WITH MOTHER’S DAY approaching, I would like to make my academic mom wish list out there.
It has been almost a decade since the PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Noyi had contributed to the debate about whether women can have it all or not. Indra Noyi mentioned that the biological clock and the career clock for women are in total conflict. Interestingly, 10 years later Adobe’s Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President, Employee Experience, Gloria Chen, mentioned the same challenge for women during the March 2024 Women in Leadership League Conference at San Jose State University for International Women’s Day.
Yet the research shows, most of the parenting responsibilities, both physical and mental load, fall on the mothers’ shoulders. The overload and the impact at certain times are potentially larger for mothers pursuing academic responsibilities as they do not have the option for taking time off for parental responsibilities, especially in California due to increased demand for childcare responsibilities inversely related with the affordability.
As an early career academic mom of two elementary school age kids and who raised those kids in another state as an academic mom, I can attest that being a mother and pursuing an academic career is more challenging in California for many reasons. Many California school districts have an increased number of school breaks and half days compared to other parts of California and the nation.
For example, there is a ski break during the week of Presidents’ Day, where some schools in California are off the entire week. It is referred to as ski week because it generally falls during the ski season. This is in addition to fall break (one week), winter break (two weeks) and spring break (one week). Well, most of the private industry employees or government employees take these weeks, at least some of them, entirely or partially off to spend time with their kids and families. However, as academics we cannot take time off due to the teaching schedule. These are also in addition to having every Wednesday a short, which is not the norm in other states. Other states would only have once a month school improvement days. Moreover, access to childcare and supportive activities such as school run aftercare programs or access to school buses are very limited or non-existent in the area.
Faculty in the California State University system struggle with low salaries compared to the skyrocketing industry salaries and housing prices in the state. California is actually the most expensive place to extend a family in the U.S. Out of the top 15 most expensive metro areas for average annual cost for extending a family, eight of them are located in California. The situation is much worse in the Bay Area. In fact, the Bay Area and the South Bay Area rank the second and third most expensive cities to raise a child in the U.S.
I fear that higher education in California, especially in the Bay Area, will in the near future and long term suffer, leading to a decrease in the number of women academicians in the area and increased gender gaps at the higher levels.
Solutions to the problem
In the recent CSU contract, family leave increased from 6 to 10 weeks and a minimum 5 percent raise was negotiated. While this is a start for improving conditions, certainly it is not enough. The median house price in the San Jose Area was $1,324,784 in February 2024, $1,397,333 in San Francisco and 1,767,813 in Westside. These are the general median prices, which do not include the school ratings that increase the home prices.
There are potential solutions to the problem that became apparent during the COVID-19 crisis. An easy accommodation can be allowing the faculty to include one or two weeks of online education without having to ask permission for it. We all learned during COVID-19 that we can teach online. These family friendly policies also could be utilized by others when they want/need to take care of other family members, such as elderly parents, and/or themselves. They would also make it easier for differently abled populations, which increased post COVID-19.
We also should prioritize educators as “essential workers” in childcare allocation. Opening more child care centers or after school activities, at minimum during the breaks, could help faculty members. Alternatively, giving priority at the registration for childcare/after school programs, just like COVID-19 for the medical professionals or other essential workers, could apply the same concept for our higher education professionals.
Unless higher education acknowledges and addresses the challenges for moms working in academia, I fear that the gender gap in academia will increase. We need CSU and statewide policies that support families.
About the author
Dr. Kezban Yagci Sokat is an assistant professor in Business Analytics at San Jose State University and a Public Voices Fellow with The Oped Project. She is a mother of two young children.