How do the careers and lives of academic couples differ from those of other academics? What advantages and disadvantages do they face, and what problems and opportunities do their increasing numbers present to academic institutions? Sixteen experts address these and many other questions in Academic Couples, offering new research and much vital information.

Lesbian Academic Couples is a collection of writings by scholars who examinein theory and in narrativeissues faced by partners working in the academic field, including the politics of spousal hiring, discrimination in hiring practices, collaboration between partners, long-distance relationships, team teaching, and job sharing. This unique book presents firsthand accounts from senior faculty with lengthy credentials in LGBT scholarship who have been able to land academic positions not compromised by outing, from established academics who have been outed to negative effect, from junior scholars with a queer specialty, and from faculty whose work is constantly shifting and unpredictable.

Learn how lesbian couples deal with political, social, and legal issues related to their relationships—and their professions Lesbian Academic Couples is a collection of writings by scholars who examine—in theory and in narrative—issues faced by partners working in the academic field, including the politics of spousal hiring, discrimination in hiring practices, collaboration between partners, long-distance relationships, team teaching, and job sharing. This unique book presents firsthand accounts from senior faculty with lengthy credentials in LGBT scholarship who have been able to land academic positions not compromised by outing, from established academics who have been outed to negative effect, from junior scholars with a queer specialty, and from faculty whose work is constantly shifting and unpredictable. The format of Lesbian Academic Couples is unique. Authors well known to the lesbian communities in the United States, Canada, and Australia, present essays that “converse” with one another, offering opposing positions that represent a diversity of approaches on vital issues. The book offers candid accounts of the experiences of lesbian couples fortunate enough to work in supportive academic environments and from those discouraged from being out on campus or from doing academic work in the area of LGBT studies. This groundbreaking book is especially timely given current lawsuits and legislation involving civil unions and domestic partner benefits, enforcement of domestic violence statutes, and the rights of unmarried older couples. Lesbian Academic Couples includes the stories of couples who: achieved scholarly success and a reaffirmed relationship were separated when they couldn’t find viable academic positions in the same geographical area abandoned the security of tenured positions for the sake of their relationship were professionally marginalized because of their same-sex, mixed-race relationship wrote under the pen name “Michael Field” in the nineteenth century In addition, Lesbian Academic Couples examines the critical issues of: state sanctioning through marriage spousal hiring package plans sexual orientation nondiscrimination policies Lesbian Academic Couples have existed, as long as there have been female academics. This powerful book gives voice to their successes and struggles.

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.

Continuing to challenge American colleges and universities is the underrepresentation of women faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, particularly Latinas and other underrepresented women of color. Advancing Women in Academic STEM Fields through Dual Career Policies and Practices, comprised of scholarly essays, case studies, and interviews, argues that to address equity issues related to women faculty, academic institutions should consider work-life perspectives, including dual careers, when designing faculty recruitment, retention, and advancement strategies. By connecting the topic of dual career hiring to gender and ethnicity, the volume extends the current research on work-life integration by sharing best practices and approaches that have worked among institutions of higher education while incorporating issues related to intersectionality.

Academic Motherhood tells the story of over one hundred women who are both professors and mothers and examines how they navigated their professional lives at different career stages. Kelly Ward and Lisa Wolf-Wendel base their findings on a longitudinal study that asks how women faculty on the tenure track manage work and family in their early careers (pre-tenure) when their children are young (under the age of five), and then again in mid-career (post-tenure) when their children are older. The women studied work in a range of institutional settings—research universities, comprehensive universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges—and in a variety of disciplines, including the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences. Much of the existing literature on balancing work and family presents a pessimistic view and offers cautionary tales of what to avoid and how to avoid it. In contrast, the goal of Academic Motherhood is to help tenure track faculty and the institutions at which they are employed “make it work.” Writing for administrators, prospective and current faculty as well as scholars, Ward and Wolf-Wendel bring an element of hope and optimism to the topic of work and family in academe. They provide insight and policy recommendations that support faculty with children and offer mechanisms for problem-solving at personal, departmental, institutional, and national levels.

What to Expect and How to Respond offers a solutions oriented glimpse into life in academia from the vantage point of groups including students, faculty and administrators. This interdisciplinary anthology provides insight into the profession for graduate students planning on becoming academics; brings to the attention of junior faculty potential tenure and promotion pitfalls as well as strategies to successfully overcome potential obstacles; offers senior faculty strategies to improve collegiality and the workplace environment; and provides administrators with tools to proactively and effectively contend with sensitive managerial matters. This interdisciplinary anthology is useful for undergraduate and graduate students of any discipline designed to prepare them for a career in academia whether as staff, faculty or an administrator. Moreover, this volume is a fine resource for those already in academia who may be experiencing any one or number of specific challenges highlighted from which useful survival strategies could be garnered.

Working Equal exposes the myth of heroic individualism that is central to contemporary western thought. With more than 35% of full-time faculty with a spouse or partner in the same profession, dual career couples are a growing presence in higher education in the U.S.. This compelling and innovative volume examines and testifies to the contribution of intimate and familial relationships to artistic, literary, and scientific accomplishment. An original study of a growing phenomena in higher education, Working Equal presents a new and invaluable portrait of contemporary faculty life.

Approximately eight of every ten academics have spouses or partners who are working professionals, and almost half of these partners are academics as well. In fact, dual-career academic couples are so prevalent that "the two-body problem" has become a common way of referring to the situation. Increasingly, intense competition to hire the best faculty forces institutions to assist dual-career couples in finding suitable employment for the accompanying spouse or partner. The authors of The Two-Body Problem examine policies and practices used by colleges and universities to respond to the needs of dual-career couples within the economic, legal, and demographic contexts of higher education. Using data from an extensive survey of public and private universities as well as in-depth case studies of institutions representing distinctive approaches to this problem, the authors find that the type of institution—its location, size, governance, mission, and resource availability—is a critical factor in determining dual-career employment options. The Two-Body Problem describes various accommodation models in depth and provides valuable information for college and university administrators responsible for hiring faculty and supporting their performance.