Working moms across the country have reached a breaking point – a shocking 617,000 women quit the workforce in September alone.
In colleges and universities, as in other workplaces, we are on the cusp of what has been called a female recession after professional careers and parental duties merged during COVID-19 lockdowns and homeschooling.
Women are falling behind on research – derailing critical progress on achieving tenure and promotion within the seven-year deadline – especially in three main research areas: health and medicine, physical sciences and engineering, and social science and economics.
Before the damage to diversity is beyond repair, institutions must act immediately to provide flexibility for rising academic women who are facing career-ending setbacks.
At The University of Toledo, we are offering a one-year tenure clock extension to all junior faculty no matter what year they are in their tenure process. It’s the right thing to do. While not specifically aimed at women, we know that women are largely experiencing the brunt of childcare and caregiving for aging parents.
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https://diverseeducation.com/article/197733/
This is necessary, but to avoid the economic impact of also delaying what is usually a hefty raise (the first of only two during one’s career most often), we also need to fix the way we do academic raises. We need to stop having only two large raises tied to promotion, and have a more spread out system of raises.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Our college offers annual bonuses for faculty, incl. junior, who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, or service above and beyond. Some people think the effort of applying isn't worth the pay-out, but at least the opportunity exists.
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