“Wait for a permanent contract”: The temporal politics of (in)fertility as an early career researcher

Abstract

The impetus for this intervention comes from my own experiences of advice to ‘wait for a permanent contract’ before trying to conceive a child. I contend that this considerate guidance, frequently given to Early Career Researchers, nonetheless re-inscribes a linear capitalist temporality, and that there is a need to resist this binding of the temporalities of (in)fertility to the metrics of the neoliberal academy. I suggest that to promote ‘waiting’ negates the nonlinear, everyday and intimate politics of our varied, embodied experiences of (in)fertility. It is also grounded within problematic assumptions: first, that waiting is linear; that we will arrive at a permanent job in the future, if we persist with the present; and second, that our (in)fertility is known to us, that we are able to, and will, make a rational decision to conceive a child. These are pervasive assumptions with deeply personal implications. Moreover, they are compounded by the short-term contracts, and expectations of institutional mobility that characterise many experiences of UK academia. My hope for this piece is that it invites geographers to further explore embodied politics of (in)fertility.

‘I am not a Gentleman academic’: Telling our truths of micro‐coercive control and gaslighting in Business Schools using ‘Faction’

“…In different ways, we have all been subject to the dominant ideal of the white cis-gendered businessman in a way that is not quite the same in other areas of the Academy. Certainly, our case is reflected across the Academy, and a recent paper highlights this in the case of ECRs within Geography (Hughes, 2021). Nevertheless, in Business Schools in particular, women become subject to a hyper-masculinity that pervades in the unspoken dress code, the attention to keeping particular working hours, the presenteeism, and, of course, in the UK, the CABS list.…”

Geographies of night work

“…An editorial in a special issue of Time and Society from 2005 warned that ‘more pessimistic interpretations of the new economy, however, refer to growing risk and insecurity, falling fertility, the fragmentation of communities and the erosion of traditional social rhythms and practices, as the boundaries around work dissolve, raising the intensity of work as people are never “off line”’ (Perrons et al, 2005: 54), and subsequent research has followed how these (and other) social negatives have emerged from increased intensity of working life. Precarity has been perhaps the most studied field (James, 2018; Richardson and Thieme, 2020; Worth, 2016), but geographers have also explored how such trends negatively affect family or reproductive life (Hughes, 2021; Lewis et al, 2015), social rhythms (Sewell and Taskin, 2015) and health or well-being (Gorman-Murray and Bissell, 2018). These trends are having the effect of bringing working patterns in formal economic activity closer to that of working patterns in informal sectors.…”

Perspectives on being a field‐based geomorphologist during pregnancy and early motherhood

“…Women cannot conceal being pregnant or breastfeeding, and these physical characteristics may result in unconscious and conscious biases regarding the woman's ability to work (Correll et al, 2007). In contrast, experiences such as significant sleep deprivation from caring for babies and toddlers, caring for children with chronic health issues, miscarriage, and infertility are unseen but have lasting impacts on a mother's mental and physical health (Hughes, 2021), impacting her ability to carry out fieldwork. All of us have experienced the need to slow down physically and mentally after having children, as there may be no other option, and spending time with the child becomes an important aspect of life.…”

“…Fieldwork is often planned several years in advance, particularly as part of a funded project; the logistics can be complex and the implementation of the work may require a team of researchers. Planning pregnancy around such a structured timeline is often impossible, and delaying pregnancy due to planned fieldwork can exacerbate fertility concerns (Hughes, 2021). Advice about when to travel (e.g.…”

“…Some of the authors have experienced miscarriage and infertility issues—something we wish to normalize and highlight as physical and emotional barriers to taking part in fieldwork. We acknowledge that those who have struggled to or cannot have children face distinct challenges (Hughes, 2021), and that the ability to have a child is a gift and a privilege. Here, we offer our experiences and perspectives on how to conduct fieldwork, arrange childcare, and address financial issues as (early‐career) geomorphologists and mothers 3 .…”