I was chatting with a friend last week - they had just extended a PhD student’s funding by a year bc they had a child.
I was envious.
In the United States, such generosity is almost unheard of.
I’ve heard of pausing a student’s assistantship.
I’ve heard of minimal compliance with FMLA.
I’ve never heard of giving an extra year.
I probed.
My friend funded the extra year from his projects- not the uni - my friend felt that every student deserved a fair shot - & made sure the student received one.
My respect soared.
I wondered, though, why can’t American universities offer an extra year of funding to every student with a baby?
I ran through explanations.
Funding? C'mon - no one pays that well.
Time in the program? C’mon - what does another year matter?
Fairness? C’mon - fair to who? The poor dude who didn’t have a kid? As long as the rules are clear, it’s fair.
Performance? Cmon, you can’t predict that. I worked a lot harder after my baby was born.
I could go on.
For whatever reason, American universities - I’m sure there are exceptions - do not support PhD students who have children very well.
We don’t extend stipends, give fixed leave, raise stipends, & most don’t offer childcare.
We do give unpaid time off. Unpaid!
I know of schools that recommend applying for government assistance but no guidance on how to do so.
The system is broken.
So who is at fault?
I blame the broader higher education system. It treats PhD students as easily replaceable, part-time employees.
The system is broken.
Why is this a problem?
Beyond the obvious, supporting young parents properly is the decent thing to do; students are not easily replaceable.
Good students opt to stay in industry or go to a rival school - when stipends are insufficient & policies are not progressive.
Absent students, the broader higher system will grind to a halt.
I’ll say it again- the system is broken.
What can faculty do?
First, be decent.
Recognize that your PhD students deserve better compensation. Acknowledge the problem & compensate by being decent to them.
Second, use your voice.
Create pressure at the uni & system level - promote how other schools manage these issues.
The best way to shift a uni is to point out a competitor’s actions.
Third, share information.
Academic meetings aren’t just about research - they are about learning best practices.
Use them to gather baseline info on supporting students & share benchmarks.
Finally, do something.
Do what faculty do best, speak out in support of students - in meetings, online, wherever you can.
Why do it?
If we support students who become parents, we take a step toward building a better, more humane academic system for all PhD students.
We can make academe a better place for all its members.
Let’s fix the system together!
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