The purpose of this chapter is to add to the body of research regarding women in mid-career who work in academia. This chapter, per the authors, seeks to examine women in mid-career academia who may be at a crossroads to explore their roles in life and career goals. As many women faculty members of academic institutions are navigating the stage of mid-career, past research studies are clear that there are key factors to how academics can thrive. These studies explore specific strategies for women in academia to take in order to be successful. The authors delved into hearing their individual stories to hone the essence of the individual female and then corroborate the information.
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There has been a shift in interest toward mid-career academia, specifically with women in academia. The population of mid-career personnel “make up over half of the academia profession and are responsible for more than half of the teaching (Munro-Stasiuk, 2015, p. 530).” However, their responsibilities are not just limited to teaching the majority of the course. They are also responsible for doing research and involving themselves in other extra services offered by their campuses (Munro-Stasiunk, et. al., 2015; Welch, et al., 2019). Welch et al. (2019) acknowledged there has been increased responsibility and workload for academics after receiving tenure. Their numerous responsibilities and additional tasks are also expected to be completed with limited research time due to increased teaching.
A study done in Australia found that academics felt pressure to “give more time to the university” (Santos and Cabral-Cardoso, 2008, p. 442). Individuals feel stressed to devote their extra time to work over other personal obligations. The data collected in the Australian study likely reflect similar results to the United States institutions.
Welch addresses that at this point in their career, academics often have a shift in mindset. Welch (2019) wrote that some find this mid-career period to be “significant productivity and creativity, yet for others, it is a time of disillusionment and stagnation (Welch, et al., 2019, p. 1).” With the significant amount of responsibilities professionally, it is understood why faculty become stagnate in their roles. Some academics, specifically women, may also feel exhausted in this stage due to challenges with balancing their personal and professional lives. It is important to recognize that the increased responsibilities professionally impact individual’s personal lives as well. The immense amount of work causes challenges and barriers between a person’s professional and personal life. Ward and Wolf‐Wendel (2016), supports this idea by acknowledging current research on women not advancing in their careers at the same rate as the male faculty members due to the demands of their personal lives.
Academic women have added stress and pressure to make decisions about positions, promotions, children, as well as balancing family and academics. These decisions could also explain why women may not progress as rapidly as their male colleagues. As stated in Mid-Career Faculty: Trends, Barries, and Possibilities (2019), “women who have children often find it challenging to navigate the traditional academic trajectory and often make difficult choices about their families and academic career” (Welch et al., p. 43), likely more so than their male counterparts.
The balancing between home and work, causes what authors Owolabi and Ajibose (2019) the work-family conflict. “The imbalance created as a result of [the work-family conflict] results in unhealthy living and poor wellbeing among employees” (Owolabi et al., 2019, p. 54). Women, specifically, have been shown to have difficulty in balancing the demands of work and motherhood.