Well-being and career instability across genders in the Spanish Astronomical Society

Abstract

We present the results of a comprehensive survey conducted among members of the Spanish Astronomical Society (Sociedad Espanola de Astronomia, SEA) to assess well-being, professional satisfaction, and family-work balance of researchers in astronomy. The survey addressed multiple aspects of professional life, including happiness, career stability, publication pressure, and access to childcare services during scientific meetings. Responses were examined across gender and career stages to identify trends and sources of dissatisfaction.

Figures (4)

• Figure 1: Responses to the well-being questions by gender and professional stage. Each panel corresponds to the question indicated in the header. Responses are grouped by professional stage (Tenured – Professors or Researchers –, Postdoctoral Researcher, and Other) and separated by gender (Women – W, Men – M, and Non-binary / Prefer not to say – NB+). In the first panel, the “NA” category corresponds to Prefer not to answer.
• Figure 2: Pie charts summarizing survey responses by gender. Each panel displays the distribution of responses to the question indicated in the header. In all panels, the color legend is shown on the right-hand side. The left and right charts correspond to women and men, respectively.
• Figure 3: Support for childcare services and well-being indicators for researchers requiring childcare. Left: Pie chart showing responses to the question Do you support the use of SEA funds to provide childcare services during the SEA meetings?, with gender distribution indicated in the outer ring. Right: For researchers who reported needing childcare services during SEA meetings, plots showing gender distribution, happiness index, and whether they have considered leaving academia.
• Figure 4: Relationship between the year of tenure and the number of years spent as a postdoctoral researcher prior to obtaining tenure, with points color-coded by gender.