The Double Bind: Gendered Organizations and Work/Family (Im)Balance

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This interactive symposium will illuminate how gender norms still operating in higher education constrain women in a “double bind,” a situation in which a person cannot win no matter what she does. We intend to facilitate learning among participants and promote engagement between the panel of contributors and the audience by a) providing an overview of our conceptual framework (the double bind, and gendered organization), b) offering scholarship evidence of this double bind and a work/family imbalance across various positions and disciplinary contexts, different institutional types, and unique experiences (advancement in STEM, sabbaticals), and c) engaging participants in dialogue, with praxis as our goal, about implications for research and practice.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education / Section 4: Faculty, Curriculum, and Teaching

Chair

• Mary Ann Danowitz, North Carolina State University

Papers

• Gender Norms, the Ideal Worker, and Work/Life “Balance” - Jaime R. Lester, George Mason University; Margaret W. Sallee, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• A Qualitative Study of Academic Mothers’ Sabbatical Experiences - Susan V. Iverson, Kent State University; Christin L Seher, The University of Akron

• Mechanisms of Integration and Exclusion: Determining the Pathways for Leadership and Advancement for Midcareer Women Faculty in STEM - Jeni Hart, University of Missouri - Columbia