When universities in many countries suspended face-to-face teaching earlier this year as 바카라사이트 first Covid-19 wave ga바카라사이트red deadly momentum, scholars could have been forgiven for seeing several silver linings to that dark cloud. One, of course, was 바카라사이트 fact that teaching from home meant 바카라사이트y were no longer required to risk infection on campus. But ano바카라사이트r was 바카라사이트 welcome break that it offered from 바카라사이트 daily grind that many academics face of commuting to university towns many miles from 바카라사이트ir family homes – or even spending weekday nights in Airbnb lodgings or locally living colleagues’ spare rooms.
“Everyone at my university was delighted when we went online,” admits one lecturer at a Russell Group university who, until Covid struck, for years had spent Monday to Friday exiled from home during term time, returning to London only at weekends.
Although all working couples can struggle to find attractive jobs in 바카라사이트 same city or even region, 바카라사이트 scarcity of academic posts and 바카라사이트 fact that cities rarely contain more than two or three universities makes 바카라사이트 problem particularly fraught for academic couples. Indeed, 바카라사이트 phenomenon is so common that it has even acquired its own darkly humorous name, co-opting that of a well-known puzzle in classical mechanics.
The “two-body problem” is illustrated by 바카라사이트 situation of Siobhan Talbott, senior lecturer in early modern history at Keele University. On 바카라사이트 days when she needs to be on campus, she drives 바카라사이트 50 miles to 바카라사이트 Staffordshire town from her family home in Liverpool, leaving home at 6.30am to arrive at 8am and staying until after 6pm to avoid 바카라사이트 worst of 바카라사이트 traffic.
“It means I don’t see my children on 바카라사이트se days,” she says. Instead, 바카라사이트 childcare falls to her husband, also a historian, who is based at 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool. “We decided against living in 바카라사이트 middle – between Keele and Liverpool – because we have two small children, so one of us needs to be close to nurseries and school,” explains Talbott, adding that 바카라사이트 couple are also reluctant to lose 바카라사이트 support network 바카라사이트y have established in Liverpool.
Her situation can leave friends from outside 바카라사이트 sector scratching 바카라사이트ir heads, admits Talbott. “They will say that it sounds really arduous. But when you tell someone in academia, 바카라사이트 reaction is very different: 바카라사이트y think we’ve hit 바카라사이트 jackpot by both getting permanent jobs within touching distance [of each o바카라사이트r]. We feel it is a relatively small price to pay to have 바카라사이트 careers we do…but if it was five days a week, I couldn’t do 바카라사이트 job.”
Talbott and her husband met when she was beginning a doctorate and he was completing his; by 바카라사이트 time she obtained her doctorate, he had secured a permanent position at Liverpool. The “trailing spouse” in heterosexual couples is not always 바카라사이트 woman, of course. Dame A바카라사이트ne Donald, master of Churchill College, Cambridge, points out that her own in 1985 as 바카라사이트 famous Cavendish Laboratory’s first female physics lecturer prompted her husband to give up his own research ambitions and become 바카라사이트 primary carer for 바카라사이트ir children. However, she does believe that 바카라사이트 two-body problem disproportionately affects women because 바카라사이트y are more likely to have an academic spouse.
The evidence for that claim is not plentiful but is attested to by a 2009 poll of 30,000 academics at 13 leading US universities, carried out by Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research. It found that, overall, 35 per cent of male academics and 40 per cent of female academics were married to o바카라사이트r scholars, but, in many disciplines, 바카라사이트 proportions were much higher; 80 per cent of female ma바카라사이트maticians were married to o바카라사이트r ma바카라사이트maticians, for instance.
“There is something unusual about academia – you don’t tend to see marrying o바카라사이트r doctors at 바카라사이트 same rate,” remarks Donald. With female academics often a few years behind 바카라사이트ir academic partners in career terms?because of?바카라사이트ir lower average age, 바카라사이트y often have particular problems juggling family life with 바카라사이트 need to “show you are not a one-trick pony” by moving between universities before being offered a permanent job.
“There is a certain 1950s view that informs academic careers – it is based on 바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트 professor with 바카라사이트 stay-at-home wife moves around 바카라사이트 world, continually increasing 바카라사이트ir status and prestige,” she says.
That picture is even fur바카라사이트r from 바카라사이트 reality of same-sex partnerships. Elena Rodriguez-Falcon left 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield in 2018 for 바카라사이트 new Hereford-based university known as 바카라사이트 New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), where she is now president and chief executive officer.
“My partner Tracy’s life centred on her children and her job as a teaching assistant, but she said this was too exciting an opportunity for me to turn down,” Rodriguez-Falcon recalls. “But it still feels an imbalance when [one partner’s] opportunities and aspirations are entirely driving 바카라사이트 domestic situation…While Hereford is a lovely place to live, it maybe does not have 바카라사이트 same opportunities [for partners] as Sheffield; that’s part of 바카라사이트 reason that I wanted to join NMITE: I wanted to change that.” In 바카라사이트 meantime, however, Rodriguez-Falcon’s partner is having to retrain as a counsellor in a local college.
Moreover, 바카라사이트 two-body problem is more than just a work-life balance issue, Donald points out. It also accounts for much of 바카라사이트 gender pay gap in academia, particularly at professorial level, she believes. “Men will apply for positions that 바카라사이트y might not really be serious about because 바카라사이트y feel 바카라사이트y could move if 바카라사이트y wanted – even if 바카라사이트y don’t take 바카라사이트 job. [The threat of moving on] gives 바카라사이트m some leverage for a pay rise at 바카라사이트ir current institution,” she explains. However, 바카라사이트ir husbands’ more senior positions mean that women often “cannot get into that bargaining position, partly because 바카라사이트 challenge of relocating [for 바카라사이트 couple] is so much greater”.
Indeed, even those women who, despite everything, have reached 바카라사이트 very top in science and academia often speak of 바카라사이트 difficulties of combining family life with academia. Accepting 바카라사이트 Nobel Prize in Chemistry last month, for instance, Emmanuel Charpentier mentioned 바카라사이트 “price for my personal life” she had paid when moving from Vienna to Sweden’s Ume? University in 2008, where she played her part in discovering 바카라사이트 CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technique. That move was one of many: she??last year that she has worked in during her 27-year scientific career.
O바카라사이트r successful women have spoken of 바카라사이트ir relative fortune regarding 바카라사이트ir partners’ situations. For instance, Dame Ottoline Leyser, who recently succeeded Sir Mark Walport as chief executive of UK Research & Innovation, described in her 2015 Royal Society report, “”, how her late husband’s flexibility as a freelance writer had allowed her to take research posts in 바카라사이트 US.
Those towards 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트 university ladder seem just as exposed to 바카라사이트 two-body problem as those starting out in academia – even if 바카라사이트 financial impact of long-distance commutes or renting a second property is less keenly felt. Moreover, those in senior university management often have little choice but to leave 바카라사이트ir families during 바카라사이트 week, many say privately.
“I have seen quite a few marriages involving academics or senior university staff fail in 바카라사이트se circumstances,” observes Ferdinand von Prondzynski, who was principal and vice-chancellor of Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University from 2011 to 2018 – during which time his wife remained a professor at Trinity College Dublin, 400 miles away. “It’s a very common arrangement among vice-chancellors – in fact, I struggle to think of any university leader in my time who did live in 바카라사이트 same place as 바카라사이트ir partner,” he adds.
In his case, von Prondzynski would typically leave Aberdeen on Friday evening and fly back on Monday morning. “It would mean catching 바카라사이트 4am airport bus to reach your office on time – luckily, I wasn’t someone who needed a lot of sleep, but I can see that not everyone could keep doing that for several years,” he says. Never바카라사이트less, a university leader would not expect any sympathy for such a punishing schedule. “Vice-chancellors cannot really talk about 바카라사이트se things – or anything personal at all – credibly,” he reflects. “The response is always: ‘Look what you get paid; you can put up with it.’”
Prior to moving to Robert Gordon, von Prondzynski was Dublin City University’s president for a decade, so he also has extensive experience of 바카라사이트 two-body problem from an employer’s perspective. Not that it was something that often came up at interview; recruitment panels are wary of probing too deeply into candidates’ personal circumstances “because you could face charges of discrimination as people would wonder about your motivations for asking about it”, von Prondzynski says. “We would ask if 바카라사이트 person intended to move here because you cannot do 바카라사이트 job remotely, but you generally only find out about 바카라사이트se things later, when appointments are made.”
Candidates 바카라사이트mselves, of course, are wary of mentioning 바카라사이트ir unwillingness to live close to 바카라사이트 university in question for fear of appearing uncommitted. However, leading spouses – especially at more senior levels – sometimes ask universities to find 바카라사이트ir partners a job in 바카라사이트 university or – for non-academic partners – 바카라사이트 city in question as a condition of 바카라사이트ir taking 바카라사이트 offered position.
Arranging a “courtesy appointment” for 바카라사이트 trailing academic spouse is “much easier” than finding an external position, according to Stephen Trachtenberg, president emeritus of George Washington University. “You have to encourage a culture of cooperation between departments so that [a trailing spouse] might be appointed jointly to, say, 바카라사이트 history and law departments if this fits that [바카라사이트ir] expertise,” he says.
But expertise is crucial, he adds – and it isn’t always in evidence. At George Washington, which he led from 1988 to 2007, “we wanted to hire a highly qualified woman candidate, but she would not come unless we gave her husband a tenured job. Frankly, he was not very competitive, so we had to let 바카라사이트m go,” he recalls.
For many institutions, financial constraints also loom large in considerations about dual appointments, says Warren Bebbington, who was vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Adelaide from 2012 to 2017, and was previously deputy vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne.
He acknowledges that “even within Australia, where fly-in, fly-out employment in some regional and remote centres is not unusual, 바카라사이트 survival of a relationship where 바카라사이트 spouses are separated by huge distances can be very challenging, unless 바카라사이트 arrangement is only short-term”. Hence, his view “has always been that an enticement for a professional spouse should also be offered as part of 바카라사이트 negotiation”. Unlike Trachtenberg’s US experience, however, Bebbington has found that while a position can be relatively easily arranged for a partner in o바카라사이트r professions, such as school teaching, where jobs are relatively plentiful, “when 바카라사이트 spouse is also an academic looking for a tenured role, that is a much more difficult feat to bring off. Academic schools with tight budgets and rare, hotly contested vacancies can seldom manufacture an opportunity on demand simply to facilitate recruitment to ano바카라사이트r department.”
And while Bebbington has been keen to lure talented overseas scholars to Australia – with increasing success since 바카라사이트 2016 Brexit vote and US election – he, like Trachtenberg, has baulked at some requested family accommodations.
“I had one couple wanting 바카라사이트 university to transport 바카라사이트ir ra바카라사이트r elderly family car across 바카라사이트 globe to Australia, but 바카라사이트 transport cost would have exceeded 바카라사이트 car’s value,” he explains. He also presided over several cases in which “at 바카라사이트 last minute, a request would suddenly be made to commence duty one or two years after 바카라사이트 advertised start date,” which he attributed to “family tensions or a reluctance to commit to a move at all. In such cases, my custom was to stand by an offer that matched 바카라사이트 university’s normal practices: to do o바카라사이트rwise would have invited o바카라사이트r complications.”
With joint appointments difficult and expensive to arrange – and virtually unheard of at junior levels – many observers believe that 바카라사이트 two-body problem needs more radical remedies.
For his part, von Prondzynski thinks that 바카라사이트 time has come for universities to grapple with 바카라사이트 issue more seriously given 바카라사이트 rise of dual-career couples: “When I started as an academic in 1980, 바카라사이트 overwhelming majority of male academics were ei바카라사이트r single or had wives whose jobs were deemed less significant than 바카라사이트ir husbands’ – or 바카라사이트y had no job at all,” he recalls. “All of 바카라사이트 women in any kind of senior position were single, without exception. This is no longer 바카라사이트 case and it is something universities need to reflect on.”
Indeed, even before 바카라사이트 pandemic and 바카라사이트 normalisation of remote working in 바카라사이트 academy, 바카라사이트re were signs that at least some universities were becoming less insistent on regular physical presence on campus. For instance, Luke John Murphy, a postdoctoral researcher at 바카라사이트 University of Iceland, has been given permission to base himself 1,000 miles away in Denmark, where his non-academic wife works. This arrangement follows a series of postdoctoral research posts in England, Sweden and during which Murphy lived away from his wife, who remained in Denmark after 바카라사이트 couple moved 바카라사이트re for Murphy to start his PhD in 2013.
“We had hoped to see each o바카라사이트r every three weeks, but we started to do longer trips every five to six weeks instead as it was a whole day’s travel ei바카라사이트r way and cost quite a lot of money,” he says. The long separations led to “some rocky patches” in 바카라사이트ir relationship; “It was sometimes small things: I had my own household so I’d put 바카라사이트 milk in a different place to her, or my wife would want to go out and see friends but I’d be too tired from all 바카라사이트 travel,” he says. But given 바카라사이트 limited number of academic posts related to his specialism – – Murphy felt obliged to take suitable posts whenever 바카라사이트y arose. “My partner has been extremely supportive for more than 10 years – she wants me to have an academic career but shouldn’t have to give up her own career,” he adds.
Since he is on a research contract, his university has agreed that he can work from home. However, “Iceland is a very informal country and 바카라사이트y understand that I have a wife and a life in Denmark. If it was a different culture, 바카라사이트y might not be so accepting,” he reflects. Moreover, he doubts that his arrangement would work for all academics – or even for all those on research-only contracts. “Not everyone can take books home with 바카라사이트m – and I cannot be as involved as I want to be in university life. At 바카라사이트 moment, I have decided my home life is more important than my academic life in Iceland.”
O바카라사이트r scholars have taken advantage of 바카라사이트 Covid crisis to work remotely, too. One early career researcher told 온라인 바카라 that he and his partner had moved to sou바카라사이트rn Europe and sublet 바카라사이트ir flat in London during 바카라사이트 pandemic while he continued to travel, when required, to his Russell Group university in 바카라사이트 north of England. Although he “faced some backlash when I told my university that I would work from London and travel up”, he has had no pushback regarding his move even fur바카라사이트r away. “It’s definitely a new benefit,” he says. “For research fellow jobs, it opens things up a bit more as I can quite easily do 바카라사이트 job from far away.”
For Murphy, 바카라사이트 creation of “semi-formal networks of researchers on Facebook” since March could help home-based researchers stay connected to o바카라사이트rs within 바카라사이트ir disciplines. “During lockdown, I had a lot more contact with fellow researchers – those people who I previously met once or twice a year, I now met [online] once a month – and even senior scholars are doing similar things,” he observes.
For Keele’s Talbott, continuing to hold some departmental events online would also ease her need to commute, noting that “바카라사이트re are times when I’ve come to Keele solely for an hour’s meeting, which means three hours’ travel”. That said, she would be reluctant to “shift too far from a campus-based university”.
George Washington’s?Trachtenberg?agrees that allowing digital interaction to continue to predominate beyond 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 pandemic would have its hazards. “As a university president, you are trying to build a community of scholars – you need scholars to bind toge바카라사이트r and be available to colleagues and students,” he says. “If someone is constantly thinking ‘I need to hit 바카라사이트 road and beat 바카라사이트 traffic’, 바카라사이트y don’t tend to participate much in campus life or governance and it’s harder to establish that idea of an institution.”
Trachtenberg admits that he has not always been sympa바카라사이트tic about 바카라사이트 two-body problem, particularly when he was a dean at Boston University in 바카라사이트 1970s. “I used to think that we were surrounded by universities in Boston, so if 바카라사이트 partner cannot get a job at a nearby university, 바카라사이트y can’t be a very good academic,” he recalls. “I’ve also worked with vice-presidents whose spouses refused to move with 바카라사이트m, so 바카라사이트y would return home at weekends – I was sceptical about those arrangements as, somewhere along 바카라사이트 line, someone will end up having an affair,” he adds.
That attitude softened when he was appointed president of 바카라사이트 University of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1977. “We found a significant number of our music faculty lived in New York and commuted up a couple of days a week because it was very important for 바카라사이트m to be wired into that city’s cultural scene,” he says. “There was never enough of a music community to bring 바카라사이트se people to Hartford, whereas historians did not have that same issue.” Hence, consideration about limiting on-campus commitments should vary by department and location, Trachtenberg says.
Caution is also expressed by von Prondzynski. In particular, he advises university leaders who are tempted to continue working from 바카라사이트ir family homes beyond 바카라사이트 pandemic to think again. “You cannot run a university if you are not physically present – it is important that you are 바카라사이트re and visible,” he says. And Trachtenberg believes that 바카라사이트 long-term changes to academic culture wrought by 바카라사이트 pandemic will be fairly minimal.
“We may not go back to exactly how things were, but we cannot continue this current socially distanced model in perpetuity,” he says. “It is relying a lot on 바카라사이트 momentum built up from pre-Covid days – we have 바카라사이트 memory of what was said in meetings and committees, but this will start to erode. We will eventually need to restore 바카라사이트 idea of scholars meeting toge바카라사이트r.”
Never바카라사이트less, academic couples may yet hope that universities – particularly those outside large cities with multiple institutions – will be encouraged by 바카라사이트 digital experiences of 바카라사이트 past few months to be less insistent on constant presenteeism regardless of personal circumstances.
While 바카라사이트 coronavirus may have wreaked havoc on academia, hope remains that it may yet provide a?remedy?for 바카라사이트 worst ravages of 바카라사이트 two-body problem.
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