Baby Gap Test

The “Baby Gap Test”

current structure of American research universities forces men and women on the fast track, but particularly women, to choose between work and family. Many faculty members reported having sacrificed time with family to demonstrate they were committed to their work. One faculty member advised, "Avoid having kids before getting tenure. I wish it wasn't so, but I had to learn it the hard way myself." Another faculty member observed, "You should know that female graduate students are telling us over and over again across the nation that they are not going to become faculty members because they do not see how they can combine work and family in a way that is reasonable." Achieving gender equity in terms of careers and families in the academy requires a restructuring of the workplace. We now know that structural changes must be put in place to tackle some of the greatest obstacles to success for women. We also know what many of these changes must be and that they must happen during the "probationary period"— the time of maximum demand in the fast-track academic career, the years leading to tenure. They include stopping the tenure clock for childbirth, generous childbirth leaves, modified duties, and on-site child care. Many other initiatives could also help attract women job candidates and assist them in achieving professional success and family goals. All of them, however, depend on a collective will to change the campus culture. Passive and active resistance on the part of men (and even many women) poses a serious roadblock to cultural change.