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#IWD2019<\/p><\/div>\n
The Kids\u2019 Competition<\/h2>\n
We had a fantastic array of artwork submitted by children of university staff members, which we displayed at the lunchtime event, and that were up for public vote on the day. The overall winner was Alison Edward\u2019s (School of Pharmacy) daughter\u2019s submission of her mum doing \u2018flossing\u2019 in front of her students in a lecture in order to get their attention!<\/p>\n
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On Guilt, Taboos and being \u2018Soft\u2019<\/h2>\n
The panel, chaired by Professor Sarah Vickerstaff (University Athena SWAN lead), consisted of VC Karen Cox and Rob Twyman (SSPSSR), Minna Janhonen (Athena SWAN), and Alison Edwards (Pharmacy), who discussed a range of questions relating to parenting in academia.\u00a0 Why is being a parent perceived as \u2018soft\u2019? Is it more taboo to be \u201cout\u201d at work as a dad, than as a mum? Why do we as parents feel riddled with guilt? And how does having a child affect people who are not parents, who may have to \u2018pick up the slack\u2019 from those who are?![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/equalitymatters\/files\/2019\/05\/2019-03-08-12.29.48-e1558692880464-225x300.jpg\")
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Becoming a parent for the first time inevitably brings with it challenges, and particularly at work there are multiple layers of bureaucracy to sift through; parental leave arrangements, cover for teaching, maternity\/paternity\/partner cover, finances, \u2018keep in touch\u2019 days and applying for nursery placements (before the baby is even born) and so on. Minna, who is a part of the Athena SWAN team, and currently pregnant, explained that her experience so far has been that policies are not always clear and straightforward and there is a lot of maths involved in figuring out parental leave. Karen discussed how she had felt a lot of guilt when she first became a parent because she was focussed on her career and she was often the last parent to pick up her children from nursery. She had a daughter whilst she was doing a PhD and another child when she became Head of School. Karen reflected that working hard and having a career is what makes her happy, and she is pleased with her choices and have realised that \u201cif you\u2019re happy at work, then your child will be happy too\u201d. Allison mentioned that working out the balance between work and parenting is indeed challenging, and it will inevitably affect your career; if you have children at least 30 hours of your week will be taken up\u00a0by childcare. In addition, the guilt of being a parent is not only linked to not seeing your children, but also to somehow letting your colleagues down when you have ad hoc childcare commitments, cannot attend meetings or have to request timetabling constraints due to school\/nursery collections. Rob also raised how there is an underlying assumption that parental responsibility lies with mothers, and that being a dad in academia is more taboo and not discussed as much, which renders fathers invisible.<\/p>\n
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<\/h2>\n\u201cI just don\u2019t want to be a problem\u201d<\/h2>\n
Society puts an ever-growing demand on people to be present at all times, whether in person or digitally and a lot of people who work part-time feel that they either do not get taken seriously as professionals\/academics, or they end up working full-time hours despite being on reduced contracts. For professional services staff taking time off for childcare can be even more challenging, as these roles include less flexibility. Returning to work following parental leave can entail quite a turmoil, both emotionally and practically, and many people work themselves to the ground in order to not lose face, or as an audience member said, they \u2018just don\u2019t want to be a problem\u2019. The panel and audience discussed that the culture in academia is that \u201cyou just get on with it\u201d and that the perception is that \u201cserious academics work full-time\u201d. Contrary to this, Sarah mentioned that she worked part time when she returned to work, and both Sarah and Alison mentioned that they had promotions whilst on parental leave.<\/p>\n
The panel continued to discuss how they have overcome obstacles to have productive and successful careers in academia as parents, noting that support from your colleagues and from other parents is very important. It is a constant balancing act between priorities, as a member of the audience put it: \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s about working out the balance of when you go to assembly at your child\u2019s school and when you prioritise your work\u201d.<\/p>\n
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For International Women\u2019s Day this year, the Athena SWAN team hosted a lunchtime event focussed on experiences of being a parent at Kent.\u00a0 This included a roundtable discussion with staff who are parents and work at Kent, including VC Karen … Continue reading