next »

[kiosk]

I am a TT professor at a mid-tier state R1 in my 2nd year.  I am also a mom of a 3 year old and a wife whose husband has a travel-heavy job.  I would say I am almost on track, in a spot where another top pub would be nice but do have some encouraging R&Rs. I believe I am generally liked by others in the department.

My husband and I would like to have another child but cannot see it fitting with our current schedules (without a lot of stress and resentment anyway). Ideally, I would be in a part-time TT position for a few years and then go back to fulltime. That hasn’t been an option at our university (there’s nothing in our handbooks or HR sites on it, but in truth I have not asked directly). I am wondering whether the current economic situation would make changing my status to PT an attractive proposal for my department/school. For example, I could work ½ time for 4 years and have my tenure clock extended by 2 years. On the face of it, it seems like a win-win to me, but I worry that if I propose it I would simply be viewed as uncommitted. I don’t think I am uncommitted, but I would sacrifice some prestige/money for family time.

We have not received any specific budget cut information yet, but I know it will be coming soon, the rumors are ~10% cuts.  As deans or department chairs (or colleagues), especially at research-heavy institutions, what would you think of a TT faculty member proposing this?  My department chair is a fantastic person, but in my department there is only one tenured woman with one child, and she’s been an associate for 15 years (the one woman full prof is childless). So I am definitely not in a place that’s ‘been there, done that’.  We are not a department that relies on grant funding, if that would change the answer.

Thanks in advance for honest feedback. I definitely wouldn’t propose anything until we knew the budget situation, but I am trying to get a sense of whether I should ever throw out such a proposal.

kiosk

[tuxedo_cat]

I think this looks like a good idea purely from your point of view.  I know of no one who has ever proposed such a thing and gotten it approved.  I will be very surprised if anyone else drops in to the discussion who has witnessed this sort of innovation.  This isn't just about money -- it's about equitable treatment of junior faculty with regard to the tenure clock.  The only occasions when I've known of someone who got their tenure clock extended (and usually only by a year), were people struggling with a serious physical or mental illness.

I absolutely sympathize with your desires to continue building a family, but this is a profession that is simply not a flexible one in that regard.  If you think you're in good shape for tenure, why not go up for tenure early and then have your second child?  That may not work with your biological clock, but I think even making this request will stigmatize you.

[kiosk]

Wow, thanks for the honest feedback. I didn't realize that would be viewed as unfair, I just thought it was a way to save money for them, so thanks for pointing out the fairness thing.  Sucks for me, but this is exactly why I posted the question.

[menotti]

There was an article on doing part-time tenure-track in the Chronicle a couple of years ago (the paper, not the fora.)  I don't know what the archive is like, but you could probably find it one way or the other.

[jammer]

Just thinking out loud here...

Service is something to consider.  I don't know how important it is in your department pre-tenure, but will this be viewed as trying to get out of what everyone else has to do?  Adjuncts can't do this for you.

Also, are you assuming that you'd still get full time health/retirement benefits?  If so, the savings for the department might not be worth the hassle of finding adjuncts, etc.

[mended_drum]

Actually, a member of my department was made a tenured, part-time professor a couple of years ago, after ten years or so of exemplary service and multiple teaching awards.  There was general agreement throughout the campus that she deserved this somewhat unusual status, and the Board agreed.  Not a single full or part-time faculty member protested.

However, her son was nine or ten years old already.  She worked part-time on a year-to-year contract until she was offered tenure.  At one time she and another faculty member shared a line, but that didn't work out well. 

In other words, this is an example of someone who did choose to place a priority on her family, but worked far above and beyond what other part-time faculty did, primarily out of love of the institution.  It is undoubtedly not a role-model that anyone else should try to emulate, as I have a hard time imagining most institutions rewarding someone in that way.  I even fear to post it, as I wouldn't want adjuncts to hold out any hopes for similar treatment.

Nevertheless, such a position is not beyond all possibility.

[menotti]

I think this looks like a good idea purely from your point of view.  I know of no one who has ever proposed such a thing and gotten it approved.  I will be very surprised if anyone else drops in to the discussion who has witnessed this sort of innovation.  This isn't just about money -- it's about equitable treatment of junior faculty with regard to the tenure clock.  The only occasions when I've known of someone who got their tenure clock extended (and usually only by a year), were people struggling with a serious physical or mental illness.

I absolutely sympathize with your desires to continue building a family, but this is a profession that is simply not a flexible one in that regard.  If you think you're in good shape for tenure, why not go up for tenure early and then have your second child?  That may not work with your biological clock, but I think even making this request will stigmatize you.

This is a little weird to say.  Lots of places give an extra year on the clock as part of the maternity leave.  When I signed the forms, the university kept repeating that I wouldn't get any extra consideration due to my extra time - the worry on their part was that I'd somehow expect I would get tenure because I'd been there longer. (??)

I also don't see that it's only a good idea from your point of view.  Your department could save money, as you say, and keep the line open, which might not happen if you just quit.  Also, most part-timers work more than their official time (which is a reason to avoid it, for you).

But you would definitely need to be careful about the stigma issues - you'd have to be pretty canny about your department culture.  It is a risk.

[kiosk]

Thanks for the added insights.  I don't think I will bring it up unless I get to a point where I would quit otherwise (a real possibility but not one I've totally thought through yet).  I haven't built up 10 years of gratitude. I wouldn't need FT benefits and I have few service obligations, but I don't think a department that is 90% male and 0 full professor mothers is likely to have the culture I need for this to be received the way I had imagined in my rosey daydream. Buggers.

I have read about the motherhood/academia issues, but somehow experiencing them for myself makes it so much more frustrating. If only I could be happy with one child, it might work. But our family feels incomplete :(

Any ideas for intellectually stimulating part-time work?  (not that there are any jobs anywhere right now, but for future consideration)

[carebearstare]

How does your uni treat its clinical faculty? I know there are certain schools where these positions are more or less the same as tenured ones, minus high research expectations. That is to say, while they are on contract they are far more secure than adjunct positions. I wonder if going on the clinical track might be an option.

What I would suggest, before going to your department chair, is to talk this issue out with a senior female faculty member who's had kids, and who you can trust.

Agree that motherhood/academia issues just plain suck.

[mended_drum]

Were I in the OP's position, I would also have my husband considering less travel-heavy jobs, especially if his skills are more flexible than my own.  If both of you look at possible alternative arrangements for a couple of years, one of you may indeed find a way to make it work.  I'd absolutely hate to feel that it had to me alone adapting my career to parenthood.

[prytania3]

Also, are you assuming that you'd still get full time health/retirement benefits?  If so, the savings for the department might not be worth the hassle of finding adjuncts, etc.

That's what I was wondering because if the college/uni still has to pay for all the benefits, it doesn't seem like such a great deal for them. Basically you'd be working half time but essentially getting 2/3rds of the pay.

[tuxedo_cat]

My initial response was somewhat on the severe side because the OP is at a R1 institution.  At a teaching school or a mid-tier SLAC, things might be more flexible.  But if it's clear that there is no precedent at this particular school, and in a male-dominated department, you may find more resistance -- rather than a warm-and-fuzzy recognition that maybe there are some problems with the fact that they have only one female faculty member with kids.  And the other senior woman may have decided to forgo family plans in order to secure her career.  She could be even more resentful of the campus loosening the rules for someone younger (or not, who knows).

I'm not saying any of that is right or good -- I think it rots.  Yes, the system should probably be changed, but I don't think you want to offer yourself up as the guinea pig when the outcome is so uncertain.

[onestep]

I'm 100% with tuxedo_cat.  The reality is that many schools, and external reviewers, have a pretty narrow view of what a faculty member should look like and do.  I know one person who took maternity leave and had this leave clearly documented in her files.  Yet it was a total battle for her tenure because some people couldn't get the idea of a stopped clock in their thick skulls-- there was a lot of "yes, but" in her discussions and even in some external letters.  Some of the strongest opposition came from other women.  She gave up and took an offer from another (less desirable for her) school rather than fight it.

So, I disagree with the system, but think that a wise plan would be to get tenure early and then have the baby. And get your hubby to be around more.

Also, I don't think you want to jump into the clinical track.  Once there there, it's hard to get back on the tenure line, especially in an era of budget cuts.