“It can be quite a dark place when you're juggling academia, your own health, somebody else's health”: Women’s experiences of navigating academia and adult caring responsibilities.

Abstract

Despite the increasing presence of women in academia, there is limited understanding of the experiences of women academics with adult caring responsibilities. This photoproduction study examined nine women’s experiences of navigating academic work and adult caring responsibilities in the United Kingdom. Participants highlighted the challenges of fulfilling multiple roles, compounded by the patriarchal structure of academia, which hindered career advancement. Managing academic work and care created significant cognitive, physical, and emotional strain, leading to exhaustion, low mood, and stress. There was limited awareness and utilisation of formal work policies for carers, with reliance on informal agreements being common. Flexibility in academia was appreciated but led to unsociable working hours and blurred boundaries between work and personal life, with challenges also arising from unconventional workspaces. Despite the existence of carer support groups at institutions, their relevance and availability to carers of adults were questioned. Nevertheless, participants demonstrated resilience when facing adversity and shared self-care strategies, engaging with nature was a significant practice offering grounding experiences and detachment from both work and care responsibilities. Implementing feminist-driven structures and policies is crucial to support carers and address systematic disadvantages faced by women in academic settings.