The Maternal Wall in Academe
The Association for Research on Mothering (ARM) and the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center are pleased to host a Day Symposium @ Brandeis University, Boston, MASS
February 27, 2009
The Maternal Wall in Academe: Academic Mothers and Strategies of Resistance and Empowerment
Many women today, particularly those that are college educated,middle-class and professional, may not encounter gender discrimination until they become mothers and hit full throttle the maternal wall that blocks and blindsides them in their attempts at advancement. With women still doing the bulk of household management – to include domestic labour, childcare, and the emotional and organizational work of creating and maintaining home, family and community, most mothers are unable to put in the extensive overtime hours that are required for advancement and success in most professions. Mothers thus find themselves “mommy tracked” making sixty cents for every dollar earned by full-time fathers (Williams, 2000, 2). Indeed, today the pay gap between mothers and non mothers under thirty-five years is now larger than the wage gap between young men and women (Crittenden, 94). As Ann Crittenden, author of The Price of Motherhood, writes, “once a woman has a baby, the egalitarian office party is over”.
This day symposium will explore the various strategies used by academic mothers as they encounter the maternal wall in academe.
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS -December 1, 2008
Please email 250 word presentation abstract and 50 word bio to arm@yorku.ca
Registration and additional information TBA…
Association for Research on Mothering (ARM)
726 Atkinson, York University, 4700 Keele Street,
Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3(Tel) (416) 736-2100 x 60366 (Fax) 416-736-5766
email us at arm@yorku.ca