MEDICAL CHALLENGES, TRIPLETS, PANDEMIC: TEN STRATEGIES FOR STAYING AFLOAT IN ACADEMIA IN THE FACE OF OVERWHELMING DIFFICULTIES

Since I began graduate school almost twenty years ago, my professional life has been defined by unexpected challenges. My experience of graduate school was overshadowed by significant medical problems that required several surgeries and extensive physical therapy. Much later, eight years into my career as an academic, my husband and I had our first child and three years later had triplets, a life transition that turned our world upside down. Our four healthy children are a blessing beyond measure, but their arrival meant that my progress towards the rank of full professor was put on hold indefinitely. On top of this, when the triplets were just seven months old, the coronavirus pandemic unfolded and required me to pivot to online teaching while managing without formal childcare for months. We now have stable childcare again, but the uncertainty of the pandemic continues to present challenges and disruption both at work and home.

It is important for me to acknowledge that my academic career would not have been possible without the support structures and privileges I’ve had access to throughout my life. I’m a white woman with a wonderful spouse who shares parenting responsibilities and I have many supportive family members, friends, and colleagues. I’ve also had the benefit of being a part of caring academic environments which provided flexibility and support when I needed it most.

That said, there are also several strategies that I’ve used over the years to weather my medical and parenting challenges. These techniques have been central to how I’ve been able to care for my family and myself while (sometimes just barely) holding on to my career goals.

1. Know your rights and benefits and take leaves of absence when necessary.
2. Advocate for yourself and for others who need it.
3. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
4. Delegate when possible.
5. Create opportunities to share resources with colleagues.
6. Create organizational structures and shortcuts to automate parts of your work.
7. Spread out your workload.
8. When people offer help, accept it. When you need help, ask for it.
9. Learn when to say no and when to say yes.
10. Don’t lose sight of your goals.

In this presentation, I will detail how these strategies have worked (and not worked) for me. I hope that sharing my experiences will help others to weather medical and family challenges when they arise.