Two-body problem (career)
The two-body problem is a
The inability of one partner to accommodate the other produces this central dilemma, which is a no-win situation in which if the couple wishes to stay together one of them may be forced to abandon an academic career, or if both wish to pursue academic careers the relationship may falter due to the spouses being constantly separated.[1] The term two-body problem has been used in the context of working couples since at least the mid-1990s.[1][2] It alludes to the two-body problem in classical mechanics.
More than 70 percent of academic faculty in the United States are in a relationship where both partners work, and more than a third of faculty have a partner who also works in academia.[3]
Traditionally, this problem was solved by wives who supported their husbands' careers by interrupting their own, often combined with an academic advancement system that actively discriminated against women and especially married women.[4] Some past overt sexism has been ameliorated, and many universities have instituted spousal hiring programs or other creative approaches to the problem.[5] Nevertheless, gendered pressure to compromise persists[6] and causes a disproportionate number of women to leave the academic workforce.[7]
See also
- Academic mobility
- Dual-career commuter couples
- Opportunity trap
- Shared earning/shared parenting marriage
References
- ^ a b Benton, Thomas H. (pen name of William Pannapacker) (2009). "Just Don't Go, Part 2". The Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 March 2009, accessed 21 June 2012.
- ^ McNeil, Laurie. "REPORT ON THE DUAL-CAREER-COUPLE SURVEY".
- ^ Londa Schiebinger; Andrea Davies Henderson; Shannon K. Gilmartin. "Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know". The Clayman Institute for Gender Research. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- JSTOR 3345994.
- ISBN 0-691-11462-5.
- S2CID 152139751.
- S2CID 219415508.