Faculty Have Families Too

Faculty Have Families Too

Why are work/family issues important?

Almost all faculty members will face some kind of family issue during their careers, and the growing participation of women in the faculty has increased concern about balancing work and family.

Sensitivity to work/family issues can make faculty more satisfied and productive.

Why are work/family issues important?

Family policies may affect recruitment and retention of qualified faculty and may be particularly important to female faculty.

“The success of faculty members in balancing their academic careers with family responsibilities is a matter of more than individual happiness: it is also a matter of addressing structural inequities and attracting the most qualified candidates to the academic profession.”

John W. Curtis (2004), "Balancing work and Family for the Faculty: Why It's Important"

What Common Family Issues Do Faculty Face? Children

childbirth and adoption finding safe affordable childcare

Illness Care giving

for aging parents for an ill or disabled child, spouse or other relative

Quality of family life finding time for family responsibilities employment for partners

Women faculty and work/family policies: Gender and family issues

both men and women have family responsibilities and/or face family and personal emergencies

but women have traditionally felt those pressures most strongly, particularly in the case of childcare & eldercare

Women faculty and work/family policies: Gender and family issues

Research suggests that women remain important caregivers for aging or ill parents at time when the population of the elderly is growing

Only women give birth

"Women who have children soon after receiving their PhDs are much less likely to achieve tenure than men who have children at the same point in their careers.”

Joan C. Williams (2004),

"Hitting the Maternal Wall"

Women faculty and work/family policies:

Childcare: Who is affected? New faculty who want families or who already

have families must balance their responsibilities against institutional requirements for tenure.

"Biological clocks and tenure clocks have the unfortunate tendency to tick loudly, clearly, and at the same time."

Kelly Ward and Lisa Wolf-Wendel (2004),"Fear Factor: How Safe Is It to Make Time for Family"

Even tenured faculty can find themselves part of the "sandwich" generation responsible for both children and aging parents while still trying to fulfill institutional expectations. This may have implications for post-tenure review.

Some research suggests that "mommy tracking" explains the concentration of female faculty in contingent positions and non-doctoral institutions.

How are women faculty affected?

Family Formation and Academic Careers

The tenure probationary period and childrearing occur at the same life stage

Women having a baby prior to 5 years after receiving a PhD are less likely than other women to achieve tenure. The same is not true for men.

Mason and Goulden, “Do Babies Matter?”Academe, Nov-Dec 2002

Family Formation and Academic Careers

Women who earn tenure are much more likely than tenured men not to have children.

Tenured women in science are more likely than other tenured women not to have children.

Women with children are more likely to consider leaving academia.

Mason and Goulden, “Do Babies Matter?” Academe, Nov-Dec 2002

Family Formation and Academic Careers

Faculty women who give birth early in their academic careers are more likely to be in the academic “second tier”: in part-time or non-tenure-track positions or at community colleges or non-research institutions.

Mason and Goulden, “Do Babies Matter?”

Academe, Nov-Dec 2002

There are minimal requirements that all institutions must meet:

Federal Law

Pregnancy Discrimination Act Requires employers to provide the same disability

benefits for pregnancy as for other physical disabilities

This usually means 6 weeks of leave for normal childbirth

For more information: see “Pregnancy and the Academy: Questions and Answers for Faculty and Administrators”

by Saranna R.Thornton, available from the AAUP

There are minimal requirements that all institutions must meet:

Federal Law

FMLA [Family and Medical Leave Act]

Requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family responsibilities for eligible faculty (those with 1,250 hours on the job in the previous year) for eligible family responsibilities including childbirth and adoption or serious illness

For more information see “Pregnancy and the Academy: Questions and Answers for Faculty and Administrators” by Donna R. Euben

and Saranna R.Thornton, available from the AAUP

There are minimal requirements that all institutions must meet:

State laws

May go beyond FMLA:

Recognition of domestic partners

Requirements for paid leave for childbirth or other family related responsibilities

Eligibility requirements for unpaid leave

Institutions may also have to meet the following:

Individual university policies

collective bargaining agreements

other campus policies

individual department or school policies

AAUP Recommendations for Best Practices

1974 “Statement on Leaves of Absence for Child-Bearing, Child-Rearing and Family Emergencies” was superseded by

2001 “Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work”

The full text of the 2001 statement is available on the AAUP website

AAUP Recommendations for Best Practices

Some Ways that Institutions Can Help: Information:

community resources

registered daycare and eldercare centers

Counseling: family and marriage counseling

caregiver support groups

AAUP Recommendations for Best Practices

Ways that Institutions Can Help (cont.) Resources:

on-campus daycare

eldercare centers

family resource centers

Time: stopping the tenure clock for family-related leaves when

requested

schedules that reflect family responsibilities

AAUP Recommendations for Best Practices

Ways that Institutions Can Help (cont.) Flexibility in scheduling to accommodate work/family

responsibilities Equitable treatment for faculty taking leaves (paid or unpaid) for

family or personal emergencies Stopping the tenure clock during the probationary period for a

maximum of two years Paid leave for pregnancy, adoption and physical disabilities Subsidized child care Institutional support for faculty caring for relatives, spouses or

partners Extend benefits to domestic partners

What’s happening on Your Campus?

Some questions to consider

University Policies:

What are they? Are they clear and readily available? Are they in line with other institutions similar to

yours? Do they meet the needs of your faculty?

What’s happening on Your Campus

Some questions to consider

Practices:

Do deans, department chairs and other administrators understand their role in the process?

Do faculty feel comfortable asking for leave or other accommodation for family issues?

What role do department chairs have in facilitating these policies?

What’s happening on Your Campus

Some questions to consider

Problems:

What real world problems do your faculty face? Are your family policies formal or informal?

Informal policies require more negotiation and are less likely to be consistent

Do your policies cover staff, graduate students, and contingent faculty as well as tenure-track faculty?

Are resources available to make the policies work?

What Next?

Tools to identify existing problems

Workload surveys

Faculty discussions

Departmental discussions

Focused discussions with junior faculty

What Next?

Some possible actions

Press for improvement in areas where campus policies fall below the norm for other colleges and universities

Provide information for department chairs, deans and others about national law and campus policies

Advertise existing policies more effectively

What Next?

Some possible actions

Use new faculty orientation and other forums to make sure faculty are aware of their rights

Identify a particular goal of importance to your faculty and advocate for policy change

Track the use of existing policies on your campus and make the results available