Professor Joya Misra (sociology and public policy) has published a new article dispelling the myth that male faculty members in higher education abuse family leave policies by focusing on research rather than parenting during their time off.
The article, “Parental Leave Usage by Fathers and Mothers at an American University,” is in the January issue of the journal Fathering. Misra co-authored the study with Associate Professor Jennifer Lundquist (sociology) and former School of Education faculty member KerryAnn O’Meara, now of the University of Maryland.
In a 2006-2009 study at a major research university, Misra, Lundquist and O’Meara found that 72 percent of those who took paid parental leave were women. Those men who did take paid leave often had spouses who had to return to work. Still, many men whose partners are not full-time homemakers said they did not take advantage of the university’s paid leave benefit out of fear that doing so would have a negative impact on their professional advancement.
These findings contradict a widespread and long-standing assumption that male professors take advantage of paid leave benefits by taking time off even when their spouses are full-time homemakers or the primary caregivers. The new findings have received substantial attention both inside academia and in the mainstream media, with articles appearing in Inside Higher Ed; phsyorg.com; and News Blaze in Australia.