,000 photos in a week. Even the scenery where the houses are set in Georgia is beautiful. A lot of America is truly stunning. The suburbs are peaceful and quiet, with birdsong and the gentle rustle of wind through the trees as you step out of a car. I've heard California is even nicer, but I really can't imagine how that's possible.

I'm so torn, America is far better than I ever expected, but at the same time I must return to the UK to continue my studies. As much as this country has been great to me, and it really has, the people are just fantastic, I must return to the UK, where no one talks on public transport and where we'll complain when it's too hot and moan when it's too cold, despite packing inappropriate clothing for both occasions. I can't wait, but at the same time I'm leaving a fan of our former colony.

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