Maggie Doherty’s recent article about the challenges of parenting while on the tenure track resonated with many readers. So we asked for your stories: What has your experience with parenting in academe been? Did you feel supported by your institution? What is your university doing right — and what can it do better?
Here’s what some of you said. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What have been your experiences with parenting while teaching at a college?
I often had to create a class schedule that allowed me to pick my children up from school. Also, there was pressure as a professional to attend department meetings late in the afternoon. My experiences at my current R1 institution have been more flexible than what I experienced while working for a liberal-arts college. Every semester I had to bring my daughters to campus during the first weeks of the semester because their school started later. They either sat in my office or in the back of the class. Students were fine and nobody frowned.
—Thabiti Lewis, professor of English, Washington State University at Vancouver
Incredibly hard. I was in an adjunct position for 12 years while my daughter was still at home. After she left, I was finally able to get a senior lecturer position — for about seven times the pay I was making for the 12 years I was adjuncting.
—S. A. Laurent-Muehleisen, senior lecturer of physics, Illinois Institute of Technology
Because children are an endless well of needs, and any interesting work (teaching considered part of this category) is an endless source of possible tasks, I don’t think there is ever a good balance between parenting and teaching. But is balance the goal? Possibly, the endless demands of both create a complementary dynamic. I don’t know. Currently, I’m doing more administration than teaching, but I am both grateful for (and continually frustrated by) the way in which one balances (and constrains) the other.
—Shelley Hawthorne Smith, professor of practice, University of Arizona
As a parent, do you feel adequately supported by your college or university?
My university has improved its recognition of parental responsibilities, but not during Covid. Kind words but no substance.
—Kathryn Conrad, professor of English, University of Kansas
Yes and no. There could have been more support services. On the other hand, the university doesn’t expect you to be at work 9 to 5, because an academic career isn’t a 9 to 5 job. The bigger problem is academics-related travel, and I don’t know what the university is able to do about that. Presenting at conferences and accepting invited talks is part of the profession.
—Tom Leustek, professor of plant biology, Rutgers University at New Brunswick
At the department level, my chair and colleagues are great. At the university level, absolutely not. My university has no maternity or parental-leave policy in place. I got lucky that my baby happened to be due in May, at the end of the school year, so my summer (which is not a part of my nine-month contract) became my maternity leave.
—Jessica Gasiorek, associate professor of communicology, University of Hawaii-Manoa
How can your university or college better support parents? What is it already doing well?
Things have changed dramatically: Tenure clock stops, one semester leave for both parents, no meetings before 10 a.m. or after 2 p.m., limited service commitments (no commitments if junior faculty), more day-care centers. A world of difference between my Ph.D. students’, now professors, and my experience. I also hope they do not have to hear some of the comments I had to endure from administrators, such as: “Yeah, it’s hard. When we had our first baby I told my wife it was impossible to do it all, so she quit her job.”
—Cristina Sanz, professor of Spanish and linguistics, Georgetown University
It started offering child care this year and provided remote tutoring options starting last year (students were paid to tutor school-age kids via Zoom). Aligning the college calendar with school vacations would be a huge help. Offering child care at all evening events (there are many) would be helpful. Recognizing the burden that single parents face when thinking about professional travel or any other professional activity (not only do we not have support, we have only one income).
—Jen Coane, associate professor of psychology, Colby College
In our department, we negotiate teaching times amongst ourselves. I think that’s a big help, rather than being assigned a 3 p.m. class and worrying about finding after-school care.
—Claire Campbell, professor of history, Bucknell University
Acknowledge gender differences in child-care responsibilities, even though the topic is taboo.
—Laurie Hogin, professor of art and design, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
