Mothering in the Ivy-Tower: Interviews with Academic Mothers

From the outside a college faculty position looks like an ideal work environment for women who are mothers: a flexible schedule, autonomy, interaction with other adults, rewards for writing and researching topics of interest. Academic women, however, often perceive traditional faculty careers and research agen-das to be incompatible with having and raising children (Harper, Baldwin, Gansneder and Chronister, 2001). The purpose of this study is to explore how academic women construct the meaning of motherhood. Is the meaning of motherhood constructed by academic mothers incompatible with academe? Do academic mothers construct motherhood differently than other employed mothers? The social construction of motherhood A number of scholars contend that the social construction of motherhood is revealed through discourse (c.f., Kaplan, 1992; Ranson, 1999; Uttal, 1996). Narratives reveal the internalization of ideologies and are the window to viewing the internal meaning systems individuals use to construct their identity and make sense of their experience (Billig, 1997; Bristor and Fischer, 1993