oh my gosh....this is way cool

So one of the things that I often think about because I so badly want a career in academia, is the fact that I also want to be a mother, wife, and human (not saying you CAN'T be). I just mean to say, I want to be able to pursue other interests as well.
Going to school for a Phd is challenging enough, but once you finish there is still the ye ole tenure that you must try to obtain if you want to settle yourself into a research place/space.
This article explores how many universities are trying to change their policies to allow women more flexibility.
Some might argue (and I've actually heard this said) that it should all be 'equal' (that word is a sticky one). By equal, at least in this particular instance, the person meant, if men have to have 5 years of continuous service, publication, etc then women should to. Okie, I don't disagree, but the fact is, men can have children (if the choose) and not get penalized for it, if a women does then often times b/cs there is no maternity leave worked into the system (at least not a formal version) they have to take a leave and sometimes this does affect their tenure.

It seems like the plan this article described would extend itself to helping a lot of folks at different stages in their lives:

"Part-time policies are designed to appeal to fathers, people with
aging parents, and professors nearing retirement. Still, many proponents see
mothers as the prime audience."

The article does go on to say that things aren't perfect with this new system:

"The part-time schedule makes it hard for her to keep up with everything. It took her two years to help a student turn his master's thesis into a publishable paper because she could never find a few days for the project. She doesn't have time to travel to give seminars that would burnish her reputation, and she wonders whether, over the long term, her career will have a lower trajectory than it might have had"

*** **** *** ***

I don't know, I'd like to think that with more women entering the 'world o academia' things would change, but will they? What if some folks don't want them to change (including women)? I don't know...I have lots of feelings on this subject, as a mom-to-be, I'd like to think that my having children now, or in the future or whenever won't affect my academic career, but I also think that in the back of my head I'd just 'accepted' that it might. One of the reasons I enjoyed teaching in a community college and had thought about doing it long-term, post Phd, is because there is not a great amount of emphasis placed on the notion of 'publish' or 'perish'. But I do love my research and would love to have a schedule (and funding) that would allow me to research, write, present, and publish. Here goes that question/problem I've always seemed to have with balance.

I'm interested in hearing what others think on this... and be sure to check out the article from the Boston Globe.