Work-Life-Balance – Male Professors Juggling Career and Family

Abstract

Female academics with children have been the subject of gender studies research for years. In contrast, male professors with children—still the majority case—have scarcely been given a second glance, even though combining parenthood with the demands academia makes on its teachers is a big challenge not only for women. On the basis of biographical accounts of male professors with children, the present volume reflects on questions such as: How do men cope with the demands university makes on them? How do they act on the desiderata of their private environment? Is there a problem of balancing career and family roles for male academics, too? And if so, what does it look like in practice? As a result, these interviews show that for reasons of the structures of academic life, for men, too, managing everyday life as fathers and professors becomes a difficult balancing act. To this day, being active fathers and living a fulfilling family life seems not to be compatible with a professorship.