Being part-time does impact on the rest of the team, for example full team meetings could only happen on days I was in. However, there was never a concern about workload or productivity. In fact I would argue that with a job-share you get more than 100% of a person, plus you have two brains for every problem.

My job-share partner was quite different to me so we often had different ways of looking at a problem and were able to learn from each other, dividing tasks according to our strengths and preferences and making sure to have an overlap. Communication is vitally important - we set up systems to keep each other updated each week about what was happening. The danger is that, in a job-share, you become reliant on always having someone else to make decisions with, and it can sometimes feel paralysing if you can't contact the other person when a decision needs to be made.

Working part-time has been hugely beneficial to me, my family and the University. I was able to spend time with my children when they were very young. Once they were both at school, I used the time to get tasks done, including exercise, freeing up time to spend with them at weekends. I was chair of the school PTA for three years, and also trained for a triathlon. Being part-time means when I am at work I am fully committed and productive because I know I have time to myself built into the week, as well as time for my family.

In my current role, which I have been in for almost a year, I work four full days per week. My children are a little older, so I felt comfortable that I wasn't with them so much during the week, but wanted to retain one day free to collect them from school and take them to their clubs. My current boss was very open to my proposal to work 0.8FTE which I really appreciated and, in return, I am flexible about attending important meetings and events on my non-working day if I’m needed.