Most academic mothers take on majority of childcare duties

Mothers in academia take on a disproportionate share of parenting duties after having children and take longer to become professors as a result, according to researchers.

A survey of more than 7,000 women working in UK universities found that nearly seven in 10 mothers said they provided the majority of childcare in their families and a third reported doing more than 75 per cent.

Mariaelisa Epifanio, an associate professor in the University of Liverpool’s department of politics and a co-author of the research, said that this finding was particularly “striking” – despite slight improvement in recent decades – since the survey also found that 40 per cent of respondents’ partners also worked in academia, and those employed outside the sector tended to be in mid-level or executive roles.

“One would expect that in these kinds of families the division of labour is more equitable, but instead what we find is that, even in the academic environment, women identify as the primary caregivers to the children,” she told Times Higher Education.

“The motherhood penalty is usually considered as just a salary loss, but this survey allows us to see that family arrangement matters a great deal. Women who have kids are less likely or take longer to reach top positions, to become professors.”

The survey, recently published in Social Policy & Administration, found that a significant share of respondents sought to maintain their research profiles while they were on maternity leave: 39 per cent continued conducting research, 26 per cent undertook mentoring activities, 22 per cent attended conferences and a quarter were involved in journal editing or peer reviews.

Dr Epifanio, who conducted the research with Riccardo Di Leo, Thomas Scotto and Vera Troeger, also discovered “huge variation” in the maternity leave granted to mothers across providers, with some not topping up statutory benefits and others providing 26 weeks off, fully paid.

While more than 75 per cent of mothers took all of the fully paid leave available, more than 60 per cent did not take any unpaid leave.

Dr Epifanio urged all institutions to grant more generous provision to ensure greater consistency across the sector and to change the dynamics in the working environment so mothers did not feel excluded or forced into coming back.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com