Bowdoin College Scholars Author New Book on the Challenges of Motherhood for Women Academics

Two tenured professors at Bowdoin College in Maine have authored a new book on the challenges faced by women academics who want to have children. Professor Mommy: Finding Work-Family Balance in Academia was recently published by Rowan Littlefield.

The book is authored by Rachel Connelly, the Bion R. Cram Professor of Economics and Kristen R. Ghodsee, the John S. Osterweis Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at Bowdoin.

The book describes the personal costs that many women in academia face when they decide to have children. But the authors also offer advice on juggling the demands of an academic career and parenthood. Among their recommendations are:

• Research faculty policies to determine which institution will best match your career/family goals;

• Seek out senior female colleagues who are also mothers as mentors; and

• Consider carefully the timing of having children from the vantage of both age and career  goals.

Professor Connelly, who also serves as chair of the economics department at Bowdoin, has been on the college’s faculty since 1985. She has four children. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.

Kristen R. Ghodsee is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz. The mother of one child, she holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.