Professor Mommy: Finding Work-Family Balance in Academia

Two Bowdoin College professors address the challenges of pursuing an academic career while raising children, offering counsel and advice to women seeking to combine "the life of the mind with the joys of motherhood." Connelly, the mother of four sons, is an economist whose international research addresses intersections between work and family life; Ghodsee is an expert in gender and women's studies who received Fulbright and National Science Foundation grants. Their individual experiences inform the book, which provides not only a step-by-step program from graduate studies to tenure but also a "what to expect when you're expecting" and mothering while chiseling out a profile inside ivied halls. Connelly and Ghodsee tell tough truths%E2%80%94academics is a hard and demanding career for anyone, and most difficult for women with children%E2%80%94but they recommend outsourcing whatever does not contribute directly to your job; availing yourself of good full- or part-time child care; finding an institution with fair work-family policies; attending conferences, networking, and coauthoring publications; saying "no" to nonessential work; relocating as opportunities arise; and staying hypervigilant about time management. A well-presented guidebook for academics, there is little attorneys, physicians, CEOs, or other professional women would find useful. (Sept.)