Menu:
I'm No Supermom: Balancing Tenure and Parenthood
by Amy HosethFemale academics find balancing a rigorous professional career and the demands of parenthood to be a challenge. More than one researcher has noted the patriarchal bias of the tenure system, which requires women to work aggressively towards tenure during the same years in which they are most likely to become pregnant or have young children at home. While tenure requirements may be different for academic librarians than for other faculty, the stress of juggling a demanding tenure schedule and a family is difficult, no matter your discipline.
At my age (34) I'm at the top end of today's next generation of librarians - a generation often defined by a demand for a more equal balance between their personal and professional lives. And, as a junior faculty member completing her first year on the tenure track, as well as the mother of a two-year-old son, I'm trying to strike that same healthy balance in my own life. While I certainly don't have all the answers, I do have some suggestions for balancing the pursuit of tenure and motherhood.
Get Organized
Organization is the ingredient that keeps both my work and home lives flowing smoothly. At work, this means keeping lists of projects and deadlines, maintaining a detailed calendar of appointments and meetings, and blocking off dedicated time for research and writing. The best investment I've made recently was in a combination cell phone/PDA, so that I can keep my calendar, personal contacts, and assorted notes and reminders (including my tenure schedule) all in one place. Staying one step ahead of things is a constant struggle, but I find that the more "advance work" I do, the more time I ultimately have to enjoy my roles as both academic librarian and parent.
Schedule Time to Write
Because getting published is such an important component of tenure, it's critical to make time for writing and research. I regularly block off chunks of time each week when I can write and conduct research at the office without the daily interruptions of meetings and classes. Don't be afraid to shut your door - with a note to indicate what you're working on - so that you can focus. If you have the flexibility to work from home, make sure that you can shut out any distractions (piles of dirty laundry, spilled apple juice) while you're there.
Find a Support Network
Within your library or within the larger academy, seek out others in similar situations. If nothing else, this will help you recognize that you're not facing these challenges alone. Librarianship remains a largely feminized profession, and the ever-increasing numbers of younger librarians coming to work make it likely that you won't be the only young mother on the job. Networking with other mothers pursuing tenure, whether within the library or across campus, will benefit you on both a professional and a personal level.
Demonstrate your Dedication
While I don't suggest that you avoid posting your child's artwork in your office, or refrain from discussing junior's latest achievements, I do encourage tenure-track moms to make sure that the right people understand your dedication to your job and to achieving tenure. Like it or not, working mothers of young children are often seen as less committed to their work. By focusing on the job at hand, actively engaging in your library, and working solidly towards your tenure requirements - in short, by being a good employee! - you can reassure your superiors that, while you may change more diapers than your colleagues, you are no less of a professional than they are.
Sometimes Good Enough is... Good Enough
As you wrestle with the strict requirements and intense timeline of tenure, it is important to remember that you can't be the best at everything. Every library has super-achievers who will have published more articles, served on more committees, and accomplished more professional goals than you. Tenure is not a competition; it's an individual accomplishment. While some junior faculty stay up late reading professional journals, I spend most evenings reading The Runaway Bunny and playing toy trucks with my son - and I wouldn't have it any other way.
It Takes a Team
A supportive network of trusted individuals - particularly partners and childcare providers - is essential not only to your family's well-being, but also to your professional productivity. The tenure process impacts the whole family, particularly in terms of financial/job security and professional opportunities, so having that support is critical. Whether you have a husband who watches the kids while you attend a professional conference or find a daycare with flexible hours, you'll be better able to focus on your professional goals when you have a reliable team around you to provide help and moral support.
Take a Break from Guilt
While it may seem that the terms "working mother" and "guilt complex" are synonymous, they shouldn't be - at least, not according to recent research. A new study indicates that both working and non- working moms spend 14.1 hours per week tending to their children, vs. 10.2 hours per week in 1965 (Bianchi, 2006). Despite the guilt felt by millions of working moms, we're still managing to spend more time with our children, on average, than our own mothers spent with us.
While balancing the pursuit of tenure with motherhood is not an easy challenge, it is definitely possible. In interviews with tenure- track moms, these women revealed a number of perceived benefits of having both an academic career and a family, including a broader perspective on work and family, greater social support, and increased self-esteem (Ward, 2004). As a new generation of academic librarians joins the workforce - many of them young mothers or mothers-to-be - striking this balance between tenure and family will hopefully become, if not easy, at least much more common.
Suggested Reading
Bianchi, Suzanne M., John P. Robinson, and Melissa A. Milkie. Changing Rhythms of American Family Life. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2006.
St. George, Donna. (2007) "Despite 'Mommy Guilt,' Time With Kids Increasing." The Washington Post, 3/20/07: A1.
Ward, Kelly and Lisa Wolf-Wendel. (2004) "Academic Motherhood: Managing Complex Roles in Research Universities." The Review of Higher Education. 27(2): 233-257.
Williams, Joan. (2000) "What Stymies Women's Academic Careers? It's Personal." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47(16): B10.
Young, Diane and Ednita M. Wright. (2001) "Mothers Making Tenure." Journal of Social Work Education, 37(3): 555-568.
Zemon, Mickey and Alice Harrison Bahr. (2005) "Career and/or Children: Do Female Academic Librarians Pay a Price for Motherhood?" College & Research Libraries, 66(5): 394-405.
Amy Hoseth is an Instruction Librarian and Assistant Professor at Colorado State University Libraries in Fort Collins. Her son was born exactly one day after she received her MLS degree from the University of Maryland at College Park.