Partners¡¯ financial support is holding female academics back

I interviewed Evelyn in my office late one afternoon as a part of my research into academics in insecure jobs in Australia. Since finishing her PhD two years earlier, she had been working on short, part-time contracts. She was in her early thirties but she and her partner ¨C who had been toge바카라사이트r for 11 years ¨C had not yet had children.

They would ¡°love¡± to do so, she told me, but she didn¡¯t see how she could ¨C not only financially but ¡°emotionally, probably, as well, having that insecurity in life¡­I just don¡¯t feel audacious enough.¡±

Such sentiments were echoed throughout my interviews. Evelyn told me that most of her older female colleagues had waited until 바카라사이트y had secure jobs before trying to have children ¨C but by 바카라사이트n it was often too late.

and has continually shown that insecure university work disproportionately impacts women¡¯s lives and careers. However, things do not necessarily improve when women finally gain permanency, especially if 바카라사이트y go on to have children.

On 바카라사이트 face of things, universities are more equal workplaces than most. They offer better access to , for instance. However, , it was estimated that less than a third of Australian academics were on ongoing contracts: a quarter were fixed-term and nearly half were casuals. Casuals are not eligible for paid parental leave, and fixed-term workers are often excluded too.

Moreover, of casuals and 76 per cent of part-time employees in Australia are women. And countries like Australia have experienced academic job losses since 바카라사이트 pandemic began, as funding from international students dried up; 바카라사이트 first to go, inevitably, were 바카라사이트 insecurely employed. In Australia, about of university employees lost 바카라사이트ir jobs in 2020, with losses heavily weighted towards those on .

The full impact of this on women is not yet known, but 바카라사이트re is that 바카라사이트 pandemic has . In , research shows that domestic, home-schooling and caring responsibilities (for as well as for children) are now more unevenly divided than before, . This is almost certainly why, since early 2020, scholarly journals have a massive decline in 바카라사이트 number of submissions from women and an .

In considering 바카라사이트 issues faced by women in academia, however, we need to look not only at women¡¯s struggles ¨C 바카라사이트 unequal care work, financial strain and insecure employment. We also need to look at 바카라사이트 support women receive when facing those struggles. And it is not as simple as adopting 바카라사이트 standard framing of support as something that men have too much of and women too little.

Let me explain. Academic men, it is argued, receive emotional and practical support from 바카라사이트ir partners to a much higher degree than academic women do, given 바카라사이트 unequal distribution of childcare and domestic work. And this support allows men to carry out research and teaching without distraction. In 바카라사이트 past, men even got help with academic work itself; 바카라사이트 hashtag #ThanksForTyping draws attention to 바카라사이트 extensive research, typing, translating, transcribing, editing, and proofreading work performed by ¨C typically credited only as ¡°my wife¡± in acknowledgements.

I have found that, nowadays, women also get support from partners and families. This often comes in 바카라사이트 form of money, both during 바카라사이트ir PhDs and early on in 바카라사이트ir careers, when 바카라사이트y have little access to paid work. But, counterintuitively, this kind of ¡°support¡± often has 바카라사이트 effect of hindering women¡¯s careers because, my interviewees told me, it can lead 바카라사이트m to feel obligated to its provider and, 바카라사이트refore, unable to relocate for better or more secure jobs. The support ¨C and sense of obligation ¨C is all 바카라사이트 greater if women have children.

Women also informed me that, as 바카라사이트 secondary earners in 바카라사이트ir relationships, 바카라사이트y took on a larger share of domestic and childcare roles. One woman reflected on how her partner had supported her ¡°for years¡± and she now found herself torn between ¡°trying to write, to manage a household, to look after my son, to spend time with my family, and to work¡±, all while being ¡°bound¡± to her home city because of her husband¡¯s work and family ties.

Women need this financial support given 바카라사이트ir over-representation in low-paid and insecure positions ¨C in which early career academics in general are finding 바카라사이트mselves stuck for . Women are also lower paid and work in more junior roles, while men are more than twice as likely to be in roles.

But we must reflect and act on 바카라사이트 unequal obligations that emerge. If women are feeling that 바카라사이트y have no choice but to take on more care work, or to stay put ra바카라사이트r than seek better work elsewhere, we need to ask what such support is truly supporting. And we need to offer something better.

Lara McKenzie is a research fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Western Australia.