Work and Family
Integration for Faculty: Recommendations for Chairs
Institutions of higher education are increasingly recognizing
that being family-friendly is an asset for faculty recruitment and retention.
Over the last decade, a growing number of colleges and universities instituted
policies for new parents including tenure clock extensions, reductions in
teaching duties, and parental leaves, to name just a few. In terms of policies
and accommodations, much of the focus is on junior faculty and accommodating
birth; there is less attention to the work/family needs of midcareer or more
senior faculty. Institutions tend to assume that once faculty earn tenure and
once children grow older that managing work and family integration comes
naturally and does not require institutional support. Our research shows that
this is not necessarily a safe conclusion, especially for women faculty with
children. The academic career and parenthood are both lifelong commitments and
higher education institutions are best served by recognizing this and respondin
g affirmatively to
work and family needs at all stages of the career. Failure to do so could
result in continued gender stratification in the profession and possibly the
loss of talented professionals in the field.
This article offers recommendations for department chairs
to help early and midcareer faculty members manage work and family. These
suggestions grow out of findings from our longitudinal research project on how
more than one hundred tenure-track women faculty from different institutional
types and across disciplinary fields managed work and family at the
early-career stage (when they face the dual pressures of tenure and infants)
and then again as these same women face midcareer challenges and older
children. (For a complete analysis of the study results, see Ward and
Wolf-Wendel 2012.) Our research indicates that it is possible to manage a
work/family balance, but that as women?s academic careers and families evolve
they face different kinds of challenges and pressures. The findings also
suggest that department chairs play a key role in helping faculty at both
career stages navigate the work and family terrain.
The Findings
The early-career results show that the academic career is
consuming and greedy (as is parenthood), but that the autonomy and flexibility
of the position make managing multiple roles possible. During the early career,
even when policies are available, faculty members are reticent to use them.
Midcareer faculty were less stressed about managing work and family but were,
in general, not making progress toward professional advancement as hoped. Many
were fearful of institutional politics related to promotion and were content to
?stay put? on the professional ladder. For some, it appeared that career
advancement was incompatible with being a good parent. At both career stages,
women were ?making it work? through their own efforts and choices and relied
little on assistance from their institutions or their departments. While it is
important for faculty to manage their own lives, chairs play an essential role
in assisting both junior faculty as they navigate the hurdles of tenure an
d midcareer
faculty as they develop into successful senior scholars.
Our research findings point directly to departmental
contexts and the role chairs play in helping faculty manage work and family
integration. Chairs must be familiar with policies, apply them fairly, and
educate faculty about their use. This education must be extended to those who
may use the policies as well as to those who evaluate the faculty members who
use them (annually as well as for promotion and tenure). Above all, department
chairs must be proactive in maintaining an open climate, where policy issues
regarding work and family are discussed forth-rightly. The following are
specific suggestions for chairs to consider for assisting faculty as they
manage work and family.
All Faculty
Effective policies and practices and an accommodating
culture encourage all faculty to be productive and successful department
members.
Be aware of and advocate for institution-wide policy.
Chairs need to know which policies exist on campus. If there are no (or
limited) policies, chairs must be leaders in creating them. Campuses are
becoming increasingly competitive when it comes to offering leaves as part of
recruitment and retention plans, and those with more progressive policies stand
to recruit and retain more qualified faculty than those without.
Call for department chair training. The widespread lack
of awareness regarding work and family policy suggests that the topic is not
discussed at department chair meetings or at new chair orientations. Chairs
would do well to be leaders among their peers in starting the conversation.
Break the silence. A major finding of our study is that
few people talk about work and family issues, especially with the person having
a baby. Department chairs must take the lead in discussing work/family issues
with their departmental colleagues. Silence may often indicate a respect for
personal boundaries, but creating a hospitable climate for work and family
issues calls first and foremost for talking about it.
Share the wealth. Creative solutions to help faculty
manage work and family must be shared. Talk about work and family within the
department and with chair colleagues.
Understand power differentials. Chairs sometimes do not
know their own power. One of the reasons faculty are fearful to ask department
chairs for ?help? is their awareness of the power chairs have to make decisions
that can affect the faculty career. By recognizing their own power, chairs may
be better able to understand why a new assistant professor is reluctant to talk
about modifying duties to have a baby.
Recognize that one size does not fit all. We are strong
advocates for centralized policy offerings, but no one policy can meet all
faculty needs. Chairs may need to be creative with how they translate policy
options for individual faculty members. A faculty member with a baby born with
complications may need different accommodation from a faculty member with a
trouble-free pregnancy. The same is true at all career phases.
Adopt a life-course perspective. There are different
phases to the academic career, and adopting a long view?a life-course
perspective?can shift the emphasis of work and family as being the concern of
only a few to being the concern of many. We have heard from chairs that they
are nervous about accommodating junior women faculty with children and not
others. Adopting a life-course perspective can show that people may need
accommodation at any time and for a variety reasons. Senior faculty members may
have family concerns as well, ranging from providing for adolescents to caring
for aging parents. If departments take a life-course perspective, then
accommodations and support can be provided for faculty at all stages of the
academic career.
Early-Career Faculty.
Institutional context shapes the overall experience of
early-career faculty. Departmental climate and the institutional mission
influence faculty?s daily work and family lives.
Provide options for covering classes. A significant
concern for the early-career faculty members in our study was how to cover
classes during the semester a baby is born. Opting for an unpaid leave (as
provided by the Family Medical Leave Act) is often not an affordable option for
many faculty, and the twelve-week leave provided does not account for the
length of a typical academic term. Further, many new professors do not have
sick time to compensate for a semester leave. In helping faculty respond to
work/family demands, department chairs must think carefully about what needs to
be taught, when, and by whom. There are several ways chairs can help (depending
on the specific policies of the institution):
? Modified duties: Faculty continue to engage in service
or research obligations but are relieved from teaching responsibilities for a
term. Courses would be canceled or taught by someone else.
? Bank courses: Faculty teach an overload in a different
semester so as to not teach during the semester in question.
? Team teaching: Faculty team-teach a course with another
professor, adjunct, or graduate teaching assistant.
? Alternative formats: Courses are offered in formats
with more flexibility (online, condensed).
Offer support for breast feeding. Breast-feeding mothers
have unique needs that must be recognized and accommodated. New mothers who are
breast feeding should be provided with private, clean spaces to pump and store
breast milk. Faculty members often have private offices, but if that is not the
case then it is up to departments and units to provide lactation spaces.
Midcareer Faculty
Midcareer faculty must manage family responsibilities
while thinking about the myriad of opportunities available to established
faculty members, including administration, promotion to full professor, and
changes in responsibilities.
Regenerate academic careers through modified duties.
Helping midcareer faculty shift their priorities could mean allowing limited
teaching for a semester or a year to reestablish a research program or reducing
service for a year as a way to encourage research or teaching productivity.
Sabbaticals serve this renewal process, but we found that many faculty members
took their sabbaticals shortly after receiving tenure and were not eligible for
another leave even though they were eligible to be considered for promotion. A
modified duty policy for mid-career faculty can help prepare them for promotion
to full professor.
Offer mentoring and support for faculty throughout the
career. Mentorship tends to focus on helping junior faculty achieve tenure.
Mentoring should continue beyond tenure to help faculty members be mindful of
career advancement and the need to maintain productivity. Formalized mentoring
should be available to help prepare department members as they move through the
faculty and administrative pipeline.
Clarify expectations for promotion to full professor. The
tenure process is known for its ambiguity. In response, many campuses have
developed mentoring programs, faculty handbooks, and professional development
materials geared toward junior faculty. Going up for full professor is also
fraught with uncertainty and there is little information available to help
faculty decode this process. Campuses wanting to help faculty members at all
stages of their careers would do well to provide more detailed information
about when faculty are eligible for full professor and what is required. This
information should appear in faculty handbooks, be part of the annual review
process, and be the subject of professional development workshops so that
tenured faculty members can be prompted to think about career advancement.
Provide professional development opportunities for
administration. Many campuses have specified goals to diversify their
administrative ranks in terms of race and gender. However, our midcareer
faculty interviews revealed little interest on the part of respondents in
regard to moving into formal administrative positions. This is due in part to
family responsibilities, but it is also tied to concerns about dealing with
campus politics, conflict, and difficult personalities. Professional
development programs could help provide greater understanding of administrative
roles and help faculty learn more about administrative processes. These
programs could also provide part-time opportunities for faculty to engage in
administrative roles under the guidance of an administrative mentor.
Conclusion
Too often work and family dialogue is about early-career
faculty members who have infants. This type of conversation is important, but
it should not preclude discussion of the needs of faculty at all career stages
and with family members of all ages. It is just as important for department
chairs to be mindful of how work/family concerns affect their more senior
colleagues as they do their more junior ones. In order to create equitable work
environments for faculty, there must be more proactive measures in place than
just adding women at the junior levels and hoping that they progress through
the pipeline. Colleges and universities must recognize that faculty at all
career stages need support and care in order to be productive and successful.
We hope the suggestions presented here inspire department chairs to take the
initiative to help their faculty who have immediate work and family concerns.
Departments that are open to meeting faculty needs and offering reasonable
accommod
ation are likely
to be healthy and hospitable places to work that can better recruit and retain
high-quality faculty.
---------------
Lisa Wolf-Wendel is a professor in the Department of
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Kansas. Kelly
Ward is chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling
Psychology at Washington State University. Email: lwolf@ku.edu,
kaward@ wsu.edu
References
Ward, Kelly, and Lisa Wolf-Wendel. 2012. Academic
Motherhood: How Faculty Manage Work and Family. Bruns- wick, NJ: Rutgers
University Press.
A
study is making the rounds that details a few of the best ways to improve
student achievement. It also touches on the least useful methods.
I shared a
fun image on the Edudemic Facebook page yesterday and it seems to have
resonated with more than a few folks. It details why teaching is a unique
profession, why it's totally different from other jobs, and how. 
Summer break provides
the perfect opportunity for educators who are looking for meaningful
professional learning opportunities. As an Assistant Superintendent for
Learning, here are 5 meaningful PD opportunities to extend learning and build
momentum before heading into a new school year. 
