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Summary:

"What it's really like to be a parent in the world of higher education, and how academia can make this hard climb a little less steep Academia has a big problem. For many parents--especially mothers--the idea of "work-life balance" is a work-life myth. Parents and caregivers work harder than ever to grow and thrive in their careers while juggling the additional responsibilities that accompany parenthood. Sudden disruptions and daily constraints such as breastfeeding, sick days that keep children home from school, and the sleep deprivation that plagues the early years of parenting threaten to derail careers. Some experience bias and harassment related to pregnancy or parental leave. The result is an academic Chutes and Ladders, where career advancement is nearly impossible for parents who lack access to formal or informal support systems. In The PhD Parenthood Trap, Kerry F. Crawford and Leah C. Windsor reveal the realities of raising kids, on or off the tenure track, and suggest reforms to help support parents throughout their careers. Insights from their original survey data and poignant vignettes from scholars across disciplines make it clear that universities lack understanding, uniform policies, and flexibility for family formation, hurting the career development of parent-scholars. Each chapter includes recommendations for best practices and policy changes that will help make academia an exemplar of progressive family-leave policies. Topics covered include pregnancy, adoption, miscarriage and infant loss, postpartum depression, family leave, breastfeeding, daily parenting challenges, the tenure clock, and more. The book concludes with advice to new or soon-to-be parents to help them better navigate parenthood in academia. The PhD Parenthood Trap provides scholars, academic mentors, and university administrators with empirical evidence and steps to break down personal and structural barriers between parenthood and scholarly careers."-- [Provided by publisher]

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• 1. Surviving or Thriving in the Academy? Insights from a Survey on Family Formation and Parenthood
• 2. Thesis Baby : Getting Student Parents the Support they Need
• 3. How to Scale the Ladders While Sidestepping the Chutes : On Parenting without the Security of Tenure
• 4. The Elusive Work-Life Balance : Daily Challenges in Academic Parenting
• 5. Doctor, Parent : Recognizing the Range of Experiences
• 6. Sick and Tired : The Physical Toll of Parenthood
• 7. Love, Loss, and Longing : Fertility Struggles, Adoption, Miscarriage, and Infant and Child Loss
• 8. Express Yourself : Breastfeeding and Lactation in the Ivory Tower
• 9. Looking Back, Moving Forward : Conversation Starters for a More Inclusive Academic Environment
• Survey Questions
• References
• List of Vignette Contributors
• Index.

Author/Creator:

Crawford, Kerry F. , author

Contributors:

Windsor, Leah C. , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

The PhD parenthood trap: caught between work and family in academia [by Crawford, K.F.]

Other Related Resources:

Print version: PhD parenthood trap [by Crawford, K.F.] (Washington, DC : Georgetown University Press, [2021] — ISBN 9781647120665; LCCN 2020048525; OCLC Number 1227840799)

Subjects:

Women college teachers — United States — Social conditions

Women in higher education — United States — Social conditions

Women graduate students — United States — Social conditions

Working mothers — United States

Work and family — United States

Work-life balance — United States

Women college teachers — Social conditions

Women college teachers

Women in higher education

Social conditions

Women graduate students — Social conditions

Women graduate students

Working mothers

Work and family

Work-life balance

United States

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on: Online resource; title from digital title page (JSTOR, viewed March 9, 2022).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 257 pages) : illustrations

Digital Characteristics:

text file

Call Numbers:

LB2332.3 .C739 2021eb

ISBNs:

9781647120672 (electronic bk.)
1647120675 (electronic bk.)
9781647120665 [Invalid]
1647120667 [Invalid]

OCLC Numbers:

1269317185