"I’ve Worked Very Hard and Slept Very Little": Mothers on Tenure Track in Academia

It has been well documented over the last several decades that juggling the responsibilities of paid work and home is difficult (Anderson, 2003). With the dramatic increase in the number of women who have entered the paid work force in the U.S. over the past 30 years (from just over 40 percent in 1970 to 60 percent in 2000) (U.S. Department of Labor, 2001) sociologists have sought to understand how this occupational shift affects families. Some research has shown that for families to balance the two spheres of paid work and home, women end up taking on a "second shift" or a "double day" of housework and childcare (Hochschild, 1989). In terms ofwhich sphere is prioritized, working class women are more likely to put family first while professional women see work as more central in their lives (Burris, 1991). Regardless, one of the most common strategies in coping with the competing demands of paid work and family is for women to reduce their work hours or to limit their careers, especially after the birth of a child (Becker and Moen, 1999). Despite a growing literature on the intersection of paid work and family and the ways that women balance the two (Hochschild, 1989), little research has been cbnducted on the experiences of mothers working in professional careers that offer a certain degree of flexibility and autonomy: faculty tenure track positions at a college or university. These positions, requiring years of schooling and preparation, offer-at least in theory-a large amount of flexibility in terms of where and when the work is performed. Unlike many other jobs, such as clerical work, law, or information technology, university faculty usually do not have to be in their offices standard working hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. If they choose, they can do their work, such as grading papers and working on research projects, at their homes or in the field, and often they do not have teaching responsibilities in the summer.