Exposing the Mythology of Balance: Visibility of the Fall and Elevation of Resilience in COVID-19

• In Event: Division J Vice Presidential Session. The Faculty Work Life Needs of Mother-Scholars in the Time of COVID-19

Abstract

While the COVID-19 pandemic has flipped and thrusted our varied planes of perceived normalcy into the air, it has unveiled the notion of balance as little more than a myth. At the same time, it has also perhaps without precedent elucidated these pressures that the MotherScholars have always confronted. On Zoom sessions, we see colleagues’ and students’ children in fore- and backgrounds, unkept offices and kitchens, and struggles to allocate time to be productive as mother, scholars, students, caretakers, etc. What we sought to keep unseen is now seen- the varied, fluid nature of our identities. And just as in our pre-pandemic world, some days-moments-minutes we raise our hands up in victory, while in others we teeter or fall.

While the full gravity of COVID-19 remains to be seen, these daily falls pre- post- and in the midst of this pandemic are normal and ought not to be masked by the mythology of balance. From these falls, we can only hope to grow in our recovery-response strategies, or our resilience. Ungar (2011) defines resilience as: “Both the capacity of individuals to navigate their way to the psychological, social, cultural, and physical resources that sustain their well-being, and their capacity individually and collectively to negotiate for these resources to be provided in culturally meaningful ways” (2011, p. 10). This study explores the importance and increasing visibility of the teetering and/or fall—the family discussions had and recovery-response strategies, or resilience, developed as a result—in hope of elucidating the MotherScholar’s internal perturbations as well as redressing the constraining and restraining culture of the academy.

This research will present findings from semi-structured focus group interviews conducted with doctoral students and their children via Zoom to gather experiences and perceptions regarding: 1) pre-COVID 19 beliefs regarding falling/failure and balance; 2) the stumbles and falls encountered during COVID-19; 3) whether perceptions of falling and failure have changed throughout the course of quarantine; 4) what recovery-response strategies were employed and their evaluation of these; 5) how the integration of recovery-response strategies has shifted their identity framework; 6) the “highs” or “rises from the falls” which have come due to the pandemic. This study seeks to elucidate the internal perturbations, falls and rise of the MotherScholar amidst COVID-19 as well as redress the constraining and restraining culture of the academy.

Authors

• Carolyn A Oldham, University of Kentucky

• Kelly D. Bradley, University of Kentucky