CSCU WORK LIFE FAMILY CONFERENCEOCTOBER 23, 2015

WORK-LIFE BALANCE & HEALTH-PROMOTING BEHAVIORS OF ACADEMIC PARENTS

William M. Sherman, Ph.D.Department of Psychology

&Michele L.Vancour, Ph.D.Department of Public Health

Southern Connecticut State UniversityNew Haven, CT

`A Series of Four Studies Examining:

Motherhood & Fatherhood Ideology,Work-Family Role Balance,and the Practice of Various

Health-Promoting Behaviorsin a Sample of

Full-Time Academic Women & MenWith Children

Study 1(Quantitative)

Full-time female faculty at the four campuses of the State University System with at least one child

under the age of 14 living with themN = 69 Ave. age 42Ave. # of children 1.87

Ave. age of children 4.8588% married

75.4% White 10.1% Black 7.2% Asian41% Assistant, 45% Associate, 12% Professor

53.6% Non-Tenured

Motherhood Questionnaire:24 items designed to measure the

“good mother” / “intensive mothering”ideology

Role Balance Questionnaire:8 items designed to measure the

equilibrium of work-family balance

Health-Promoting Behavior Questionnaire:52 items designed to measure physical activity,

nutrition, stress management, utilization of health care, and sleep

Main Results:

Motherhood Ideology was statistically significantly (p<.05)

negatively correlated with:Role Balance ( r = -.313)

Health-Promoting Behaviors (r = -.298)Physical Activity (r = -.309)

Stress Management (r = -.439)and Sleep (r = -.331)

Study 2(Qualitative)

Full-time female faculty at the four campuses of theState University System with at least one child

under the age of 5 (pre-school) living with themN=17

Semi-structured, one-on-one, hour-long interviews exploring

motherhood ideology, role balance,health-promoting behaviors and

workplace support

Interview Topics Included:

Motherhood IdeologyRole Balance

Physical FitnessEating Habits

Sleep Stress Management

Healthcare UtilizationLeisure Activities

Social SupportElder CareLactation

Five Key Themes:

“The Good Mother”“Motherhood became my central identity, replacing the time once

available for developing my professional career &/or pursuing personal interests.”

“Tug-of-War”“My professional life and my home life interfere with each other, and

I feel guilty about both. ... Balancing work and home is very stressful. I feel like I am never doing anything all that well.”

“Flexibility and the Never-Ending Job”One mom confessed that “I sometimes fantasize about the way many

nine-to-five jobs actually end at 5:00.” Another admitted, “I’m preparing for class right up to the time I run out of the door to

teach.”

“Playing Professor”“I tend to be putting a lot of things on hold. I am not getting

the research done that I would like to do or putting in the extra effort to make a class period better. I know that

sometimes I take shortcuts because of lack of time and I would say predominantly this occurs in the area of

research. I pretty much go to class, come to my office, get things done as fast as I can, because I know my time

is limited.”

“Kryptonite”Health-damaging behaviors such as coffee, smoking,

and sedentary life style Difficulties when it comes to engaging in

health-promoting behaviors

Study 3(Quantitative)

Full-time male faculty at the four campuses of the State University System with at least one child

under the age of 14 living with them

N = 90 Ave. age 4482% White

87% married30% Assistant, 40% Associate, 30% Professor

64% Tenured 36% Non-Tenured

Fatherhood Ideology QuestionnaireSimilar 24 items

as in the women’s study

Role Balance ScaleSimilar 8 items

as in the women’s study

Health-Promoting Lifestyle ProfileSimilar 52 items

as in the women’s study

Main Results:

Fatherhood Ideology not stat. sig. correlatedwith either Role Balance or Health-Promoting Behaviors

butRole Balance significantly (p<.01) correlated with

Health-Promoting Behaviors (r = .337)Stress Management (r = .456)Physical Activity (r = .317)

Sleep (r = .359)

Study 4(Qualitative)

Full-time male faculty at the four campuses of the State University System with at least one child

under the age of 5 (pre-school) living with themN = 17

Semi-structured, one-on-one hour-long interviews exploring fatherhood ideology, role balance,

and the practice of various health-promoting behaviors

Key Themes:

Generally endorsed the “good father” ideology ofbeing present for their children and spending time

engaged in quality activities with themHowever, identified strongly with the bread winner /

provider role. This appeared to offer some degree of protection from work-related guilt resulting from

time away from the family for work-related activities.

Expressed less interference withprofessional development

Expressed the belief that they could do both –be successful in their work and also be a

good father.Found the flexibility of being a university professor

ideal for the working father.It must be noted, however, that 50% of the men

interviewed had spouses who were either unemployed or only worked part-time.

Non-tenured men, however, felt greater stressand were often unhappy with the programs,

policies, and supports offered working parents at their universities.

Some Important Female / MaleComparisons:

Female MaleAve. Age 42 44% Married 88% 87%% White 75% <--> 82%% Ass’t. Prof. 41% <--> 30%%Full Prof. 12% <--> 30%% Tenured 46% <--> 64%

Recommendations forfamily-friendly academic work environments:

A culture of respect & support for working parents Paid maternity / paternity leave for birth

or adoption of a child Paid family leave for emergencies or family care

Possible reduced workload or flexible teaching schedules for family responsibilities

Putting a temporary hold on the tenure clock for family responsibilities

Day care on campus Lactation facilities for nursing mothers

Health education workshops / facilities to enhance such health-promoting behaviors as

physical activity, eating, stress management

Thank you!

William M. Sherman, Ph.D.Department of Psychology

Southern Conn. State University501 Crescent Street

New Haven, CT 06515shermanw1@southernct.edu