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On Being an
Academic in the Era of Economic Rationalism: Subcategory: Subcategory WWC*
*Woman With Children
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As a newly appointed academic at the University of Adelaide Waite campus in the
early 1990’s I was lucky to have strong support from five senior staff in my
Faculty. External research funding collaborations followed quickly and I was
tenured three years of employment and my first baby later. University
belt-tightening was already underway, but answering Emails did not yet swamp
each days’ ‘To Do’ list. I had plenty of time to avail myself of various
excellent training opportunities. All staff gathered for morning tea. In
summary, my life as an academic resembled quite closely that of my parent’s
generation and I was headed for a successful career. So, what went wrong? I ask
myself (and sometimes others). I moved to UWA in 1998 to the same level of
appointment, primarily motivated by family issues. Although I regained tenure by
gaining a promotion to Level C (in 2003, at the time of the birth of my third
child), I had been at Level B by then for 10 years. The past decade has left me
wondering about my continued viability, let alone continued interest in
academia.
Some of the factors that now disturb me greatly may well reflect issues that
have led to disproportionate gender representation at the higher echelons of
academia. Academics are being asked to earn our salaries or else face the
consequences. So, what are the funded (by our budget mechanism) activities in
which we engage? Undergraduate teaching to large numbers of students; post
graduate supervision to completion of a degree; attaining research grants and
publishing papers. There needs to be some serious reconsideration of what
activities an academic should be performing and at the least an application of
the triple bottom line concept to valuing our inputs. Otherwise all the unpaid
but essential activities we also perform will fall away. For example,
coordination of units and degrees; assessment of undergraduate research
projects; lab management; career advice and provision of references for former
students; work experience for undergraduate and high school students; outreach
activities for high school students; community talks; review of academic papers
and grants; the list continues. These kinds of activities more or less are
performed by most academics so why are they not valued as essential?
I would not perhaps bother about such issues if my time and finances were not already seriously drained by my situation as primary wage earner with 3 children. I have spent more than 40 hours a week looking after family since late 1994; about 15 hours a week commuting since 2004; more than $600 per fortnight on childcare. If success in Australian academia relies on ability to attend conferences, early breakfasts or late afternoon drinks at the club, writing research grants and papers in the evening, then I am definitely on the outer. I am certain that most academic women with children share similar issues. It is for this reason that I have proposed that there should be a “Woman With Children” category on Australian research granting panel assessments. It is my contention, that if such a person actually manages to submit a grant, it definitely deserves a status at least equal to that of Early Career Researcher. Alternatively, given the documented entrenched bias against female researchers, and also, my intrinsic acceptance of equal opportunity but my lack of comfort with affirmative action, perhaps we should move to a system where research grants are assessed anonymously, ie on the basis of the research they describe. In 13 years time when my youngest child finishes high school, I may just find the time to identify the necessary collaborators in order to submit a research project to the ARC, to test the efficacy of this idea. Or perhaps I could persuade you, gentle reader, to take up the challenge?