For working mothers in academia, tenure track is often a tough balancing act
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The tenure system of academia is uniquely incompatible with the biological clocks of working women, according to a new study, one of the first to examine the persistent "leak" of talented women from the pipeline that produces professors.
For women intent on becoming both scholars and mothers, the timing of the tenure track could not be worse. The average female doctorate is awarded at 34, an age when many college-educated women are starting families. Tenure, a defining moment in a professor's career, is decided roughly seven years later, just as the parenting window is closing.
Researchers from Barnard College in New York interviewed 21 women, all striving to be supermoms at the most demanding time in their careers. Many of the women portrayed their work and family lives in irreconcilable conflict. One mother described working in "survival mode," just doing "the things that I can to not be kicked out." Another said she was no longer being invited to career-building speaking gigs. A third faced the hard truth that she was "never going to be one of those superstars."
The findings, presented last month at a conference of the American Association of University Professors, challenge the common perception that a faculty job might be a
The Leaps and Bounds Occupational Therapy day camp serves kids with autism, learning disabilities and other special needs (TWP).
Researchers from Barnard College in New York interviewed 21 women, all striving to be supermoms at the most demanding time in their careers. Many of the women portrayed their work and family lives in irreconcilable conflict. One mother described working in "survival mode," just doing "the things that I can to not be kicked out." Another said she was no longer being invited to career-building speaking gigs. A third faced the hard truth that she was "never going to be one of those superstars."
The findings, presented last month at a conference of the American Association of University Professors, challenge the common perception that a faculty job might be a
At camp kids with special needs find fun, therapy
Children with special needs can find summer fun and therapy, for a hefty price tag.
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The Leaps and Bounds Occupational Therapy day camp serves kids with autism, learning disabilities and other special needs (TWP).