O-Laughlin-Balancing Parenthood and Academia

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of Family Issues
Balancing Parenthood and Academia: Work/Family Stress as Influenced by Gender and Tenure Status
Elizabeth M. O'Laughlin and Lisa G. Bischoff
Journal of Family Issues 2005 26: 79
DOI: 10.1177/0192513X04265942
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10.1177/0192513X04265942
JOURNAL
OLaughlin,
OF
Bischoff
FAMILY
/ PARENTHOOD
ISSUES / January
AND
2005
ACADEMIA
ARTICLE
Balancing Parenthood and Academia:

Work/Family Stress as Influenced by
Gender and Tenure Status
ELIZABETH M. OLAUGHLIN
LISA G. BISCHOFF
Indiana State University
The present research investigated the influence of gender and tenure status in academicians
experiences of balancing parenthood and an academic career. Men (n = 85) and women (n =
179) employed full-time in tenure-track academic positions with at least one child younger
than the age of 16 responded via the Internet to a 36-item questionnaire assessing experiences
and perceptions regarding work and family demands. Results revealed group differences
based on gender but no differences based on tenure status alone and no significant interactions between gender and tenure status. Women reported greater academic and family stress
and perceptions of less institutional support for balance of work and family as compared to
men. Results are discussed in terms of the rational and role demand models of work/family
stress.
Keywords: parenting; stress; academia; role strain
Balancing career and parenthood is a challenging task for women and men
from all career paths. Balancing parenthood and a successful career in
academia holds unique challenges, especially for women who often
report greater demands in terms of child care and family obligations (e.g.
Dressel & Clark, 1990; Piotrkowski, Rapoport, & Rapoport, 1987). Although there are many models that examine work/family conflict, research specifically exploring work/family conflict in academic careers is
sparse. In addition, although parenthood is often mentioned as one factor
influencing the success of women in higher education, no specific research has been conducted comparing the views of women and men in
academic careers with regard to work and family issues. The present study
considers both tenure status and gender in evaluating the survey responses
of full-time, tenure-track academicians regarding their experiences in balancing the demands of parenthood with a career in academia.
JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES, Vol. 26 No. 1, January 2005 79-106

DOI: 10.1177/0192513X04265942
2005 Sage Publications
79
80
JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005
WORK/FAMILY CONFLICT
APPLIED TO ACADEMIC CAREERS
Several types of work/family conflict have been identified (e.g.

Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985) that are relevant to balancing family and an
academic career. Time-based conflict occurs when time pressures from
one role make it impossible to fulfill expectations of another role. Experiences of work/family conflict have been found to be positively associated
with the number of hours worked per week (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985).
It has been estimated that the average academician works approximately
55 hours per week. Strain-based conflict occurs when the stress of one
role impacts ones performance in another role. Strain-based conflict may
be especially relevant for academicians, who are often expected to fulfill
multiple role demands within the work setting (e.g. teaching, research,
service, consultation, etc.). Juggling several different tasks, whether from
the same or different roles, has been found to be associated with higher
work/family distress (Williams & Alliger, 1991). Finally, behavior-based
conflict occurs when behaviors expected in one role are incompatible with
behaviors expected in another role. Although academic positions generally have the advantage of a flexible work schedule, one outcome of this
flexibility is that work is often accomplished at home in the evening or on
weekends. Working at home may create behavior-based conflict, as the
focus and energy needed to fulfill work expectations is likely to conflict
with demands for attention from children and/or spouses. Overload and
stress related to work/family conflict have been found to be associated
with a variety of negative outcomes, including individual health risks and
depression as well as business costs of poor morale, decreased productivity, absenteeism, and turnover (Duxbury & Higgins, 1994). In terms of
academic careers, it could be expected that higher levels of work/family
conflict could contribute not only to lower quality job performance but
also could potentially result in denial of tenure or promotion, profoundly
impacting both career and family.
MODELS OF WORK/FAMILY CONFLICT
APPLIED TO ACADEMIA
There are a number of different models and perspectives that have been
proposed in examining different aspects of work/family conflict and role
strain. In general, the different models tend to focus on three broad categories of predictors: job type characteristics, such as flexibility and personal
control; individual characteristics, such as level of commitment and satis-
OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA
81
faction with work and parenting roles; and quantitative factors, such as
weekly work hours and time spent meeting household and parenting
demands. Challenging the prevailing view that time demands primarily
predict work/family stress, Marks (1977) proposed that role strain and
work family conflict are the result of over- or under-commitment to one
role relative to the other. ONeil and Greenberger (1994) did not find support for Markss general hypothesis that balanced commitment to work
and family roles would result in lesser role strain; however, they did find
support for a refined version of Markss theory such that high commitment to dual roles was associated with less role strain among women in
high control positions (e.g. professional and managerial jobs).
Duxbury and colleagues (Duxbury & Higgins, 1994; Duxbury,
Higgins, & Lee, 1994) considered the rational model versus the job-strain
model in exploring work/family conflict in a sample of dual-income and
single-parent families. The rational model (e.g., Greenhaus, Bedeian, &
Mossholder, 1987) proposes that the best predictor of work/family conflict is objective time demands such as number of hours spent in meeting
work and family obligations. Greater investment in one or the other domain (work, family) will result in greater interference from that domain
into the other domain (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). In contrast, the jobstrain model (Karasek, 1979) considers job-type factors, such as role demands and perceptions of control in the workplace, in predicting workrelated stress.
In a survey study that included more than 1,000 respondents, Duxbury
and Higgins (1994) found that both the job-strain model and the rational
model could be used to explain gender differences in reports of family-towork interference. Women, regardless of job type, reported more time in
child care than did men, resulting both in more time investment and perceptions of greater family demands for women than for men. Only the jobstrain model, however, could explain differences found in work-to-family
interference reported by career women as compared with dual-earner
women who were employed in clerical, administrative, or production
positions with lower work involvement. Duxbury and Higgins found that
career women reported less work-to-family interference than did dualearner women, despite longer work hours. In addition, career parents
reported less overall stress than did dual-earner parents, regardless of gender. Duxbury and Higgins surmised that increasing control of work and
family demands can lessen work/family conflict, particularly for women
who tend to carry the burden of work role obligations, with no relative
decrease in family obligations.
82
Two other recent studies consider gender differences in the experience

of work/family stress. Milkie and Peltola (1999) examined a number of
different quantitative (e.g., number of work hours) and qualitative (e.g.,
marital satisfaction, tradeoffs made between work and family) variables
in predicting womens versus mens reports of success in balancing work
and family demands. Their results revealed that longer work hours predicted lack of balance among men but was only marginally significant
among women. Reports of work demands leading to sacrifices in family
were related to reports of imbalance among women. Finally, marital dissatisfaction was a predictor of imbalance among both men and women.
Rwampororo, Mock, and Schafft (2002) used a mixed-methods approach
in examining sources of stress and support among dual-earner couples.
They found longer work hours to be associated with greater work stress
for men and women yet longer work hours to be associated with greater
family stress for women only. For men and women, satisfaction with child
care was found to lessen the negative spillover associated with family
demands. The authors note partial support for their hypothesis that gender
roles predict different effects of work/family stress in that women reported somewhat greater negative spillover than did men.
Desrochers, Hilton, and Larwood (2002) tested hypotheses related to
three different perspectives of work/family conflict in predicting role
strain among 100 business professors with preadolescent-aged children.
These researchers found partial support for the role strain perspective
(time commitment to work predicted greater role strain), the role balance
perspective (strong commitment to parenting identity, but not work identity, predicted lower levels of role strain), and the identity conflict perspective (time commitment to work predicted greater role strain for parents with high identity commitments to both work and parenting). The
results of this study suggest that investment of time in work and family
roles as well as role commitment are important factors to consider in evaluating work/family stress.
Studies that have considered gender differences in the experience of
work/family stress (Duxbury & Higgins, 1994; Milkie & Peltola, 1999;
Rwampororo et al., 2002) have found differences between men and
women primarily in regard to the influence of longer work hours.
Duxbury and Higgins (1994) and Desrochers et al. (2002) both found that
women participants reported greater work/family stress overall compared
to men. Milkie and Peltola (1999), however, found that employed men and
women look very similar in their reports of success in balancing work and
family.
83
Thus, in the research to date, the findings with regard to gender differences in the experience of work/family stress are somewhat mixed. Only
one study (Desrochers et al., 2002) has examined models of work/family
stress specifically among academicians, and this study did not consider
gender differences other than overall report of work/family stress.
A primary purpose of the present study was to evaluate work/family
stress among individuals in academic careers, specifically focusing on the
influence of tenure and gender. Like Duxbury et al. (1994), we considered
Karaseks (1979) job-strain model as compared with the rational model
of work/family stress in predicting work/family stress among men and
women employed in academic careers. In considering the job-strain
model, we considered factors related to role demands and perception of
control related to both work and family, thus the broader term of role
demand rather than job strain is used in describing this model. The
present study did not assess levels of commitment or satisfaction to work
or parenting roles, so we were unable to consider the role balance or identity conflict perspectives presented in the findings of Desrochers et al.
(2002). However the role-strain perspective, defined by Desrochers et al.
as commitment of time and effort to multiple roles (p. 3), is quite similar
to the rational model, allowing for comparisons with findings in regard to
objective time demands.
HYPOTHESES
Impact of job type. Tenure status was used as an indicator of differing

work demands and expectations. The rigid 7-year tenure review period
typical of most academic institutions is perhaps one of the most significant influences on pretenured academicians who are starting families or
raising young children. Individuals facing tenure review must demonstrate high levels of competence and research productivity in the earliest
years of their academic career to avoid losing their jobs. Work/family conflict has been found to be stronger in situations in which there are negative
sanctions for noncompliance with role demands (Greenhaus & Beutell,
1985), thus the risk of being denied tenure is likely a very significant factor in the work/family stress of pretenured academicians. Considering the
rational and role-demand models of work/family conflict, both models
would predict that pretenured individuals would report greater levels of
work-related stress due to greater demands, perceptions of less control,
and greater investment in work hours.
84
Impact of gender. A number of studies have indicated that women continue to carry the primary burden of child care and household responsibilities (Bielby & Bielby, 1989; Biernat & Wortman, 1991; Hochschild,
1989). It is not surprising then that studies have also found greater reports
of work/family conflict for women than for men (Cleary & Mechanic,
1983; Duxbury et al., 1994; Wortman, Biernat, & Lang, 1991). In the
realm of academia, a great deal of attention has been paid to quantitative
sex differences such as number of women in higher education and differences in promotion, pay, and research productivity, with little attention to
the possible impact of work/family stress for women in academia. Anecdotal reports highlight the difficulties women experience in juggling academic careers and children (J. Williams, 2002), particularly women who
are not tenured (e.g., Wilson, 1995). Although parental status has not been
found to be related to productivity (Cole & Zuckerman, 1987; Sax,
Hagedorn, Arredondo, & DiCrisi, in press; Sonnert & Holton, 1996),
recent research (e.g., Milkie & Peltola, 1999) suggests that the experience
of balancing family and career may be somewhat different for women
than for men. Cole and Zuckerman (1987) found that women scientists
were more likely to report giving up discretionary time and flexibility to
balance family and job responsibilities. Duxbury and Higgins (1994) also
found that working mothers spent less time in leisure activities than did
fathers. Loss of leisure time may increase stress, and loss of flexibility
may increase role strain. Loss of flexibility related to family may also
reduce opportunities for travel, which may impact opportunities for collaboration and research recognition important to success in academia
(Fouad et al., 1999).
Potential difficulties related to combining parenthood and academia
may be lessened by personal factors such as spousal support and adequate
child care arrangements. Duxbury and Higgins (1994) suggested that factors that influence perceptions of control of work and family appear to be
particularly salient in predicting work/family stress for women. For example, Valian (1998) suggested that women in full-time, tenure-track positions may be those who have found satisfactory child care, whereas
women who have not found solutions may be in part-time or nontenuretrack positions. Thus, exploration of the impact of gender on work/family
stress in academia should consider key variables such as level of work and
family demands, social support, and child care satisfaction.
We hypothesized that predictors of work and family stress would differ
for women versus men in academic careers. Consistent with the rational
model, we proposed that number of hours worked per week would be a
significant predictor of work-related stress for both men and women.
85
However, considering the role-demand model, we hypothesized that factors influencing womens perceptions of control of family and work
would better predict work and family stress than would time investment in
work or family demands. Thus, factors likely associated with ones perceptions of control of work demands and schedules, such as tenure status
and perceived support from ones department and institution, were anticipated to be associated with less work-related stress (Duxbury & Higgins,
1994). Likewise, home environment variables, such as satisfaction with
day care and spousal support for parenting and career, were expected to be
associated with lower levels of family stress. Although these variables
were expected to predict work and family stress for both men and women,
we hypothesized that family-related variables, such as day care satisfaction and spouse support for parenting, would be particularly significant
for women, because women traditionally bear greater responsibility for
child care than do men. In summary, we hypothesized that the rational
model (hours invested in work and family demands) would account for
some of the variance in work and family stress for both men and women,
but that consideration of variables related to the role-demand model (factors related to perceptions of control, demands at work and home) would
account for a significant portion of additional variance, particularly for
women in predicting both work and family stress.
Interaction of family demands and job type. It is often the case that men
and women pursuing careers in academia delay parenthood until after
securing their first academic position (Blinn & Ryan, 1990). Thus, the
stresses of first-time parenthood may be compounded with the significant
and multiple demands of proving competence in ones academic career to
secure tenure. Because women often bear greater responsibility for child
care, particularly for preschool-age children (Duxbury & Higgins, 1994),
it was anticipated that pretenured women with preschool-age children
would report the highest levels of family- and work-related stress.
METHOD
PARTICIPANTS
Participants included 85 men and 179 women employed full-time in

tenure-track positions at 4-year universities and colleges. All but 29
(11%) of the respondents were married or living as married. These 29
cases (respondents reporting no partner) were not included in analyses
86
that involved consideration of partner support, household division of

labor, and the like. Respondents who reported having no spouse or partner
included 28 women and 1 man. This group was somewhat older (x = 54.5)
and had been employed in an academic position for a greater number of
years (x = 12.2) than respondents with partners or spouses. This subgroup
of single/divorced respondents did not differ significantly from respondents with spouses/partners on any of the major variables in the primary
analyses and thus were retained in the sample. Some respondents had
missing data for specific questions; correct group ns are noted in the
tables.
The largest number of respondents were living and working at institutions in the Midwest (50%), with 22% from the Northeast, 16% from the
Southeast, 8% from the Southwest, 2% from the Northwest, and 2%
employed at universities outside of the United States. The sample consisted primarily of assistant and associate professors (90%). Approximately half of the participants were tenured (45%), with the remaining
55% being pretenured. Table 1 and Table 2 present sample characteristics
by gender and tenure status. Consistent with previous reports regarding
the common occurrence of dual-career academicians (Gee, 1991; Smart
& Smart, 1990; Sweet & Moen, 2002), 26% of participants in the present
sample reported having spouses or partners also employed in academic
positions.
MEASURES
Data were collected using a 36-item questionnaire posted on the Internet. The Parenthood and Academia Questionnaire (PAQ) was developed
for the present study based on previous literature in the area of work/
family conflict. At the time the survey was developed, there was little to no
research on parenting issues among academicians and no existing questionnaires published that had been used with this population. An initial
pool of 45 questions was developed and piloted with a group of 35 fulltime academicians. Respondents were asked to provide comments on
wording and clarity of the questions as well as to comment on what additional questions or issues might be included. Based on responses from the
pilot study, the current 36-item questionnaire was developed.
Information on reliability and validity for the PAQ is not currently
known. Several items in the questionnaire were collected for other research purposes and are not reported here. Those items relevant to the current study are discussed below
87
39.8 (6.4)
9.3 (6.3)
52.5 (10.1)
39.6 (19.0)***
56.1 (15.9)***
1.7 (0.78)
51.1 (21.0)
24.5 (19.0)
19.5 (13.4)
6.2 (1.2) ***
5.8 (1.4)
5.0 (1.6)***
3.9 (1.6)*
5.4 (1.1)***
4.8 (1.3)***
6.0 (1.1)
5.3 (1.5)
4.3 (1.6)
4.8 (1.3)
4.2 (1.4)
Female
40.0 (6.4)
8.8 (6.0)
53.8 (7.9)
26.4 (19.7)
42.3 (13.1)
2.1 (0.90)
51.0 (21.3)
26.2 (18.6)
19.4 (12.6)
6.7 (0.58)
Male
Gender
4.5 (1.4)
5.1 (1.2)
3.9 (1.6)
5.0 (1.6)
6.0 (1.3)
43.4 (5.8)
9.1 (6.2)
51.6 (9.7)
36.0 (20.2)
52.7 (14.2)
1.8 (0.76)
47.8 (20.9)
23.6 (18.2)
23.5 (15.9)
6.3 (1.2)
Tenured
Untenured
4.7 (1.3)
5.3 (1.2)
4.0 (1.7)
5.2 (1.5)
5.9 (1.3)
37.0 (5.3)***
5.7 (3.9)***
54.0 (9.1)*
33.8 (20.3)
50.2 (17.6)
1.8 (0.90)
53.6 (20.8)*
26.2 (19.2)
16.3 (9.3)***
6.5 (1.0)
Tenure Status
NOTE: Standard deviations are in parentheses. ns vary due to some respondents not responding to all questions.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001; indicates significance for male/female or tenure/untenured.
Age (n = 264)
Years in career (n = 252)
Average work hours (n = 262)
Partner work hours (n = 239)
Involvement in household tasks (%) (n = 235)
No. of children (n = 264)
Average % teaching (n = 262)
Average % research (n = 262)
Average % service (n = 257)
Partner supports parenting
(range 1 to 7; n = 239)
Partner supports career
(range 1 to 7; n = 239)
Department supportive
(range 1 to 7; n = 264)
Institution supportive
(range 1 to 7; n = 264)
Academic stress
(range 1 to 7; n = 264)
Family stress
(range 1 to 7; n = 264)
Factor
TABLE 1
Characteristics of Respondents by Gender and Tenure Status
4.6 (1.4)
5.2 (1.2)
4.0 (1.6)
5.1 (1.5)
5.9 (1.3)
39.8 (6.3)
9.1 (6.2)
52.9 (9.2)
34.8 (20.3)
51.2 (16.0)
1.8 (0.83)
51.0 (21.0)
25.0 (18.8)
19.4 (13.1)
6.4 (1.1)
Pop. Mean
88

TABLE 2
Work-Related Variables by Gender

Gender
Factor
Male (n = 85)
Rank
Assistant professor
Associate professor
Full professor
Tenure status
Tenured
Untenured
Type of academic institution
Primary teaching emphasis
Primary research emphasis
Research and teaching equally emphasized
Other (medical schools)
Spouse employment
Less than 30 hours a week
30 to 40 hours a week
Greater than 40 hours a week
Female (n = 179)
47%
39%
14%
56%
32%
11%
46%
54%
44%
56%
45%
19%
34%
2%
34%
25%
40%
1%
35%
38%
27%
18%
32%
50%**
*Chi-square significant at p < .01. **Chi-square significant at p < .001.
The primary independent variables, tenure status and gender, were

evaluated through single-item responses in the demographic section of the
questionnaire. Other demographic information such as age, rank, years in
academic career, type of academic institution, number of children, day
care arrangements, and spouse employment were used in describing the
sample and in eliminating respondents who were working less than fulltime or were employed in nontenure-track positions.
Information regarding experiences of work and family stress was collected through both Likert-type scale items and open-ended questions.
Family stress was assessed by asking respondents to indicate on a 7-point,
Likert-type scale your overall level of current stress in regard to your
family responsibilities (1 = no stress, 7 = extreme stress). Likewise, work
stress was assessed by asking respondents to indicate on a 7-point, Likerttype scale your overall level of current stress in regard to your academic
responsibilities. Two open-ended items also requested information on
work-to-family and family-to-work conflict. Participants were asked,
What impact, if any, has your academic career had on your children and/
or family? and, conversely, What impact, if any, has your family had on
your academic career? Responses to these open-ended items allowed us
89
to elicit, in an unstructured, free-response manner, both positive and negative comments about work-to-family and family-to-work influences.
Seven percent of respondents provided no response for the family-towork item, and 8% provided no response to the work-to-family question.
Women respondents tended to provide longer and more detailed responses than did men.
In addition to the primary independent variables of gender and tenure
status, we considered several other factors related to perceptions of control including partner- and work-based support and demands in the work
and home setting. Social support was assessed through four Likert-type
scale items that assessed level of partner support for parenting, partner
support for career, departmental support, and institutional support in balancing work and family demands. All four items used a 7-point Likerttype scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely supportive). An additional Likert-type scale item elicited information on satisfaction with day
care arrangements (1 = not satisfied, 7 = extremely satisfied). Quantity of
work demands was operationalized as the number of hours worked in a
typical week, including time spent at home on work-related activities.
Family demands were assessed through several individual items tapping specific family obligations as well as a composite variable. Respondents were asked to indicate the typical division of labor between the
respondent and his or her spouse or partner in seven areas including child
care, cleaning, cooking, laundry, paying bills, medical and miscellaneous
child appointments, and lawn and garden care. A division of 50-50 would
indicate equal levels of involvement in the task, whereas percentages
greater or less than 50% would indicate primary or lesser responsibility
for the task. Percentage of involvement in household tasks was calculated
as the sum of percentage reported for specific tasks, divided by the number of tasks reported (up to seven). This variable served as an overall indicator of respondent versus spouse involvement in family demands and
was considered in addition to average work hours per week as a quantitative indicator of time demands.
Analysis of open-ended items. Responses to open-ended items were
evaluated by two raters. The two raters first worked together in evaluating
a sample of 25% to 30% of the questionnaires to generate and agree on
categories for the most common responses. Raters then independently
evaluated all the participant responses and grouped them into the predetermined categories. Responses were scored as 0 (did not meet this response category) or 1 (response fit with the response category) for each
individual response category (see Table 3 for a listing of response catego-
90

TABLE 3
Responses to Select Open-Ended Questions

Grouped by Gender (n = 264)
What effect, if any, has parenthood had on your academic career?
Gender of Respondent
Response Category
Negative influence categories
Less time for research
Harder to balance work and home demands
More stress in general
Less time to get work done
Less travel/networking
Miscellaneous negative
a
Total
Positive or neutral influence categories
More efficient in work
Changed my perspective on career vs. family
Change in career plans due to family
Family has had no impact on career
Miscellaneous positive or neutral
a
Total
No response
Male
Female
22%
5%
7%
23%
5%
11%
73%
32%
6%
4%
12%
12%
15%
81%
11%
14%
5%
14%
6%
50%
8%
10%
8%
12%
7%
12%
49%
4%
What impact, if any, does your career have on your family?

Gender of Respondent
Response Category
Negative influence categories
Take home stress
Less time with family
Low income
Miscellaneous negative
a
Total
Positive or neutral influence categories
Positive role model for children
Flexibility
No impact on family
Miscellaneous positive
Miscellaneous neutral
a
Total
No response
Male
Female
12%
32%
5%
1%
50%
16%
28%
0%
16%
60%
7%
26%
6%
10%
7%
56%
8%
14%
22%
4%
13%
6%
59%
8%
NOTE: Participant responses could be scored in more than one response category, thus totals
for negative, positive/neutral, and no response categories will be greater than 100%.
a. Indicates sum of negative influence and positive/neutral influence subcategories or total
percentage of respondents providing negative influence versus positive/neutral influence
responses.
91
ries). Participant responses that fit more than one category were scored as
1 for each category, thus the totals sum is greater than 100%. Responses
that did not fit into a predetermined category were included in a miscellaneous category. Individuals who did not respond to the open-ended
item were scored in the no response category. Raters agreed on fit of responses into predetermined categories on more than 80% of all responses.
A third rater evaluated responses on which the first two raters disagreed
and responses were categorized based on consensus agreement (e.g.,
agreement by two thirds of raters on a particular category).
PROCEDURE
The Parenting and Academia Questionnaire was posted on the Internet

for a period of 10 months from 1998 to 1999 and for 4 months in 2002.
Although the Web site was not secure, information about the online survey was distributed in a very specific and targeted manner, making it
unlikely that individuals other than faculty members at academic institutions would have received specific information giving the Web address for
the questionnaire. Participants were recruited through a variety of means
including word of mouth from one faculty member to another, e-mail
messages addressed to chairs of more than 150 departments at various
academic institutions, postings to academic newsgroups on the Internet,
postings to various faculty bulletin boards on the Internet, and fliers distributed at academic conferences. In recruitment notices, potential participants were directed to the Web address of the posted questionnaire and
ensured of confidentiality. The returned questionnaires in no way identified the identity or e-mail address of the participant but did include the
date and time that the responses were submitted. By examining the date
and time the survey was returned, as well as the specific content of openended questions, we were able to detect and delete 12 cases in which the
same survey was returned twice. More than 90% of respondents included
responses to open-ended questions. These responses were all unique. We
also examined the specific numeric and categorical responses of the individuals who did not respond to open-ended items and found that these
responses were also unique, indicating that no respondent returned more
than one survey with identical or even similar information. In addition, the
demographics of the current sample of academicians were quite similar to
the demographics reported in other recent samples of academician parents, further supporting the representativeness of the current sample. Consistent with procedures typically used for online research, informed consent was presented online prior to presentation of the questionnaire. Thus,
92
respondents were first presented with the consent information and then
required to click on a link indicating agreement to the informed consent in
order to access the questionnaire. Although this procedure does not guarantee that participants fully read and understood the informed consent,
this issue is not unique to online research and is a potential problem with
written informed consent as well.
RESULTS
The results are presented in three parts. To begin, we report specific
sample characteristics and present the means and standard deviations for
the major variables in the study. Next, we report a MANOVA evaluating
gender and tenure status differences for the full sample of respondents. A
second MANOVA is presented examining dependent variables related to
spouse/partner support, eliminating the 29 participants who reported
being single or divorced parents. We used a conservative alpha level of .01
for the MANOVAs and ANOVAs. Finally, we present the results of a
series of hierarchical ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses
conducted to examine predictors of family and academic stress for men
and women participants. For the regression analyses, time commitment
variables were entered in the first step of the analyses followed by
job-type and home-environment types of variables to assess the incremental contribution of factors related to the role-demand model. Homeenvironment variables included spouse/partner support, thus the 29 single
or divorced respondents were also excluded from the hierarchical regression analyses.
SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS
Means and standard deviations for all the study variables, as well as
descriptive measures of the respondents, are presented in Table 1 and
Table 2. Both women and men had an average of two children, and 59% of
respondents had at least one preschool-age child, 52% had at least one
school-age child, and 22% had at least one adolescent child. In terms of
day care, 28% reporting having a child in day care full-time, 13% reported
part-time day care, 20% used after-school programs, 11% reported homebased (nonfamily) day care, and 30% reported that a family member took
care of the children during the workday. A majority of pretenured faculty
had preschool-age children (73%), whereas only 42% of tenured faculty
had preschool-age children. Overall, 51% of respondents reported having
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their first child after beginning their academic careers. This percentage
was similar for women respondents (51%) as compared with men respondents (47%).
Group differences. Years in academia did not differ between men and
women. However, as would be expected, tenured faculty were older and
reported significantly more years in academic careers than did pretenured faculty (see Table 1). Differences were also noted in self-report of
teaching versus service activities between tenured and pretenured faculty,
with tenured faculty reporting significantly more involvement in service
activities and pretenured faculty reporting a greater percentage of time
teaching.
Spousal employment and division of household tasks were found to
differ significantly between men and women respondents who were married or living as married. Although 50% of women and 27% of men
reported having a spouse who worked more than 40 hours a week on average, 37% of men versus 18% of women reported having a spouse or partner who worked less than full-time (see Table 2). These results suggest
that dual-career relationships, in which both partners worked in excess of
40 hours a week, were more common among women in the present sample
as compared to men. Women in the present sample also reported greater
involvement in child care and household tasks as compared to their partners (see Table 1).
EFFECTS OF GENDER AND TENURE STATUS
Results of a MANOVA considering both tenure and gender in selfreport of stress and perceived support in the workplace for work/family
balance revealed a main effect for gender only, F(4, 257) = 4.81, p = .001.
There were no significant group differences based on tenure status and no
significant interactions between gender and tenure. Univariate analyses
based on gender indicate that women respondents reported significantly
higher levels of academic stress, F(1, 260) = 11.55, p < .01, and also
higher levels of family stress, F(1, 260) = 13.10, p < .001, as compared
with men. Women also reported perceptions of less support from the academic institution for balancing work and family; however, this finding
was significant at the .05 level only. Men and women did not differ in
report of perceived support for balance of work and family at the departmental level.
A separate MANOVA, excluding the 29 respondents who did not provide information on partner/spouse support (e.g., divorced or single re-
94
spondents) and again grouping by gender and tenure status, was conducted entering perceptions of spousal support for career and parenting
responsibilities and perceived division of household labor. Results of this
MANOVA revealed a main effect both for gender, F(3, 228) = 19.21,
p < .001, and for tenure, F(3, 228) = 4.61, p = .004. No interaction was
found. Univariate analyses revealed that women reported significantly
lower levels of perceived spousal support for parenting than did men, F(1,
230) = 12.0, p = .001. Women also reported greater involvement in household tasks relative to their partners, as compared to men, F(1, 230) =
45.90, p < .001 (see Table 1 for group means). Perceptions of spouse/
partner support for career did not differ between men and women. In
terms of tenure, a trend was noted (p = .055) for tenured respondents to
report more involvement in household responsibilities as compared to
pretenured respondents; however, there were no group differences based
on tenure that reached statistical significance at the p = .05 level.
Gender differences in work/family responsibilities among dual-career
couples. Given that more woman than men in the present sample reported
being in a dual-career relationship (as indicated by having a spouse that
works more than 30 hours a week), and because previous research (e.g.,
Bielby & Bielby, 1989) has suggested that women in dual-career couples
continue to shoulder a greater responsibility of household demands as
compared to men, we considered division of family responsibilities
among dual-career respondents specifically. A MANOVA, grouping by
gender and including a subgroup of respondents having a partner who
worked 30 hours or more a week (n = 151) was conducted entering percentage of time relative to partner spent in child care responsibilities as
well as three household chores (cleaning, cooking, and laundry). Results
of the MANOVA were significant, F (4, 146) = 21.3, p < .001, indicating
that among dual-career academicians, women reported spending a greater
percentage of time on child care and household tasks relative to their partners or spouses. Univariate analyses revealed that women reported greater
percentages of time than their spouses on child care, cleaning, cooking,
and laundry. The mean percentage of time reported by women academicians on child care and household tasks, relative to their spouse or partner,
ranged from 59% (cleaning) to 67% (laundry), whereas the average percentage of time reported by men academicians ranged from 27% (laundry) to 49% (cooking). We also considered the respondents preference
for engaging in various tasks, as previous research has indicated that it is
not the specific pattern of sharing parenting and household tasks that
determines satisfaction in dual career families but rather, perceptions of
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fairness and support (Gilbert, 1994). There were no significant differences in mens and womens preference ratings for various child care and
household tasks.
RISK FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO
ACADEMIC AND FAMILY STRESS
Hierarchical ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to

examine the relationship between average hours worked per week, household responsibilities, satisfaction with day care, and the support variables
(support of spouse, support of department) for academic stress and family
stress. We conducted separate regressions for men and women respondents as previous analyses indicated that men and women differ in their
work and family experiences (e.g., gender effect in the MANOVA) and
thus likely differ also in their experiences of work and family stress. Support of institution was not included as a predictor as this variable correlates highly with support of department (r = .67). Correlations between
predictor variables were all less than r = .35, except for a correlation of r =
.47 between reports of academic stress and parenting stress. The regression analyses predicting family and academic stress included only those
respondents who were married or living as married (n = 239) because several predictor variables were not relevant for single-parent respondents.
Table 4 presents the results of the first regression predicting workrelated stress for men respondents only. The first step of the regression,
entering work hours and percentage of household responsibility simultaneously, was significant, accounting for 8% of the overall variance. Work
hours was a significant individual predictor, yet share of household responsibilities was not a predictor. In the second step of the regression,
work hours was no longer a significant individual predictor; however,
family stress was a very strong individual predictor of academic stress.
Higher levels of family stress predicted higher levels of academic stress.
The second step of the regression accounted for an additional 10% of the
variance, for a total of 18%.
For women respondents, the first step of the regression (work hours
and household responsibilities) was also significant, accounting for 9% of
the variance (see Table 5). As with men respondents, work hours was a
significant individual predictor, whereas household responsibilities was
not. The second step of the regression, adding family stress, day care satisfaction, tenure, and support of department, was also significant, accounting for an additional 10% of the variance. In the second step, both work
hours and family stress were significant individual predictors, indicating
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TABLE 4
Multiple Regression of Work and Family Variables on Perceptions

of Work-Related Stress for Male Respondents (n = 84)
Predictors
Step 1:
Average work hours
Household responsibility
Step 2:
Average work hours
Family stress
Tenure status
Satisfaction with day care
Support of institution
Spouse/partner support for career
df
.08
2, 77
3.20
.05
.18
7, 72
3.39
.003
.26**
.07
.18
.17
.40***
.08
.11
.14
.04
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

TABLE 5

of Work-Related Stress for Female Respondents (n = 151)
Predictors
Step 1:
Average work hours
Step 2:
Average work hours
Family stress
Tenure status
Support of department
Partner/spouse support for career
R2
df
.09
2, 147
7.63
.001
.19
7, 142
9.88
.000
.31***
.01
.21**
.07
.42**
.13
.03
.08
.07
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
that a greater number of average work hours and higher levels of family
stress were both associated with higher ratings of academic stress. Tenure
status approached significance (p = .08), with pretenure status associated
with greater reports of academic stress for women.
Predicting family stress among men, the first step entering time demand variables was significant, accounting for 8% of the variance (see
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TABLE 6

of Family Stress For Male Respondents (n = 84)
Predictors
Step 1:
Average work hours
Step 2:
Average work hours
Work-related stress
Support of partnercareer
Support of partnerparenting
Preschool-age children
df
.08
2, 77
3.41
.04
.28
7, 72
4.05
.001
.21*
.19
.11
.19
.37***
.25*
.11
.11
.02
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

TABLE 7

of Family Stress For Female Respondents (n = 151)
Predictors
Step 1:
Average work hours
Step 2:
Average work hours
Work-related stress
Preschool-age children
Support of partnercareer
Support of partnerparenting
R2
df
.02
2, 147
1.5
.23
.29
7, 142
8.40
.000
.10
.12
.04
.05
.44***
.03
.06
.24*
.05
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
Table 6). Work hours was a significant individual predictor, and household responsibility approached significance as an individual predictor
(p = .06). In the second step of the regression, academic stress, satisfaction
with day care, number of preschool-age children, and spouse/partner support for parenting were entered as additional predictor variables. The second step was also significant, accounting for an additional 20% of the
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variance. Both academic stress and satisfaction with day care were significant individual predictors. Less satisfaction with day care and higher levels of academic stress were associated with greater reports of family
stress.
The regression equation predicting family stress for women respondents yielded quite different results (see Table 7). The first step of the
equation (work hours and household responsibility) was not significant,
accounting for less than 2% of the variance. However, the second step of
the equation, in which academic stress, perceptions of support, number of
preschool-age children, and day care satisfaction were entered, was significant, accounting for an additional 27% of the variance. In this second
step, academic stress and spouse/partner support for career were significant individual predictors of family stress. Higher levels of academic
stress and lower levels of spousal support for career were associated with
greater reports of family stress.
Analysis of qualitative data. A MANOVA grouping by gender and tenure status and entering number of positive and negative comments with
regard to impact of parenthood on career and impact of career on parenting, revealed no significant group differences or interactions for tenure
status and gender. Overall, men and women tended to provide a similar
number of positive and negative comments in response to open-ended
questions. Tenured and pretenured respondents also provided similar percentages of positive, negative, and neutral influences regarding the effect
of family on career and effect of career on family. As can be seen in Table
3, although overall percentages of positive versus negative responses did
not differ, there were some gender differences in the content of response.
For example, women were more likely than men (12% women versus 5%
men) to indicate that parenthood resulted in less travel or career-related
networking opportunities. Women were also more likely to report that
parenthood influenced a change in career plans, most often in the direction of seeking jobs with less research emphasis that allowed for more
time with family. Men were found to be more likely to report that parenthood had no impact on their careers (14% of men) as compared to a
smaller percentage (7%) of women. Finally, women were more likely to
report miscellaneous negative comments with regard to the impact of
career on their family, such as family members being unhappy with moving due to career, stress in the marital relationship, spouse employment
dissatisfaction, and delayed childbirth.
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DISCUSSION
The present investigation found support for the rational model of work/
family conflict in predicting academic stress for both men and women.
For both men and women, average number of work hours per week accounted for a significant portion of the variance in self-report of workrelated stress. Interestingly, report of household responsibility relative to
ones partner or spouse was not a significant predictor for either work
or family stress. Although women respondents reported a significantly
greater percentage of child care and household responsibility relative to
their partners, this family demand variable did not predict academic- or
family-related stress. Thus, it appears that support for the rational model
in predicting work-related stress is related primarily to demands in the
work environment.
Consistent with our hypotheses, we found greater support for the roledemand model and less support for the rational model in predicting family
stress among women respondents. Neither average work hours nor household demands predicted reports of family stress among women. Rather,
level of academic stress and perceptions of spouse/partner support for
career were the only significant individual predictors of family stress for
women, suggesting greater support for the role-demand model in predicting family-related stress. Women did not differ from men, however, in
predictors of work stress, suggesting more similarities than differences in
the experience of work-related stress for men and women employed in
academic positions.
Contrary to expectations, results of this study did not reveal differences
in reports of work or family stress for tenured versus pretenured participants. Neither quantitative nor qualitative analyses revealed significant
differences based on tenure status alone. A trend was noted for tenured
participants to report somewhat greater involvement in family responsibilities, suggesting the possibility that tenured respondents perceived
more opportunities to take advantage of a flexible schedule to attend to
child care and household demands. We also did not find support for
the hypothesized interaction between tenure status and gender. Although
lack of tenure approached significance as a predictor of work stress for
women, there was no effect for tenure status in MANOVA analyses. Given
the relatively high ratings of work stress given by both tenured (x = 5.0/7.0)
and untenured respondents (x = 5.2/7.0) and reports of average work
hours exceeding 50 hours per week, it appears that work-related demands
may have been similar for tenured and pretenured respondents.
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Although predictors of work stress were similar for men and women,
predictors of family stress differed by gender. Satisfaction with day care
was a significant predictor in explaining family-related stress for men but
not for women, with lower ratings of family stress among men reporting
greater satisfaction with child care arrangements. As mentioned, many
more men than women in the present sample had spouses who worked less
than full-time, thus the association between satisfaction with day care and
lower levels of family stress may reflect mens contentment with having a
stay-at-home parent with their children, thus minimizing the need for outof-home day care. Supporting this hypothesis, satisfaction with day care
was found to be significantly and negatively correlated with average partner work hours for men (r = .26, p = .03), whereas this relationship was
nonsignificant for women respondents (r = .17, p = .07). Men with stayat-home partners may experience lower demands for equal sharing in
household and child care tasks, thus minimizing family stress.
Interestingly, partner support for career and work responsibilities was
related to reports of less family stress among women but not men. One
possible explanation is that women in the present study were more likely
to be involved in dual-career relationships, thus creating greater competition for career emphasis. It is also important to note, however, that support was not specifically defined in the questionnaire, thus perceptions of
this variable likely varied across participants. The present finding regarding the importance of spouse or partner support corresponds somewhat
with previous research on work/family stress that has found marital-role
quality (Barnett, Marshall, Raudenbush, & Brennan, 1993; Baruch &
Barnett, 1986; Milkie & Peltola, 1999), and spouse support of career specifically (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985), to be associated with lower levels
of work/family conflict.
The significance of family stress in predicting academic stress and
vice versa among both men and women suggests that work-to-family and
family-to-work interference may be common among men and women.
Another possibility is that a third variable, such as life satisfaction or trait
anxiety, may account for the significant correlation between work stress
and family stress.
In the family realm, women in the present sample reported less partner
support in parenting demands than did men and also greater time investment in specific household and child care tasks relative to their partners.
Previous research has found that womens level of work/family conflict is
related to the number of hours that a spouse works (Greenhaus & Beutell,
1985) and that career outcomes for women may be worse if they are partners in a dual-career relationship (Adler et al., 1989). On the other hand,
101
a recent study of dual-career couples in which both are employed in

academic positions (Sweet & Moen, 2002) found coworking in an academic setting to buffer work and family strain. Future research may
wish to explore specific factors associated with greater and lesser work/
family conflict among dual-career couples in similar and dissimilar career
areas.
IMPLICATIONS
The factors found to best predict higher levels of stress are consistent
with previous models of work/family conflict. Individuals who work longer hours, perceive less job-based support for work/family issues, have
spouses who demonstrate less support for career goals, and who are less
satisfied with day care arrangements report greater levels of work and
family stress. Quality day care services and departmental support for balancing work/family demands are two factors that could be easily addressed by most institutions. Academic institutions could help to reduce
work/family stress among faculty, thereby improving job performance,
by ensuring the availability of quality day care services. Although most
respondents in the present sample indicated that their institution had an
on-site day care facility, many commented that infant and after-school
child care was very limited or unavailable. In addition, it was suggested
that administrators be provided with sensitivity training in work/family
issues to increase both departmental and institutional support, thus allowing faculty to make greater use of the flexible nature of academic positions
without feelings of guilt or fears of negative evaluation.
Spouse support for career is an influence that must be addressed at a
family level rather than institutional level. However, as the present sample indicates, it is not uncommon for academicians to have partners or
spouses also employed or seeking employment in academic positions.
Furthermore, women academicians in particular are likely to be in dualcareer relationships. Thus, institutions that provide employment services
for spouses, or encourage hiring of spouses in academic positions, could
further support faculty members in balancing work and family demands.
A recent study of 276 couples in which at least 1 spouse worked for a university found that men whose wives worked at the same university
reported greater family success and less spillover of stress from home to
work (Sweet & Moen, 2002). Women who had husbands working at the
same university reported being more satisfied with their marriage and
family life as compared with other married women in the study. Thus, co-
102
working relationships among academicians may help to buffer work and

family stress.
Finally, higher levels of work stress reported by pretenured as compared to tenured respondents and women as compared to men suggests the
importance of available mentoring programs for new academicians, particularly women. Townsend (2002) noted that as long as women remain
the primary child care and household managers, they will disproportionately feel the impact of longer work hours, particularly women in dualcareer relationships. Evaluating life quality among dual-earner couples,
Townsend found that both men and women in high commitment couples,
in which both partners worked 45 or more hours weekly, considered themselves significantly less successful in balancing work and family as compared to other dual-earner couples. Men in dual-committed couples
reported less marital satisfaction. Tolbert, Valcour, and Marler (2002) also
found that women who reported long work hours felt more successful in
their work careers but less successful in balancing work and family. These
findings suggest the importance of social support for new academicians
who may be struggling to find balance in long work hours and developing
family responsibilities. Institutional support may include awareness on
the part of department and university administrators in understanding the
unpredictable stresses involved in balancing parenthood and academia.
Additional research is needed to determine the important components of
support for facilitating work success and emotional health for both men
and women.
LIMITATIONS
Additional research is needed to assess the generalizability of the

results reported in the present research. Although we attempted to recruit
participants from diverse areas of study and from as many different academic institutions as possible, our sample is self-selected and includes a
high percentage of respondents from the Midwest and specifically from
the social sciences. Thus, the present sample may not represent parents in
academic positions nationwide. In addition, some of the present results
were based on specific subgroups of academician parents (e.g., twoparent families, dual-career couples) and thus cannot be generalized to
academician parents in general. Future studies on academician parents
may wish to assess experiences and factors associated with work/family
stress among specific parent subgroups, such as single or divorced parents, dual-career academician couples, and dual-career couples in which
only one parent is employed in an academic position.
103
Future research might also engage in a more comprehensive assessment of variables such as work-role quality, marital-role quality, and
parental-role quality as these types of enhancement variables have been
found to be significantly related to work/family stress (Desrochers et al.,
2002; Greenberger & ONeil, 1993; Hyde, Klein, Essex, & Clark, 1995).
Tolbert et al. (2002) suggested that future research on work/family stress
continue to explore perceptions of success in balancing work and family roles as well as correlates or successful balance such as better health,
life satisfaction, and job performance. The PAQ was intentionally brief
and open-ended; however, the lack of reliability and validity for this measure, as well as the use of single-item measures, limits conclusions. Future
research would benefit from expanding the PAQ and including multiple
items in each area. Reliability and validity of responses is an additional
area of study. Given the limitations of the current study, the present results
must be interpreted with caution, and additional research is needed to further clarify the role of gender and tenure status in the experience of work/
family stress among academicians. Finally, the variables included in the
present study accounted for only a small percentage of the variability in
work and family stress, suggesting that a more extensive questionnaire or
interview format of data collection might reveal the influence of other
variables on work/family stress among academics.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The results of the present study indicate that greater support and understanding of family issues in academia could significantly lessen the work/
family stress experienced by many academician parents and thereby improve job performance and job satisfaction. Support for the rational model
in the present study would suggest that greater balance of work time versus family and personal time may be a primary consideration in reducing
work-related stress for men and women. Reducing work hours may also
be effective in reducing family-related stress for men. For women, the factors contributing to family stress appear to be more relationship-oriented,
particularly with regard to reliance on spouse or partner, a finding previously reported in literature examining parenthood and scientific careers
(Grant, Kennelly, & Ward, 2000). Our results specifically suggest the importance of spouse support with regard to career as opposed to family
demands, thus suggesting the need for frank discussion between academics and their spouses or partners pertaining to career and family priorities.
Finally, the perceptions of minimal institutional support relative to family
and department support indicated in the current study point to the need for
104
more attention to family issues at an administrative level. Recent findings

suggest that satisfaction with child care (Rwampororo et al., 2002) and
with working relationships in the academic setting (Sweet & Moen, 2002)
are two factors found to buffer work and family strain, thus suggesting two
areas of continued development concerning family-friendly policies in
higher education.
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Journalhttp://jfi.sagepub.

>> Version of Record - Nov 22, 2004

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Balancing Parenthood and Academia:

JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES, Vol. 26 No. 1, January 2005 79-106

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

Several types of work/family conflict have been identified (e.g.

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

Two other recent studies consider gender differences in the experience

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

Impact of job type. Tenure status was used as an indicator of differing

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

Participants included 85 men and 179 women employed full-time in

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

that involved consideration of partner support, household division of

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Characteristics of Respondents by Gender and Tenure Status

JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

Work-Related Variables by Gender

*Chi-square significant at p < .01. **Chi-square significant at p < .001.

The primary independent variables, tenure status and gender, were

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

Responses to Select Open-Ended Questions

What impact, if any, does your career have on your family?

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

The Parenting and Academia Questionnaire was posted on the Internet

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

Hierarchical ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to

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JOURNAL OF FAMILY ISSUES / January 2005

Multiple Regression of Work and Family Variables on Perceptions

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Multiple Regression of Work and Family Variables on Perceptions

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

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OLaughlin, Bischoff / PARENTHOOD AND ACADEMIA

Multiple Regression of Work and Family Variables on Perceptions

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.