Literature Review: Life/Work Issues
Life/Work Issues: Empowering Women as Leaders and Scholars
Studies have found that professors of all levels describe family constraints as a concern due to the time demands it places on the career (e.g. Scholer, 1998; Tierney & Bensimon, 1996). Furthermore when the institution is not supportive of family issues, such as pregnancy, or child care concerns, women’s productivity as scholars and leaders suffer (Tierney & Bensimon, 1996).
A recent study examining work and family variables among faculty found that the level of flexibility of work and family related responsibilities affected a professor’s ability to remain knowledgeable in their field (Tosti-Vasey &Willis, 1991). This indicates that a lack of support, institutional or otherwise, regarding family/work issues may result in women becoming less up to date with their field of study. Conversely, a support of family issues allows women the flexibility to remain up to date in their field and pursue research interests, all key components of viable leaders and scholars.
Life/Work Issues: Increasing the Representation of Women
Studies indicate that balancing work and family is of primary concern for most women in S&E. In order to increase the representation of women in S&E, one of the main issues that needs to be addressed is adequate support for life/work issues.
In fact, studies have shown that one of the primary reasons in women for not pursuing graduate studies is the desire for a family and the perception that a career in S&E will present a conflict with that goal (Sax, 2001).
It has also been found that one of the main reasons that young faculty accept or reject a position in an institution is the importance the intuition places on accommodating family members' needs (Teevan et al., 1992).
Life/Work Issues: Advancing women into faculty careers
Research has shows that the senior women faculty members in S&E were less likely to have children than their male counterparts (Scholer, 1998). One reason for this difference may be the difficulty that women have advancing in faculty careers with the added commitment of raising a family. Women in faculty careers have to juggle the demands of three clocks: the career clock, their partner’s career clock, and their biological clock (Sonnert, 1999).
In order to effectively advance women into faculty careers, an institution must deal with the demands of life/work issues.
Having a spouse was reported as either an extreme hindrance or great benefit for women. In dual career homes, women reported a "stalling" of their career advancement because of either the inability to move to a job location, or moving to a job location for their spouse where a job was not available for the woman (Scholer, 1998).
Even when a dual career woman has the ability to move to a job location to pursue an academic career in S&E, the likelihood that she will remain in that position is severely decreased if the institution does not have family friendly policies (Rosser & Lane, 2002).
It has also been found that one of the primary reasons that young faculty accept or reject a position in an institution is the importance the intuition places on accommodating family embers' needs (Teevan et al., 1992).
A recent study examining work and family variables among faculty found that the level of flexibility of work and family-related responsibilities affected a professor’s ability to remain knowledgeable in their field (Tosti-Vasey &Willis, 1991). This indicates that a lack of support, institutional or otherwise, regarding family/work issues may result in women becoming less up to date with their field of study. Conversely, a support of family issues allows women the flexibility to remain up to date in their field and pursue research interests, all key components of a successful faculty career.