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Can Anyone Have it All? Gendered Views on Parenting and Academic Careers

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Abstract

This article is based on data from two qualitative studies that examined the experiences of 93 tenure-line faculty members who are also mothers and fathers. Using gender schemas and ideal worker norms as a guide, we examined the pressures that professors experience amid unrealistic expectations in their work and home lives. Women participants reported performing a disproportionate amount of care in the home while simultaneously feeling unable to take advantage of family-friendly policies. In contrast, men acknowledged that, although their partners performed more care in the home, they felt penalized for wanting to be involved parents.

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Correspondence to Margaret Sallee.

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Sallee, M., Ward, K. & Wolf-Wendel, L. Can Anyone Have it All? Gendered Views on Parenting and Academic Careers. Innov High Educ 41, 187–202 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-015-9345-4

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