Research Agendas and Career Trajectories: The Influence of Fatherhood on Faculty Productivity

• In Event: Moms and Dads in the Academy

Abstract

Based off of interviews with 70 faculty fathers at four research universities around the United States, this paper considers how parental responsibilities affect faculty life, particularly notions of productivity. Using notions of hegemonic masculinity and the importance of breadwinning to the male gender role as a theoretical lens, the paper considers how men struggle to reconcile their responsibilities in the workplace with those to their family. In short, participants suggested that their productivity suffered after becoming fathers in both concrete ways—such as experiencing career penalties—and in more abstract ways, such as through choices to shift their research agendas. This study contrasts with existing literature, which suggests that parenthood does not affect faculty productivity.

Author

• Margaret W. Sallee, University at Buffalo - SUNY