This chapter introduces the audience to the world of four females working in higher education during COVID-19. The narratives provide a glimpse into the roles women in the workforce and specifically mothers in academia played and continue to play throughout the global pandemic of 2020 and 2021. In each narrative, the authors discuss the mental, emotional, physical, and relational tolls of striving to balance the many roles faced during the global pandemic. After exploring personal experiences, the authors look to the future and provide recommendations for how universities can strive to advocate for their female employees, specifically women of color and women serving in caregiver roles, in the forthcoming policies and initiatives.
TopIntroduction Of Authors
The following chapter briefly introduces our audience to the world of four females working in higher education during COVID-19. Our narratives provide a glimpse into the roles women in the workforce, and specifically mothers in academia played and continue to play throughout the global pandemic of 2020. As the pandemic drags on throughout 2021, we are still managing the impact of the global health crisis on our families, careers, and students.
In our narratives, we each provide unique perspectives into how COVID-19 has impacted our work in higher education. We each have a distinct, yet shared perspective. To begin with, while focused on the promotion in rank process, Aubrey found herself not only caregiver to her three children but also her husband who was diagnosed with Stage-4 cancer at the onset of COVID-19. Jessica also faced the loss of a loved one, while attempting to navigate racial justice and identity in her position as a higher education administrator and homeschooling a high school freshman. Kelly, a Department Chair for an online doctoral program, faced cancelling several study aboard programs, transitioning her Department’s required residency to a virtual format and managing her normal department duties while homeschooling two elementary school children. Also, Ileana faced a high-risk pregnancy while completing her doctoral program and continuing to teach online while homeschooling her daughter in elementary school as well as guiding her college aged daughter who quickly had to make the transition to an online learning platform.
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gonçalves (2019) argued that importance of addressing the institutional and workplace demands, stating:
with regard to the implicants and consequences they have for women, and more specifically, early-career female researchers who would like to combine motherhood with an academic career….[explaining] we need to be seriously attuned to the effects and ramifications of motherhood and academic with the aim of correcting existing gendered biases, which requires an investment on the part of all stakeholders if change is to take place. (p. 470)
For example, as women and mothers working in higher education, to take even the slightest break from work can feel like a burden, a waste of productive working time, or even lead to an overwhelming feeling of guilt, a feeling that has even produced its own phrase “mom guilt” (Jones, et al., 2020; Quinlan & Johnson, 2019; Swift, 2020). We have seen these demands continue to increase and expand throughout the pandemic both in our personal and professional lives.
In each of the following narratives, we discuss the mental, emotional, physical, and relational toll that striving to balance the many roles we all faced during the global pandemic took on each of us. After exploring our own experiences, we will look to the future and provide recommendations for how universities can strive to advocate for their female employees, specifically women of color, in the forthcoming policies and initiatives.