About That Third Child

An article in the latest issue of The Chronicle confirms what many academic parents already know: Despite the flexible hours, academe isn’t as family friendly as people seem to think it is; in fact, it can be downright unfriendly towards female academics with three or more children, who may be “seen by their peers and supervisors as less than serious about their work in a profession that often expects nothing short of complete devotion,” reporter Robin Wilson writes. Statements such as this one by an associate dean of academic affairs, who asked to remain anonymous because she did not want to be publicly critical of women with children, are all too common, Wilson notes:

“Kids aren’t like computer programs that run predictably. With more than two, there is always going to be someone who is sick or needy, and so something at work is going to have to give. If anyone told me they wanted three kids, I would be thinking, What, are you nuts?”

It’s no wonder women like Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum, a bioengineering professor at Rice University who runs a thriving cancer-research laboratory and is a mother of four, often feel like pariahs. In fact, Ms. Richards-Kortum told Wilson that she is most comfortable in her dual roles as professor and mother during the research trips she takes several times a year to southern Africa:

“Here I’m this weird, freaky person because I have four kids,” she says in Houston. “There I can establish rapport and credibility with people because big families are much more common. It’s the only time I feel like it’s a real professional advantage.”

Julianna Baggott, an associate professor with a stay-at-home husband and five children, knows the feeling. She keeps her kids somewhat under wraps, out of a concern that her colleagues may think less of her, Wilson notes:

She displays no photos of her children in her office in Florida State University’s English department, and she never tells colleagues that she can’t make a meeting because of the children, who range in age from 14 to 2. “I just say, ‘I’m sorry, I have a conflict,’” she says.

“Academia assumes that a woman, once she has kids, is not going to be able to maintain her career at the same level,” says Ms. Baggot, [who with 14 books under her belt and having just earned tenure can hardly be accused of slacking off].

Despite the negative attitudes towards big families, not to mention the very real challenges involved in having one, some academic women make it work. Read the whole story to see how they manage and share your experiences and advice here.