Gendered Flexibility: Unpacking the Career Paths of Non-Tenure Track Academics

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Abstract

The rise of the non-tenure track (NTT) workforce in U.S. universities produced two notable gendered outcomes. Women not only became the majority in NTT jobs but also a minority in senior NTT positions. By interviewing 25 full-time NTT faculty members, this research attempts to understand NTT faculty members’ gendered career choices and gendered career growth. We found three major processes that gravitate women academics to NTT careers. First, female NTT faculty members adhered more to prioritizing family needs than male NTT faculty members while choosing careers. Second, the division of labor in academia and the work culture are gendered, which compels more women academics to pursue NTT careers over TT careers. Third, the “flexibility” in NTT jobs that can accommodate the needs of women’s life cycle made this career more attractive to women. Regarding gendered career growth, we found that the ambiguity in the NTT promotion process creates an advantage for men. Once women enter the NTT career, they continue practicing a gendered work-life balance (WLB) by carrying the lion-share of the physical labor and emotional work of family care that prevents them from investing in career advancement. Men’s cultural role as “breadwinners” and females’ cultural role as “caregivers” influence career advancement decision-making in ways that give advantages to male NTT members in investing extra time in departmental activities and beneficial social networking beyond job contracts.

Authors

• Kaniz Fatema, University of Kansas

• Kelly Haesung Chong, University of Kansas