So there has been a lot of bloggy conversation about this Dean Dad post about parenting and academia. This post over at Dr. Crazy's has a lot of interesting and well taken comments.
My own addition might be that although I agree with Addy's contention that the academic time flexibility does make things a lot easier for dual career academic couples, the two-body problem coupled with children makes things much more complicated. We are looking right now at the "who permanently derails the career" question and it is very, very hard. Chosing what is best for the children makes it even more complicated.
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Mommy/Prof: I'm so sorry. I hope my comment didn't come across as insensitive, because I know that you and many others struggle with the "two-body problem" and I am incredibly lucky to have gotten into the situation I am in. I wasn't even thinking about dual-career academic couples when I wrote that comment- just mostly about academia compared with other careers. And you are absolutely right that finding jobs in the same place (at the same time) without anyone compromising is nearly impossible.
As rosy I was about my situation, it wasn't ideal for my husband. To follow me here, he had to leave a tenure-track job that he liked (with a lighter teaching load, unlimited travel money, and other perks). And I was the fresh-out PhD at that time. Even now, he feels that he has been treated unfairly by many senior faculty since he was not hired through the usual channels. He spent 9 years as an Asst. Prof, too. I'm really the one who got the good deal. He even let me talk him into going on the market last year- which he HATES, so he's really the one who had to compromise.
Again- I'm sorry you are going through such a major life upheaval right now. I hope that everything works out for BOTH (all) of you at the new job. I've been keeping up with reading your blog, but haven't been commenting. I have definitely been thinking about you. Take care.
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