“Sacrificing at the altar of tenure”: Assistant professors’ work/life management

Work/family scholars are increasingly paying attention to how professors manage their work responsibilities, mainly examining how women with children handle such duties. Virtually nothing is known about how male and female professors without children manage their work demands in relation to their personal lives. The author explores this topic through in-depth interviews with untenured tenure track assistant professors with and without children at two research universities in the U.S. Some participants prioritized work over other aspects of their lives whereas other participants exhibited a shared dedication to work and family. This research demonstrates that the academe's expectations of professors not only affect faculty with children, but others as well.