Dual Careers and Work/Life Integration: Challenges and Opportunities

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Dual Careers and Work/Life Integration
Challenges and Opportunities

• Kelly Ward
• Washington State University

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Goals for the Session

• Importance of work/life integration
• Dual career couples
• Facts, figures, policies, practices
• Work/family
• Early career, mid-career, policy, practice
• Diapers, car pools, college, eldercare
• Life course perspectives
• All career and life stagesnot just early career
• Recruitment, retention, promotion

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Life in the academy

• Higher Education is in flux
• 34 of faculty are part-time
• 28 of full time positions are not tenure track
• Academics (future academics) lives are
  complicated
• Most faculty have partners
• Desire for work-life integration
• Dual career couples increasing/more open
• Institutions of higher education are not
  altruistic
• Ideal worker norms abound

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Why be family friendly?

• To recruit, promote and retain best faculty
• Concerns about (under) representation of women
  and people of color
• To be responsive to underrepresentation of women
  in different fields
• To have higher morale and greater productivity
• To create more equitable work places
• Pressure from external sources

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More on importance

• Makes for a good place to work
• Recruitment, retention, and career development
• Mimetic isomorphism
• Millennial faculty
• Dual career couples
• Shared parenting
• New models for families
• People are happier/healthier

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What is included?

• Dual career couples (academic and other)
• Parenthood
• Birth and babies (leave and day care)
• Children/family
• Adoption
• Sick care (self and others)
• Elder care
• Same sex couples/families
• Personal health and well being
• All career stages, not just new faculty
• Men and women

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A word about gender.

• Work/life concerns tend to be associated with
  women
• Women and men impacted in different ways
• Important to keep needs of women in mind, but
  also to recognize that all people are affected by
  work/life issues
• True change in society and academic settings will
  take place when men and women shift in thinking
  and action
• Traditional norms are shifting, but still prevail
  
• Gendered Terrain

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Dual Career Couples

• Facts, Figures, Policy, Practice

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Not all couples are the same

• 72 of academics are part of a dual career couple
• 36 of professoriate is partnered to an academic
• 36 with non academic partner
• Women are more likely to have academic partners
• lt 30 of academics are single or married to
  stay-at-home partner
• Clayman Institute, Stanford

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Types of academic couples

• Academic couples can enter faculty jobs in one of
  three ways
• Dual hires (10) Both partners are hired as part
  of a negotiation. The majority are hired
  sequentially or as joint hires.
• Independent hires (17) Those who secured
  employment separately from their couple status.
  Often hired without mention of a partner (who
  also works at the university).
• Solo hires (9) Academic couples where one
  partner is hired in a tenure track position and
  the other isnt currently employed in an academic
  position.
• Clayman Institute

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Dual career couples and diversity
Nearly one-half of faculty respondents in
same-sex partnerships have academic partners.
Nearly one-third of underrepresented
racial/ethnic minority faculty have academic
partners.
Clayman Institute
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Dual Career Couples and Gender

• Women are more likely than men to be in an
  academic partnership
• Dual career hiring higher for women than men
• Men are more likely than women to have
  stay-at-home partners
• Women are more likely to be single.

Clayman Institute
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Gender and dual careers

• 50 of men in academic couples and 20 of women
  view their career as primary
• 59 of women in academic couples say careers are
  equal
• Women less likely to accept a job if partner not
  accommodated
• 54 of women and 42 of men perceive loss of
  mobility as a result of dual career
• Disciplinary endogamy more prevalent for women
  (83) than men (54) (women more likely to be
  with other scientists than men with other
  scientists)
• Dual career couple policies need to be linked to
  these realities

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Dual career policies/practices

• Types of help
• Ad hoc, decentralized
• Relocation assistance (formal and informal)
• Consortia/networks (Higher Education Recruitment
  Consortium)
• Campus resource banks for jobs in community
• Shared/split positions
• Bridging positions
• Creation of non-tenure track or tenure track
  positions
• Resources for all types of couples
• Important to have, know, and use policies.

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When dual career hiring works

• Serendipity/luck
• Initial hire is really wanted
• Fit of second hire
• Meeting needs of units hiring
• Culture and receptivity of hiring
  department/campus
• Willingness/needs of second hire
• Availability of resources
• Person-unit fit for both members of couple

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Couple considerations

• Consider shared/split positions (needs to be
  raised by the couple)
• Know advantages/disadvantages of when to reveal
  couple status
• Investigate campus cultures (provost, human
  resources, faculty development websites hiring
  packets)
• Make contacts on campus to try and assess campus
  culture around dual careers
• Know what you want in terms of accommodation
• Know each others preferences and bottom lines
• Be open to other places of work beyond campus

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More advice

• Be open to possibilities--accommodation can take
  many forms
• Know when to compromise
• Stay updated and look for opportunities at
  couple friendly campuses
• Explore NSF ADVANCE campuses and resources
• Finalize couple hire as part of contract/letter
  of offer
• Learn from others (FAQs, websites)
• Marry well!

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When to reveal?

• Assess campus culture via websites, personal
  contacts, interview, and materials
• Campuses need to know to provide assistance
• Campuses getting more open about dual careers
• Advantages/disadvantages of each stage for
  reveal.
• Cover letter (they know BUT if biased could be
  excluded)
• Interview (talk to department chair if seems
  prudent)
• The offer (negotiations last chance for
  accommodation)
• More so than right or wrong answer know
  advantages and disadvantages

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Best practices--Department chairs

• Know the policies/resources available on campus
• Keep informed about dual career couples/work-life
  policies
• Follow hiring procedures as close as possible for
  second hire
• Faculty involvement
• Tenure track vs. temporary
• Make sure you are getting a person you really
  want
• Maintain good relationships with other chairs and
  deans
• Think strategically about departmental
  directions, not just immediate needs
• Think of whats good for institution not just
  department
• Hire based on merit, dont stigmatize dual career
  hire

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Best practices--Institutions

• Establish clearly worded, written policy
• Develop policies in cooperation with faculty and
  administration
• Be mindful of affirmative action policies
• Publicize/disseminate policy to all candidates
• Educate chairs and deans about policy
• Provide centralized funding
• Provide clear funding guidelines
• Join consortia (HERC) and develop cooperation
  agreements
• Evaluate policy 

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Work and Family

• Research, Policy, Practice

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Why pay attention?

• Work and family has been an either/or
  proposition (especially for women)
• Could wait to have children
• Could opt not to pursue an academic career
• Could opt for a less prestigious position
• How do faculty manage work and family?

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Academic motherhood study

• Interviews with 120 women
• Research universities, comprehensive colleges,
  liberal arts, community colleges
• All with children, all tenure track
• Variety of fields
• Longitudinal Interviewed early career (less than
  five years) and mid career (5-7 years later)
• Reviewed institutional policies

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Early Career Findings

• The joy of professional and personal roles
• Academic work is flexible, but unending
• Having a child makes people efficient, puts
  things into perspective
• Bufferingwork buffers family family buffers
  work

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Early Career Findings

• Preoccupation with timing
• The second shift is alive and well
• Significance of supportive culture
• Policies are important (but fear around use)

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Mid Career Findings

• Most were successful and thriving
• Mid Career--more flexibility, less work stress
• Parental concerns shift
• Not wanting to deal with politics
• Pipeline not a natural progression

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Mid Career Findings

• Burnout
• Need for self care
• Mentoring and support
• Served as mentors for new junior faculty and
  graduate students path makers
• Helped to create some institutional policies
• Mentoring mid career drops off yet still in need
  of support and professional development

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Work family policies

• Day care affordable and accessible
• Tenure clock stop policies
• Parental/family leave
• Modified duties
• Flexible tenure clocks

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Now what?
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Common myths

• Ill never get an academic job if Im in a couple
  or want/have children
• Academic jobs are too complicated
• Having a life and academic careers dont get
  along
• Second hires arent as good as the primary hire
• Work-life concerns and policies are focused on
  women
• Its only possible to get accommodation when
  first hired
• Dual career couple and work-family policies are
  only for early career faculty

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Policies

• Have policies
• One size may not fit all
• Creating a culture of use related to work-life
  and dual career couple policies
• Professional development for all stages of career
  
• Mentorship at all stages of the career
• Centralized support and local implementation
• Know thy policy!

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Creating environments

• Think outside the box
• Work-family integration is broad
• Include men and women
• Acknowledge gendered terrain
• Families take many forms
• Career perspectives
• Maintain conversations

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What would you do?
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Case Study 1

• Jules and Taylor met and fell in love while
  studying biology at the University of Wisconsin.
  The had similar interests and the same major
  professor. It didnt take them long to realize
  that they had a lot in common and that they were
  destined to be a couple. Both Jules and Taylor
  have impressive C.Vs. They are both strong
  students, have research and GA experience and
  both want tenure track careers at research
  universities. They also are aware of the job
  market and its difficulties. They figured out a
  way to each get separate post-docs and still be
  in the same geographic region. Now, they are
  ready to conquer the tenure track job market.

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Couples perspective

• What advice do you have for Jules and Taylor
  about how they should proceed?
• What are the things that they ought to do?
• How can they maximize the likelihood of being
  successful on the job market?
• Are there things they shouldnt do?
• What are the things they have working for them
  and against them in this quest?

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Department chair perspective

• As a senior faculty member or leader in your
  area, what would you do if you wanted to hire
  Jules and Taylor?
• How would you proceed if you wanted to make this
  happen?
• What players need to be involved?
• What are the barriers that you face to making
  this hire happen?
• What do you have working in your favor to make
  this work?

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Institutional perspective

• What institutional policies would facilitate the
  hiring of Jules and Taylor?
• What should central administration do to make
  this possible?
• In what ways is it in the institutions best
  interest to hire both Jules and Taylor?
• What are the concerns that are raised by this
  issue?

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Case Study 2

• Margaret and Joe came to University of Texas, San
  Antonio 5 years ago. Margaret is doing really
  well in a tenure track job in Geology and Joe has
  been working as an adjunct in Engineering.
  Initially, Joe did not have his Ph.D. so the
  adjunct position met his needs. Having completed
  his degree, he is now looking for something more
  permanent, preferably at UT or within a
  commutable distance. Although nothing was
  formalized (but it was implied), the initial
  intent was for Joe to get his degree and get a
  tenure track position at UT. The degree took
  longer to finish than Joe planned and the number
  of tenure track jobs in his field has been
  limited. Margaret and Joe really want to stay
  here, but are not sure what to do.

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Couples perspective

• What advice do you have for Margaret and Joe
  about how they should proceed?
• What are the things that they ought to do to
  facilitate the likelihood that they can stay
  together and stay at UT?
• Are there things they shouldnt do? What are the
  things they have working for them and against
  them in this quest?
• How is their case different than the first case?

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Department chair perspective

• As a senior faculty member or leader in your
  area, what would you do if you wanted to keep
  Margaret?
• What steps could you take to make this happen?
  Who needs to be involved in such a decision?
• What are the barriers that you face to making
  this hire happen?
• What do you have working in your favor to make
  this work?
• How is this case different from the first case?

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Institutional perspective

• What institutional policies would facilitate the
  hiring of Margaret and Joe?
• What should central administration do to make
  this possible?
• In what ways is it in the institutions best
  interest to retain both Margaret and Joe?
• What are the concerns that are raised by this
  issue?

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Resources

• Help, advice, suggestions

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Resources

• Clayman Institute/Stanford University Dual-Career
  Academic Couples What Universities Need to Know
• Chronicle of Higher Education
• AAUP http//www.aaup.org/AAUP/comm/rep/dual.htm
• NSF ADVANCE
• http//www.portal.advance.vt.edu/index.php/tags/du
  al-career
• Books, articles, webinars websites
  (national/campus)
• HERC-Higher Education Recruitment Consortium

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Shameless self promotion
Rutgers University Press (2013)
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Parting thoughts

• Do good work
• Dont overthink itall of it
• Cant plan for every contingency
• Be your best self
• There are lot of good jobs in the world
• Be open to possibilities
• Follow your bliss
• There are a lot ways to be successful
• Hang loose!!

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Questions/Discussion

• Dual careers
• Work-family
• Policies
• Campus perspectives
• Individual perspectives
• Questions? contact Kelly Ward kaward_at_wsu.edu