Title IX as a Surrogate for Graduate Student Parental Leave: A Critical Policy Analysis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 12:40 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Graduate Student Experience and Institutional Structures (Table 9)

Abstract

This paper is a critical policy analysis of parental leave policy for graduate students in postsecondary education institutions in the United States. Drawing from policy design and intersectionality frameworks, we engage in document analysis to critically evaluate parental leave policy at two institutions, Georgia State University and The University of Arizona, to better understand the barriers women who are mothers in academia face based on their intersectional identities. Findings point out the ways in which mothers in doctoral programs are disadvantaged and excluded in academic circles. By critically examining these policies, this study seeks to inform practices that better support rising mother-scholars, such as parental leave.

Authors

• Caroline Sutton Chubb, Georgia State University

• Kristina Brezicha, Georgia State University