Parenting on the tenure track: Exploring gender differences in perceptions of collegial and supervisor support

The task of gaining a tenured professorship is demanding one, requiring a wide range of research, teaching, writing and service skills. Faculty members in tenure track professor positions do not work conventional hours and generally report schedules exceeding 50 hours of work per week (Zimbler, & Conley, 1997). Many pretenure professors are also parents of children under age 18, thus requiring that they nurture family relationships while also adhering to a demanding work schedule. While women make up over half of doctoral graduates in the United States today, the literature indicates that they are less likely to go on to achieve a tenured professor position when compared to their male counterparts (Leslie, 2006; Rudd, Morrison, Sadrozinski, Nerad & Cerny, 2008). Researchers suggest various explanations for this difference, yet clear reasons for the gender differences found related to tenure achievement remain ambiguous