ABSTRACT
This chapter provides excerpts from anonymized surveys of more than 200 Rhet/Comp tenure track mothers to lift the veil on what academic mothers in Rhet/Comp experience, as well as to propose potential avenues for future advocacy to diminish sexism. Over 80% of our Rhet/Comp survey respondents admitted having work difficulty because of being mothers. While several mothers emphasized, "childcare is so expensive," authors participants cite childcare issues as stressful on multiple levels. As Amy Kittelstrom explains, "Academic mothers are different than academic fathers. Many academic mothers and those they work with hold on to the ideal worker model, dubbed by Arlie Hochschild—an ideal that can be impossible for mothers. Most of our participants emphasize the need for a universal shift in attitudes, practices, and policies for academic mothers. The positive stories in authors research praise academia for being flexible and understanding and an ideal job for mothers, showing that there are institutions that respect academic mothers.
