An Insight into the Challenges Faced by Academic Women with Pre-school Age Children in Academic Life

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the challenges academic women, especially those who were mothers of preschool age children, went through. The main guiding question of this study was "How do academic mothers with preschool age children survive in the academia from pregnancy through all the various stages of parenting and motherhood?". This study employed qualitative case study research design. The study was conducted in a faculty of a state university in Turkey. 6 academic women participated in this study based on the selection criteria. Data was collected through open-ended, semi-structured interviews and analysed through thematic analysis. The findings indicated that though academic women in the study valued the experience of being mothers, they were overwhelmed by the workload; lacked administrative support; and suffered from a never-ending struggle to balance between their academic duties and parental responsibilities.

Gender roles during COVID‐19 pandemic: The experiences of Turkish female academics

“…They also emphasized that domestic responsibilities were not distributed equally. Similar to other studies in the literature, it can be seen that some of the participants have accepted the traditional gender roles and internalized them (Günçavdi et al, 2017); some of them, however, felt anger due to gender inequalities.…”

“…The inequality between women and men is witnessed in several areas of daily life and considered a result of gender. It is mostly women who experience this inequality as the disadvantaged side (Günçavdı et al., 2017; Günindi Ersöz, 2016). There is a typical distinction in which men dominate the public sphere, while women are associated with the private sphere (Dildar, 2015).…”

“…Therefore, the discrimination experienced by women is not perceived as an issue that should be tackled (Kagnicioglu, 2017). The vast majority of working women also internalize gender roles (Günçavdi et al., 2017), feel an extreme sense of responsibility toward family due to working outside the house (Kagnicioglu, 2017), and struggle with balancing the demands of their careers and family lives (Fetterolf & Rudman, 2014). Working married women usually spend more time than their husbands on unpaid childcare and housework, called second shifts, after completing paid work.…”

“…Studies conducted on academics report that female academics have less free time and more domestic responsibilities than their male colleagues and spouses (Fetterolf & Rudman, 2014; Suitor et al., 2001; Ward & Wolf‐Wendel, 2004). Women academics undertake the vast majority of gender‐based unpaid work (such as cleaning, childcare, and housework) as well as academic work (such as lecturing, publishing articles, and attending conferences; Günçavdi et al., 2017). It is emphasized that gender culture and work‐life balance create more negative effects on women who are in the early stages of their academic careers (Vohlídalová, 2020).…”

Academic mothers, professional identity and COVID‐19: Feminist reflections on career cycles, progression and practice

“…Within this construct, women are (supposedly) given the opportunity to function at the same capacity as men but are not expected to continue to have professional aspirations after becoming mothers or taking extended periods of leave (Amato, 2018 ). Our findings corroborate this research and make explicit the biases and assumptions that construct these expectations, consolidating and extending other studies that illustrate how women working in educational organizations often have to struggle against socialized gender roles that further promote patriarchal working environments (Günçavdi, et al., 2017 ). As Poduval and Poduval ( 2009 ) conclude, female academics begin their careers with a distinctive disadvantage by virtue of their gender; for those who go on to become academic mothers, this disadvantage is then doubled.…”