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Sunday, Aug. 10: PDW on Combining Parenting and Academic Life

  • 1.  Sunday, Aug. 10: PDW on Combining Parenting and Academic Life

    Posted 08-01-2008 10:55

    (Apologies for cross postings)

    The questions might be simple, the answers often not.  Especially when some of the underlying assumptions of the standard advice do not hold... Interested?  Please join us for a candid discussion:

    If, When and How? Combining Parenting and Academic Life

    When:   Sunday, August 10, 10:00am-12:00noon.
    Where:   Hilton Anaheim, Santa Barbara Room.

    Panelists (alphabetical order):  
            Robyn A. Berkley; Southern Illinois U., Edwardsville
            Charlice Hurst; U. of Florida
            Jeffrey A Mello; Barry U.
            Ron Ophir; York U.
    Co-sponsored by GDO, CAR and the Mentoring Committee.

    The purpose of this workshop is to provide an opportunity for participants to discuss challenges and career implications of a diverse set of parenting situations.  We have all heard the standard advice about becoming parents in the course of our academic careers.  "Time childbirth after tenure."  "Try not to stop the clock."  "Take advantage of campus child care, and hire good help at home."  We have also heard about the benefits of being academics... "You won't find this kind of flexibility anywhere else."  One gets the sense that academia is a sort of parenting nirvana, yet the questions are there and the answers often not simple.  What happens when some of the underlying assumptions of the standard advice do not hold?  Our panelists will share their personal stories, we hope you will too.  

    What about those who are in a contractual (non tenure-track) administrative position that requires regular office hours?  What if one entered academia well after college-having already put off having children for the sake of a first career-and are still slogging toward a PhD at an age when putting off childbearing until tenure would make the former unlikely to happen at all?  Or, what happens when one transitions through various changes while still keeping her role as parent in the forefront - a commitment that does not disappear or can be put temporarily on hold?  What if one embarks on the parenting journey as a single dad, challenged with societal prescriptions and expectations?  And, what about raising a child in a broader climate that is often hostile to the very idea of you as a parent and a family, a reality that gay and lesbian parents often face?  What then?  Our panelists will offer their own first-person accounts as a springboard into further discussion in which you as a participant will, hopefully, share your own experiences.  The common ground we discover will serve as a basis for generating suggestions for affecting more inclusive and supportive environments for parents of all stripes in the Academy of Management and at our home institutions.

    Cannot come but would like to join the discussion?  Do you have an issue/idea that cannot wait?  We have set an on-line forum to facilitate the discussion.  The forum is located at:  http://division.aomonline.org/GDO/forum/ under the 2008 category.  Please contact Ron Ophir (ophir@yorku.ca) to gain access to the forum.