Child Rearing as a Career Impediment to Women Assistant Professors

Over 40 percent of women assistant professors in a recent survey identified publishing, teaching, committees, and “time required by children” as serious impediments to achieving tenure—many more than the number who reported that sexual harassment and sexism were serious obstacles. Child rearing takes time—a fact universities have long ignored. This article explores policy changes which will accommodate women professors’ time commitments to children.

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