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Balancing Academic Work and Family: AAUP Policy and Initiatives

Balancing Academic Work and Family: AAUP Policy and Initiatives. Presentation to the NSF Advance Annual Meeting Atlanta, Georgia, April 20, 2004 John W. Curtis, Director of Research American Association of University Professors. Challenges in Achieving Gender Equity.

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Balancing Academic Work and Family: AAUP Policy and Initiatives

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  1. Balancing Academic Work and Family: AAUP Policy and Initiatives Presentation to the NSF Advance Annual MeetingAtlanta, Georgia, April 20, 2004 John W. Curtis, Director of Research American Association of University Professors

  2. Challenges in Achieving Gender Equity • The demise of the tenured faculty • A raised tenure bar • Difficult budgetary climate • Unequal impact of family responsibilities • childbirth and parenting • care for family members

  3. Balancing work and family • Why it matters • What we can do

  4. Why it matters • Primarily about addressing gender inequity • Within each rank and institutional type, women earn less than men (community colleges near equity) • Women are less likely to be at doctoral institutions • Women are less likely to achieve senior rank • Women are less likely to obtain tenure • Overall among full-time faculty, women earn about 80% of what men earn (25-year trend) • Women are also less likely to be in full-time positions • But there is more…

  5. Why it matters: “Choice” • Choosing family over career at various points (grad school, tenure-track, mobility, research, leadership) • Whether “voluntary” or as a result of being discouraged, based on a perception that the academic career and family are not compatible • A choice that men are not as likely to make • Less likely to consider voluntarily • Less likely to be discouraged on this basis • If raising issue voluntarily, likely to be encouraged to pursue career—even by sacrifice of partner • This requires a cultural change for faculty and institutions

  6. Why it matters: Strategic • Convergence of interests • For institutions • For the profession as a whole • Need to draw from the largest potential pool in recruiting talented individuals • Need to retain the individuals in whom so much ahs been invested • An entire category of potential academics is discouraged form pursuing career advancement • Women an increasing proportion

  7. Why it matters: Academic Freedom • Inequity is not just in individual opportunity, but a structural inequity in terms of academic freedom • Women are disproportionately found in contingent positions (part-time or full-time non-tenure-track) • These positions do not provide the protections of academic freedom, because the faculty are continuously subject to non-renewal—generally without any due process

  8. Why it matters AAUP Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work • “The goal of every institution should be to create an academic community in which all members are treated equitably, families are supported, and family-care concerns are regarded as legitimate and important.” • “A more responsive climate for integrating work and family responsibilities is essential for women professors to participate on an equal basis with their male colleagues in higher education.”

  9. What we can do • AAUP activities begin from Statement of Principles (2001) • General policies addressing family responsibilities • Specific policies for tenure-track faculty

  10. Specific Recommendations: AAUP Statement • Paid leaves for pregnancy, family care, emergencies; longer-term unpaid leaves • Active Service with Modified Duties • Reduced workload, without loss of status, to handle family responsibilities • Stopping the Tenure Clock • Up to one year extension of probationary period for birth or adoption of a child; maximum of two total • With or without leave of absence • Tenure decision according to the same criteria (not higher expectations) • Upon request, not a matter for special negotiation • It is important to establish and communicate formal institutional policies rather than make individual adhoc arrangements

  11. AAUP Initiatives “Access to the Profession” project (w/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation) • Dissemination of AAUP Statement “Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession” (2003) • Academic freedom • Shared governance • Impact on students • Recommendations for transition • Research roundtable on faculty work/family issues (July 2003) • Web resource (http://www.aaup.org) • Special issue of Academe (Nov/Dec2004) • New Directions for Higher Education (Spring 2005)

  12. Next Steps Additional research Implementation discussions on campus

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