Dueling Clocks: How Women Academics Balance Childcare with the Road to Tenure
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Date
2011-07-05
Authors
Careless, Erin
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Abstract
This study looks at the experience of academic women as they attempt to combine the
demanding roles of motherhood and being an academic seeking tenure. My thesis identifies
several themes related to this notion of role-balancing for women: the gendered division of
childcare and housework, women’s experiences in academe, sources of support for women, the
influence of neoliberalism in academic institutions, and both tenure and family-friendly policies
(Armenti, 2004; Comer & Stites-Doe, 2006; Perna, 2005; Ward & Wolf-Wendel, 2004; Young
& Wright, 2001). Data from five individuals representing both tenure-track and tenured
academics was obtained using a narrative inquiry approach that involved a combination of
interviews, document analysis, and a visual representation of labour tasks. A thematic analysis
was developed using a combination of grounded theory and a critical feminist perspective. The
results from this study may assist in the creation or adaptation of supportive, university-based
policy for academics who are parents, particularly mothers.