Professor Mommy

Bowdoin faculty members Connelly and Ghodsee are mothers who’ve struggled with the challenges of research, teaching, publishing, and caring for children in defiance of the conventional wisdom that women in academia have to choose between family and career. They devote an entire chapter to debunking the myths that discourage many women from pursuing tenure during their most fertile reproductive years. Drawing on their experiences and on surveys of and interviews with a variety of women in academia, they first review the decision to have an academic career and the decision to have children, including how many and when to have them. They proceed with a detailed chronology of the tenure track, a comprehensive guide, and unwavering encouragement. They are frank about sacrifices and challenges encountered during graduate study and the PhD dissertation, and they detail the hurdles presented by low salaries, undesirable work locations, and long working hours. But they also note the rewards of both academic life and motherhood. Women interested in careers in academia should appreciate this helpful, encouraging resource. * Booklist *
In Professor Mommy, Rachel Connelly and Kristen Ghodsee present a thorough set of questions for women to consider and strategies to utilize in order to make informed decisions about pursuing both an academic career and family life. ... Professor Mommy is a practical guide written for women who are considering or currently combining family life and the pursuit of tenure. The authors recognize that tenure-track fathers have challenges when they are involved parents of small children, but Connelly and Ghodsee intentionally speak to the particular concerns and situations that mothers face. ... Professor Mommy has many helpful insider tips for any junior faculty member or graduate student who has not had these conversations with a trusted (mommy) mentor. ...[F]or those of us who desire to seek tenure within the existing system, having access to the information in Professor Mommy is invaluable. The book does what it sets out to do, providing information and options for women to make decisions that will position them as best as possible for tenure and promotion within the existing system. Recognizing that the assimilationist approach will not work for every woman, it provides guidance for the many. * Feminist Collections: A Quarterly Of Women's Studies Resources *
Don't believe the myths—you can conquer the academy while raising children. It isn't easy, but few worthwhile things in life are. Connelly and Ghodsee show, step by step, how smart women win at work and win at home by protecting their time and focusing on what matters most (hint: it's not grading papers or ironing shirts!). -- Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think
Do read this 'can do book for mothers who want to pursue an academic career! Yes, you can succeed and this book guides you through every step and pitfall—from choosing the type of institution that is for you to coming up for full professor. It doesn't shy away from the very real obstacles, like exhaustion during the early child-raising years, but offers alternative strategies for climbing the ladder. The sound advice is aimed at mothers—but it could be the handbook for any Ph.D. who is deciding on an academic career. I will recommend it to all my graduate students. -- Mary Ann Mason, professor and co-director of the Center, Economics & Family Security at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law; a
Rachel Connelly and Kristen Ghodsee have written a book that is not just a must-read for anyone contemplating the intricate and as-yet imperfect balance of academic life and family life, but for anyone at all interested in promoting equity in the workplace and more importantly, in the world of ideas. Professor Mommy lays out in stark detail the dismal record and very real statistics of the “maternal wall,” “glass ceiling” and the steep personal costs that women academics often face. But rather than stop there, they offer detailed, practical and user-friendly guidance on how to set your own priorities, draw boundaries and forge a path through this thorny obstacle course. They show it is not easy, but it is indeed possible to be both a successful academic and a loving parent with a rich family life. More, Professor Mommy is a call to action: that lasting change and that longed-for balance will come only when men become aware of the stacked deck against women and when women academics make the hard decision not to opt out, but to opt in, writing, publishing, thinking, promoting their ideas, and by their very presence, change the calcified system from within. -- Brigid Schulte, Washington Post; Pulitzer Prize co-winner
Professor Mommy is a well-researched, yet anecdotal account of parenting across disciplines relevant to all family forms in academia.  It’s one-of-a-kind, doesn't present 'defeatist' statements of sacrifice, but provides real strategies and support for anyone in their child-bearing years attempting to navigate this challenging yet rewarding period in life. -- Tiffany Jenson, Brigham Young University-Idaho