Transcript FACULTY HAVE FAMILIES TOO Why are work/family issues important?  Almost all faculty members will face some kind of family issue during their careers,

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 faculty and work/family policies:

"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"
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"
How are women faculty affected?

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.
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 nontenure-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
BEGIN
DISCUSSION