An impact of COVID-19 pandemic on research activities and work-life balance for geoscientists in Japan

The rapid spread out of the COVID-19 continuous to have a great impact on not only social life but also academic and educational activities. The geoscience fields in Japan are no exception. The committee for Diversity Management and Talent Pool, Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) launched an urgent survey between 28 June and 9 July, 2020 by. The goal of the survey was quantifying the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on research activities and work-life balance for geoscientists in Japan. The questionnaire was published two languages: Japanese and English. Although the questionnaire system was opened for a short period of time (12 days), over 400 answers were obtained, of which 351 in Japanese and 65 in English. The results revealed that activities of female geoscientists have been damaged by increasing burden of housework and childcare during confinement period by a state of coronavirus emergency, more than male. We present here some highlights of these results of COVID-19 survey by JpGU.

In the free text of the responses, there were specific and earnest appeals regarding the support necessary and expected. The support requests were targeted to various entities, namely JpGU, workplaces, schools, etc. The most common requests made to JpGU were to provide online educational materials and online lecture know-how, and to introduce virtual options to future conferences. Survey responders with childcare responsibilities pointed out the difficulties to attend conferences from home.

In conclusion, we need to reevaluate our consideration for the diverse members, possessing various background and impairments, who are easily left behind in the rapid changes, in academic activities due to COVID-19.