Academic parenting: work–family conflict and strategies across child age, disciplines and career level

Abstract

The research underpinning this article explores the impacts that parenting and primary caring responsibilities have upon academic careers. It takes an innovative approach by exploring three under-researched aspects of this issue: the longitudinal impacts that extend past the years immediately following the birth or adoption of a child; the differences and similarities that occur as a result of primary carer parenting across academic disciplines; and the impacts that primary carer parenting has upon the careers of those who are employed in senior academic levels. With these three aspects in mind, the research explores the strategies employed to cope with the impacts that birth or adoption has upon academic careers. In doing so, it broadens conceptual understandings of the career impacts of parenting, while offering recommendations for university administrators and leaders.

Keywords:

• academic careers
• parenting
• impacts
• primary carer

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCiD

Angela Martin http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0109-1218

Notes

1 In this article, we use the Australian academic classification system. ‘Early career’ refers to those academics in level A or B position (referred to as Assistant Professors in North America). ‘Mid-career’ refers to those in level C or low-ranked D positions (referred to as Associate Professors in North America). ‘Senior’ refers to those in the top ranks of level D or E (referred to as Professors in North America).