Work and Well-Being in Science

Are Scientists Flourishing?

The largest international study of scientists' well-being, workplace culture, meaning, and experiences of beauty, awe, and wonder in scientific work.

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About the Study

What matters for the well-being of scientists? How do aesthetic factors shape work and well-being in science?

Work and Well-Being in Science is the largest cross-national research initiative to understand key factors that affect the well-being of scientists.

The study focuses on scientists in physics and biology departments in four countries: India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It examines meaning and identity in work, the role of aesthetics in scientific work, scientists' assessments of their workplace cultures, and the ways in which scientists' work and lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 3,500 scientists completed our survey. We also conducted in-depth interviews with 215 scientists.

Work and Well-Being in Science is also the first international empirical study examining how aesthetic factors shape both the practice of science and the well-being of scientists.

Research Scope

The study combines large-scale survey research with in-depth qualitative interviews to provide a comprehensive portrait of contemporary scientific life.

Read the Methodology (PDF)

Project Trailer

3,442Scientists surveyed
215In-depth interviews
4Countries
2Disciplines: physics and biology
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Project Team

Meet the researchers and staff behind the Work and Well-Being in Science project.

Key Findings

The study examines two major areas: aesthetics in science and well-being in science.

Aesthetics

Many scientists report that encountering the beauty of science motivated them to become scientists. Most of them think it is important for scientists to encounter beauty, awe, and wonder in their work. But scientists are divided about whether beauty is a reliable guide to truth in science.

Well-Being

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant negative impact on the productivity, mental health, and stress levels of scientists. Yet most scientists reported moderate levels of well-being.

Key Findings: Well-Being in Science

How are scientists faring?

We measured the overall well-being of scientists using a reduced version of the Flourishing Index developed by the Harvard Human Flourishing Program. The scale measures life-satisfaction, physical health, mental health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial security. We also measured scientists’ job satisfaction and burnout at work.

72%Reported being mostly or completely satisfied with their jobs
62%Report that the pandemic worsened their mental health
51%Have seen an increase in mental health challenges among colleagues
43%Say their work feels more stressful than before

Well-being and job satisfaction

  • On average, scientists reported moderately high levels of well-being and job satisfaction.
  • Scientists in India and the UK reported significantly lower levels of well-being than their counterparts in Italy and the US.
  • Differences between countries may reflect the relative impact of the pandemic on scientists during the survey period from May to September 2021.

COVID-19 impacts

  • 62% of scientists report that the pandemic worsened their mental health.
  • 51% of scientists report an increase in mental health challenges among colleagues.
  • 43% of scientists report that the pandemic worsened their physical health.
  • 43% of scientists say that their work feels more stressful than before the pandemic.

Gender Inequality in Science

Our survey finds significant gender differences in job satisfaction, burnout, workplace mistreatment, and mental health among scientists.

Workplace culture

Women scientists are significantly more likely than men to report that their workplaces have an unhealthy or toxic culture.

Burnout and job satisfaction

Women scientists are also significantly more likely than men to experience emotional exhaustion at work and report significantly lower levels of job satisfaction.

Workplace mistreatment

Compared to male scientists, female scientists are significantly more likely to experience harassment, public humiliation or shaming, bullying, discrimination, and malicious gossip or rumors at work.

Mental health and flourishing

Women scientists report higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of overall flourishing than male scientists.

Implications from the Findings

Scientific institutions must take seriously the links between workplace culture, aesthetics, mental health, and flourishing.

Research Culture and the Future of Science

Aesthetic experience is associated with job satisfaction, mental health, and well-being. Yet institutional culture often drains the beauty out of science and the wonder out of scientists. Institutional pressures perversely incentivize scientists and push some out of academia altogether.

  • Institutional reform is crucial.
  • Reimagine science without the perverse incentive structure.
  • Prioritize nurturing wonder and creativity at work.

Well-Being in Science

Scientific and academic institutions must address scientists' well-being, especially in less well-resourced institutions and among minorities in the scientific community. The findings also show the urgency of addressing mental health concerns among postgraduate students and early-career scientists.

Gender Inequality in Science

Although scientific institutions have made strides in addressing gender inequality, more work remains. The disadvantages suffered by women scientists include a mental health toll that diminishes the vitality of the scientific enterprise.

Scientists and Science Communication

The value of aesthetics may not be primarily to improve public trust in scientists or in science understood as facts. Rather, it may help cultivate a more adequately scientific posture toward the world: a taste for the beauty of understanding, an appreciation of surprise, a willingness to change one's priors in the face of evidence, and learning from the collective efforts of the community of inquiry.

Publications

Peer-reviewed and public-facing work produced from the study.

Academic Publications

Popular Articles

Media Coverage

Media

Listen to project conversations and watch the Work and Well-Being in Science video collection.

Podcast

Video Playlist

View the full playlist on YouTube

Past Events

Scenes from project gatherings, conversations, and symposia.

A large audience attending a presentation about beauty in science
Five project participants gathered outside a historic stone building
Presenters gathered after a symposium session
Panelists speaking onstage at the Beauty at Work international symposium
Participants in roundtable conversations during a project workshop
A presenter leading a discussion during a project workshop
Researchers gathered around a conference table for a project workshop
Project participants sharing a meal together
An audience seated for a project presentation

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