Scholarship on parenting in academia is not only extremely limited, but has also generally examined womens and mens experiences when balancing competing roles separately. While previous research has explored the experiences of women in academia, such research remains heterosexist in nature and does not include qualitative accounts from both males and females who have or are planning to have children or who have remained childless. Our proposed edited collection will address this gap by providing a more in-depth understanding of individuals experiences around parenting in various stages of their academic careers.

Contributors are invited to write a personal narrative discussing their experiences around parenting, including the negotiation of parenthood in the context of academic life and the tensions that exist in negotiating that role. This may include but is not limited to discussing experiences balancing children with your career, balancing children with being a graduate student, circumstances around remaining childless, or uncertainty about having children or when to have children.

If you are interested in providing your experience for our collection or have any questions, please contact  Dr. Ellie Berger, PhD. Associate Professor, Nipissing University at ellieb@nipissingu.ca, or Christina DeRoche, PhD Candidate, McMaster University at derocc2@mcmaster.ca. Deadline for Submissions has been extended to October 31, 2012.