Do you ever feel like you struggle with balancing family commitments with your work and/or studies?
You’re not alone!
Come and connect with others through the Social Science Division’s new Juggling Family and Work Network, and help shape this member-led community into a space of support, learning, validation and connection.
About the Network
Juggling familial caring responsibilities with the demands of academic work can be overwhelming and isolating. They can feel like separate and competing worlds, with neither getting the time or energy that we would like to give them. The Juggling Family and Work Network is a new initiative from the Social Sciences Division, designed to bring people together who share these struggles and to offer a space to connect, support, inspire and learn from one another. There will be opportunities for social connection, sharing practical strategies, exploring how to integrate academic and family life more sustainably, recognising the strengths that we develop from these challenges, and building confidence for those of us who feel we are often getting it wrong. It is an inclusive network open to anyone with family/caring responsibilities of any kind.
We are keen for this initiative to be shaped by the needs and interests of our members and would love you to join and help to shape our community. There will be an ongoing network Teams channel and two events per term, which you can drop into (online or in person) at any point with children, lunch, pyjamas – no judgement! We know how difficult it can be to make time to attend extra events and want to make sure that ours are as relevant, accessible and helpful as possible. If you have time to answer a few questions on the sign-up form with your feedback on what you would like from the network, we would really appreciate it.
About the Convenor
My name is Amy Jaffa, and I am excited to be convening the Juggling Family and Work Network. I am a part-time DPhil student at the Department of Education, focusing on the UK’s educational provision for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Outside of this, I work part-time for a charity supporting children who have experienced school exclusion or educational disengagement. Since starting my DPhil I have had two children and am currently pregnant with my third. The experience has made me reflect on all that I took for granted during my studies before these life changes, the barriers that those with familial responsibilities can face, and also on the strengths and opportunities for learning that can come from bridging the worlds of family and academic work. I constantly feel that I am doing everything badly and have no answers as to this magic ‘balance’ – but am really looking forward to being part of this network and connecting with others who face similar challenges!
How to Join
Membership is free and open to all postgraduate students and early-career researchers.
Though the network primarily focuses on Social Sciences, students from other fields are welcome to join.
To sign up, just fill out the form, and you'll be added to the mailing list and JFWN Teams group for event updates. As this is a peer network, attending events is entirely optional, so feel free to sign up to the network using the link below regardless of your availability.
JOIN HERE
