What is Baby Penalty

The chapter will provide an alternative point of view from the traditional discussion of mother scholar to the lens of a childless or childfree academic to include topics such as perceptions of peers, equitable workplace evaluation, emotional impacts, social isolation/exclusion, and other areas of often overlooked concerns for women in higher education. The context of women in academics is framed by a brief overview of the history of women in education, and challenges with solutions as a resource for change or to create awareness for women in education without children or alternative family structures. Additionally, personal accounts of being a childfree or childless scholar will provide context to the history, issues, controversies, problems, and solutions presented in the chapter.