Family and the field: Expectations of a field-based research career affect researcher family planning decisions

dc.contributor.authorLynn, Christopher D.
dc.contributor.authorHowells, Michaela E.
dc.contributor.authorStein, Max J.
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of North Carolina
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-28T18:40:32Z
dc.date.available2023-09-28T18:40:32Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractField-based data collection provides an extraordinary opportunity for comparative research. However, the demands of pursuing research away from home creates an expectation of unburdened individuals who have the temporal, financial, and social resources to conduct this work. Here we examine whether this myth of the socially unencumbered scholar contributes to the loss of professionals and trainees. To investigate this, we conducted an internet-based survey of professional and graduate student anthropologists (n = 1025) focused on the challenges and barriers associated with developing and maintaining a fieldwork-oriented career path and an active family life. This study sought to determine how (1) family socioeconomic status impacts becoming an anthropologist, (2) expectations of field-based research influence family planning, and (3) fieldwork experiences influence perceptions of family-career balance and stress. We found that most anthropologists and anthropology students come from educated households and that white men were significantly more likely to become tenured professionals than other demographic groups. The gender disparity is striking because a larger number of women are trained in anthropology and were more likely than men to report delaying parenthood to pursue their career. Furthermore, regardless of socioeconomic background, anthropologists reported significant lack of family-career balance and high stress associated with the profession. For professionals, lack of balance was most associated with gender, age, SES, tenure, and impacts of parenting on their career, while for students it was ethnicity, relative degree speed, graduate funding, employment status, total research conducted, career impact on family planning, and concern with tenure (p < .05). Anthropology bridges the sciences and humanities, making it the ideal discipline to initiate discussions on the embedded structural components of field-based careers generalizable across specialties.en_US
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationLynn, C. D., Howells, M. E., & Stein, M. J. (2018). Family and the field: Expectations of a field-based research career affect researcher family planning decisions. In M. H. Withers (Ed.), PLOS ONE (Vol. 13, Issue 9, p. e0203500). Public Library of Science (PLoS). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203500
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0203500
dc.identifier.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4083-570X
dc.identifier.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7031-5281
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/10696
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherPLOS
dc.rights.licenseAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject1ST-GENERATION COLLEGE-STUDENTS
dc.subjectSCIENCE
dc.subjectWOMEN
dc.subjectEDUCATION
dc.subjectGENDER
dc.subjectANTHROPOLOGY
dc.subjectEXPERIENCES
dc.subjectMARRIAGE
dc.subjectSUPPORT
dc.subjectSTRESS
dc.subjectMultidisciplinary Sciences
dc.titleFamily and the field: Expectations of a field-based research career affect researcher family planning decisionsen_US
dc.typeArticle
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