US vs Europe: hours in lab
DAWN C. GORDON
I7BF at UNB.CA
Tue Feb 20 18:53:59 EST 1996
Of the European graduate students I've known at my university
(from U.K. and Germany), all have worked long hours at the lab. It
seemed to me it was a work habit they brought with them, rather than
acquired here. I myself work long hours infrequently, such as when
a deadline has to be met. I sometimes feel guilty for not putting
in long days and weekends all the time.
In article <lab_sakano-2002961332290001 at lsa6mac19.berkeley.edu> lab_sakano at maillink.berkeley.edu (Linda Kingsbury) writes:
>In article <9601198247.AA824750380 at nas.edu>, jjoy at nas.edu ("Janet Joy") wrote:
>> It seems that American students have little choice but to work to
>> extremes since they are compared to each other in the job market. I
>> wish I could believe that the American worker bees learned so much more
>> and were so much more productive than their counterparts in other
>> countries, but my experiences don't really support that idea. . . .
>> although I admit anecdotal data should be taken with a grain of salt.
>> Maybe my experiences are atypical. My suspicion is that Americans are
>> just busier, but neither more creative, wise, or good at science than
>> scientists in other countries.
>An interesting question...do longer hours make a person more productive?
>Up to a point they may. On the other hand, overwork is well known to
>decrease creativity, accuracy, etc. Are Americans overworked, or
>Europeans underworked? What is the ideal number of hours/week for best
>productivity? What, if any, extenuating circumstances should be
>addressed? Commute time? Family?
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