A philosophy graduate student writes:
I am a female graduate student entering into the dissertation phase of my schooling. I am in a top-25 philosophy dept at a large research university, and I hope to get a job at a university like the one I am attending. My question is when is the best time for someone in my position to start a family. During the dissertation phase? While on the job market? While trying to get tenure? After getting tenure? None of these times seem good, but clearly some women in our profession have families and successful careers. I am I am curious to hear what you and your readers have to say about this topic.
A propos this question, this article from CHE is relevant (subscription access only unfortunately), which reports that a "large study of the University of California's graduate students revealed that less than half — 29 percent of women and 46 percent of men — perceived major research institutions to be family-friendly workplaces for tenure-track professors. While in graduate school, many begin to think about other careers paths. That means the pipeline for junior professors at top research universities could become increasingly leaky." I suspect what it also means is that these students have very little idea about the comparative family-friendliness of other professions. (My wife is an attorney, and it is a good thing I'm not, since few professions compare to the academic one for flexibility when it comes to sick kids and the other mundane necessities of family life.)
But none of that takes away from the correspondent's question, on which I have no special insight. My inclination is to think that starting a family after being employed is the best bet, but for reasons that are not peculiar to academia (namely, having a salary and benefits is usually better than not). Comments are welcome; signed comments preferred, unsigned are OK only if there is a real e-mail address (which will not appear).
