Aug. 16, 2005

Stopping the Clock — Without Asking

One of the most common policies adopted by colleges seeking to help their professors who are young parents is allowing them to “stop the clock” so that they get extra time before the tenure review that typically is based on six years of work.

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In theory, this benefit lets new parents devote more time to their children without fear that it will hurt tenure reviews. In practice, many academics are afraid to stop the clock and feel that taking advantage of this benefit will stigmatize them and hurt their chances. A series of reports have urged colleges to find ways to take away that stigma, so that more parents — mothers and fathers alike — feel comfortable stopping the clock.

Princeton University may have found such an approach. The university is now giving all new parents an extra year before tenure review — automatically. Many colleges promise to award the year to anyone eligible who asks. But at Princeton, you don’t ask — it now just happens. And it can happen multiple times for people who have more than one child (and those who have twins can get two extra years at that time).

“Our working assumption is that the time slowdown that new parents inevitably experience warrants an additional year,” said Joan S. Girgus, special assistant to the dean of the faculty at Princeton and also a professor of psychology.

Girgus said that the policy, which was approved by the faculty, was developed following a survey on the old policy, which like those of many colleges offered the year if people asked for it. The survey found that only a small minority of professors took advantage of the extra year, even though many said that they wanted to. “Most of the comments we received said things like ‘we didn’t know how we would be viewed’ or ‘we thought it might be viewed as a sign of weakness,’” Girgus said.

“So what we thought about was, How do we organize this so that the onus is on the university?” she said.

A faculty member who wants to be reviewed earlier than would be expected under the new policy has that right, Girgus said, just like a faculty member can request a review now after four or five years. The important thing, she said, is that the new norm will be longer for anyone who becomes a parent.

Girgus said that she did not know of any other colleges with a policy like Princeton’s, although she said she hadn’t done enough research to declare that it’s a ‘first.”

Marc Goulden, principal analyst for the UC Faculty Family Friendly Edge, a University of California effort to help professors with family issues, said he thought the Princeton policy might well go beyond anything in place now. The University of California is currently reviewing a series of improvements in policies for new parents, including a specific statement that they are entitled to extend their tenure clocks. University officials found that earlier language, saying that professors could ask for such time, suggested that it wasn’t an entitlement, and discouraged faculty members from stopping their tenure clocks.

Experts on family issues in higher education called Princeton’s move significant. “I think that what it is saying is that the institution believes that this is an important time in the life of a family and therefore has made this automatic,” said Claire Van Ummersen, director of the American Council on Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education.

Van Ummerson said that the Princeton survey finding reluctance to ask for an extra year was typical of what she has heard on many campuses.

“There is a stigma about asking and concern about bias,” she said. She predicted that Princeton’s policy would change the dynamics at that institution, and said she hoped it would help many mothers and fathers. “It’s not only women, but men who have been held back from using these policies,” she said.

— Scott Jaschik

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Comments

Finally!

It’s been a long time coming in the States. Thank you, Princeton. I hope other US institutions will follow.

Family values? Well, let’s put our money where our mouths are these days!

Vika Zafrin, Brown University, at 8:56 am EDT on August 16, 2005

Princeton’s tenure policy

Good for Princeton. But what if a couple has a second child, and then another? Does the junior faculty member get three years added to the probationary period? And what is the probationary period at Princeton? The AAUP’s standard 7 years (actually 6 years since a negative decision requires a year’s additional employment) or is it the Ivy League’s apparent 10 years or more?

Hans Gesund, at 9:29 am EDT on August 16, 2005

Hans,

Yes, you can keep pushing back tenure if you have more than one “event” while on the tenure track, even though the AAUP’s ideal is 6 years. I took two tenure extensions because I gave birth twice while on the tenure track. Thus, it took me a bit longer to come up for tenure.

I guess the question I have is about making tenure extension automatic. When I chose to extend my tenure and probation period, I did so with the knowledge that I would be delaying the salary increase that comes with promotion, as well as the salary increases that would have been greater, if based on a higher salary. I hope that Princeton allows its faculty members to opt out of the policy if they prefer to come up for tenure within the originally agreed upon time frame.

Elaine, at 10:53 am EDT on August 16, 2005

This sort of thing, which happens far too often, is blatant discrimination against those who choose not to have children. Reproducing is a *choice*, not an unforeseeable accident which requires consideration by the employer. People who *choose* to put their careers on hold should take the consequences — even if those consequences are diapers, formula, and first steps. What compensation will these universities offer those who have chosen *not* to breed?

Paul Watson, at 3:36 pm EDT on August 16, 2005

the child-bearing as personal choice argument

Paul Watson:

Having a pet is a personal choice, with no particular social or economic ramifications for others. Having a child is contributing to the next generation of human beings—-you know, the ones who are going to pay for your Social Security benefits, come up with the cure for the strange disease you might get when you’re 60, and bathe you when you’re in a nursing home. You’re welcome to your belief that children are a feel-good accessory for lazy academics, but that doesn’t mean that, as you age, you won’t benefit from the parenting work that others do.

Rachel Hile Bassett, University of Missouri-Kansas City, at 4:10 pm EDT on August 16, 2005

Stop the Clock

I wonder how many tenure track faculty who operate under Princeton’s “stop the clock” proposal will suddently realize, around year four, that conception is a viable tenure strategy versus how many are already seeking human subject review regarding their research proposal: Positive and Strong Correlations Between Tenure Track Faculty Stress, Sexual Intimacy, and Infertility Treatment: Getting a “Jump” on Tenure. My bet is the latter group gets tenure.

Joel, at 4:10 pm EDT on August 16, 2005

tenure extension for kids

Cheers to Paul Watson. Both my wife and I are sick of excuses why people can’t come to committee meetings etc. The refrain, ” I have child care duties” is getting a bit much, of late. We (those that choose to be child free) end up doing their (folks with young children) work. We chose not to have children. Why should I pick up the time for others who choose to have kids and know what academic life is like (and don’t start writing in as if you don’t know what academic life entails *especially* as regards tenure). Extension of tenure should also come with higher standards, period. You want eight years, I want eight years of work that fits the standard of the college or university *at* eight years.

Andrew Grossman

Andrew Grossman, at 6:24 pm EDT on August 16, 2005

Well Said Andrew!

I can’t tell you how much of my two colleagues’ (one male and another female) slack I’ve had to pick up this past year because they’re too busy with the kids.

Academia is NOT family friendly, nor should it be. Let’s stop pretending it is!

Tom, at 8:21 pm EDT on August 16, 2005

Stopping the Clock

Congratulations go out to a highly regarded Institution who publically recognizes the value of policies that support work/life issues. Known for their intellect and scholarly work, they have done their research, critically analyzed the benefits and limitations of this policy and are now taking a leadership stand. The research consistently shows that when an organization cares about their employees they benefit in the long run. And, our society benefits too.

Holly Heilberg, Owner at Heilberg and Associates, at 8:36 pm EDT on August 16, 2005

“Next generation"?

To Rachel:

You write that “Having a child is contributing to the next generation of human beings". Horrors! Are we running out of humans? Alert the media! The fact is, we have too many people on this planet as it is.

As for the future kids “curing cancer” (if I just had a buck for every time I’ve heard this excuse. . .), it’s more likely, seeing what our educational system has devolved into, that the majority of the little tax deductions will be on welfare or in prison. As for my old age, my well-paid nurse will see to me — paid by the money I didn’t spend on children.

Go ahead and have your kids. Just don’t expect me to put in more hours or more of my tax dollars because you managed to do something that’s only been done billions of times before.

Paul, at 11:18 am EDT on August 17, 2005

Those who think that the academy is devoid of conservatives should read this discussion to see that there are indeed troglodyes among us!

sg, at 5:08 pm EDT on August 17, 2005

The anger people feel about this issue is amazing. Not only should academics be more family friendly, it should be more have-a-life-outside-of-work friendly. This would this make for better, balanced roll models for students and reduce burnout and keep thinking fresh. It seems that not only should parents be able to take a slow track to tenure, others who have outside interests they choose to cultivate should be able to too.

SF McDonald, at 8:32 pm EDT on August 17, 2005

I would like to change the subject just slightly here. Princeton University has essentially put itself in the forefront of “progressive family friendly policies.” However, as many of you know (I am speaking here of what I know of the social sciences), getting tenure from “within” as a junior professor is almost impossible. Princeton is, in fact, getting junior labor for an extended period, probably rejecting them for tenure, and hiring senior people, who may or may not have children, but if they do, the so-called family friendly policy is moot.

Andrew

Andrew Grossman, at 4:07 am EDT on August 18, 2005

sure, sf

I should work 20 hours a week, travel to the ocean with my spouse five days per week, homeschool my kids and make sure they are socialized into a normal school environment, etc. It’s not that I don’t want these things, nor do I want to make life miserable for people who make the choice to have children. However, there are limitations present in academia. It’s a demanding job, and not as easy as most people would want or hope when they decide to go for a “family friendly” career in the academy instead of going to law school

tom, at 4:15 am EDT on August 18, 2005

Response to Paul

Paul:

The “money” you’ve saved to pay your nurse is only pieces of paper that can be redeemed only if there is a future generation working to produce the goods and services you want to spend it on. And unless you want an 80 year-old nurse, there’d better be a next generation. That’s why you should be grateful to those who are producing kids for your future support. Anyway, how does giving a person a little more time to get tenure affect your tax dollars or force you to work more hours? The point is to avoid preventing highly qualified people from receiving tenure just because they have fewer hours to work outside of normal business hours during their probationary period since they are raising children. Actually, the broader issue is just how much people should be expected to sacrifice in terms of human relationships, physical and mental well-being, time for leisure, and other important components of our lives in order to be tenured faculty?

Linda Kamas, at 3:50 pm EDT on August 24, 2005

Strange — I am finding that it is some of the older and tenured faculty members in our department/faculty (mostly but not exclusively male) who are the ones who are the real slackers. And it is the younger assistant and associate profs (some who have kids and some who don’t) who are left doing the work that they don’t do (or that they do so poorly that it needs to be re-done, or that they never get asked to do anymore because they have feigned incompetence for so long). . . .

Laura, at 8:56 pm EDT on September 1, 2005

Came back to this article on a whim, and was... rather puzzled. So, having children makes for a *lazy* researcher? I’d love to see those who “choose to be child-free” live with an infant for a month and hold down an exhausting, full-time job at the same time.

Please spare me the “we have too many people on this planet” argument. Fertility is well below replacement rate[1] (2.1 is said to keep a population stable) in a large portion of the world, including most of Europe and North America. The places with particularly high fertility rate (Niger tops the CIA World Factbook chart, with 7.55 children born per woman on the average) also have a huge infant mortality rate. [2]

Do your research, academics.

[1] http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html

[2] http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

Vika Zafrin, Brown University, at 8:57 am EDT on September 26, 2005

If on the off chance Mr. Paul Watson decides to meander back to this post...

People of your stature can not afford to display such ignorance. I am a “young-of child bearing age” professional who has also chosen to put my career first; while I don’t have children, this is as close as you and I get to being alike.

It appalls me that someone such as yourself may someday be teaching the same “children” that you “don’t see any need in “breeding"". I assume that your arrogance and annoyed attitude are much more stemmed at a lazy co-worker with a poor work ethic...rather than a diligent employee with a family to raise.

The key thing here is that these women and men are still working. Whhile you make the decision to work full time; you get paid to work full time. They make the decision to work part time; they get paid part time. You see? There is no “extra benefit” in the sense that you view it. Only that they get a choice in starting a family at their time.

I view those that choose to surmount both a family and career as courageous. I work with many mothers who balance both and manage to miss no more work than I.

If I had to share any part of your irritation — it would not be with working mothers, but with those that choose to live off welfare. Those are the women and children that cost you extra tax dollars. Not parents that take a little extra time to complete their tenure.

In the end when “you have worked so much harder than everyone else Paul"...guess what? You have completed your tenure — and everyone else is still “breeding” and worrying about their job security...lol...so Kudo’s to you...

I would hate to keep you from “getting all those lazy parent’s work done” so I better sign off — but if I can leave you with a piece of advice...quit playing a victim — take ownership of your own life — and stop worrying about what everyone around you is doing — there will always be someone taking advantage in this world — always someone to irritate you — but I highly doubt that anyone having a child during their tenure is what’s really bothering you.

Jodi H., at 8:10 pm EST on November 18, 2005

It’s about gender

Princeton is to be applauded for their new policy, and the complaint that it unfairly favors ‘breeders’ is misplaced. Historically and today, more academic men are married and have kids than academic women, and the men are often lauded for spending time with their kids (so long as they achieve academically). However, if we want gender equity in the academy (even if this is solely to attract and retain the most talented individuals), men need to pick up the slack at home, and women need more space for carework. Both things are happening, and Princeton is helping. Meanwhile, the men (and mainly women) who completely sacrifice their personal lives on the altar of career will undoubtedly still get rewarded with higher salaries, earlier promotions, and better offers elsewhere.

For research on this topic, see:http://lsir.la.psu.edu/workfam/mappingproject.htm

Robert Drago, Prof of Labor Studies at Penn State, at 12:57 pm EST on November 30, 2005

While I applaud the steps that Princeton is taking to achieve work/life balance, I must express concern about how many institutions cope with flexible employment policies for it’s tenured and tenure-track faculty. If an institution’s strategy for meeting it’s instructional goals while having a more flexible tenure/track faculty is achieved by becoming increasingly reliant on contingent faculty and graduate students, then we are exploiting one group in order to grant another group flexiblity. As academics who are concerned about equity and fairness, we have to be concerned about these issues for all faculty, not just those who “count".But I hope that this program is the first of many.

Gayle Green, Visiting Instructor at Vassar College, at 6:28 pm EST on December 2, 2005

Negotiating for Benefits is a Choice Too

In response to comments that having children is a choice — let me note (as a labor economist) that the form of compensation sought by workers (e.g., faculty) is a choice too.

If I want more of my compensation in the form of benefits such as family friendly policies — it is my CHOICE to get together with other like-minded faculty and negotiate with my employer for such benefits as part of my total compensation package. The fact that more and more academic employers are providing such benefits to faculty may be because the majority of all faculty do have children during their adult lifetimes.

There are no federal laws that require universities to allow faculty to stop the tenure clock. Observation of the labor market outcome in this case indicates that both employees and employers voluntarily agree to the benefit because they find it mutually advantageous.

Rather than deride those faculty who choose to have children, perhaps the detractors of the Princeton policy might want to give more thought to how our workplaces can accomodate the caregiving responsibilities of ALL faculty (e.g., a married, childless, professor who needs leave to care for an ailing spouse; an unmarried, childless, professor who needs to stop the tenure clock to care for an ailing parent; etc.).

Afterall, few of us are totally devoid of any caregiving responsbilities.

Saranna Thornton, Associate Professor at Hampden-Sydney College, at 8:53 pm EST on December 2, 2005

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