Table of Contents

Foreword by Caroline Grant
Change the Conversation: An Introduction, Jackie Hoermann—Elliott and Jenna Morton—Aiken
 
Part 1: Stay Alive
Chapter 1: Embrace the Multiplicities: How Internarrative Identity Theory Transformed My PhD Journey, Judith Chriqui Benchimol
Chapter 2: Leverage Your Assets: How Parenting Shapes (and Benefits) Our Scholarly Identities, Jennifer C. Judd, Whitney Zahar Rich, and Alicia C. Beretta
Chapter 3: Be Your Own Advocate: Prioritizing Self as a Pregnant PhD Student, Elizabeth M. Williams
Chapter 4: This Too Shall Pass: Strategies for Mothering While Studying as a Distance—Learning Graduate Student, Elise A. Green
Chapter 5: Just Be Okay: A Reflection on Pandemic Parenting, Burnout, and Healing, Emily Gresbrink
Chapter 6: Speak Out: Dismantling Master Narratives and Toxic Work Culture, Keith Jackson
Chapter 7: Send Away the Cucuy: One Mom’s Journey Through Graduate School While Battling False Expectations, Karen Tellez—Trujillo
Chapter 8: Orale! Apply and Earn Tu Degree: Parenting While a (Chicana!) Doctoral Student, Dalel Serda
Chapter 9: Stay Alive: A Black Mother’s Responsibility to Ride Grief’s Hills and Live, Lisa E. Wright
 
Part 2: Your Body Has Other Plans
Chapter 10: “A Lot of Us Can Swim”: One Queer Student’s Advice for Mentoring Pregnant and Parenting Graduate Students, Rachael Jordan
Chapter 11: Expect the Unexpected: Navigating the Early Dilemmas of Becoming a Graduate Student Parent, Laura Fitzwater Gonzalez
Chapter 12: Do Have Kids in Graduate School: Resisting Chilly Advice and Treatment in Graduate School for Prospective Parents, Natasha Trace Robinson
Chapter 13: “Send Those Damned Emails”: Experiences and Advice from My Premature Birth, Tiffani K. Tijerina
Chapter 14: Don’t Divide Yourself: Building Hybrid Work Practices to Reconcile the Competing Identities of Graduate—Student Parents, Jennifer Burke Reifman
Chapter 15: Your Body has Other Plans: Finding Support and Forgiveness for Morning Sickness, Kathryn Lafferty—Danner
 
Part 3: Juggle What Matters
Chapter 16: “Go to F*cking Disney World”: Establishing a Work/Life Balance and Learning When to Say “No”, James B. Harr, III
Chapter 17: Cobble Together the Village: Securing Childcare as Graduate Student Parents, Calvin Olsen
Chapter 18: The World Won’t Pause: What to Expect When Co—Navigating the Academic and Professional Job Market with a Newborn, Daniel Henke and Erin Henke
Chapter 19: Reframe the Narrative: A Conversation on Navigating Childcare in a PhD Program, Camila Ring, Brita Thielen, and Hayley Verdi
Chapter 20: Know When to Move: Intentionally Choosing When to Share News of Fostering with Your Committee, Aleashia Walton Valentin
Chapter 21: Find Ways to Shift: Reimagining Labor in the Postpartum Period Amidst the PhD, Courney Lund O’Neill
Chapter 22: Give Yourself a Break: Juggling Rugrats, Experiencing Regrets, April Cobos, Daniel L. Hocutt, and Megan McKittrick
Chapter 23: Create a Toolkit: How we Developed Practices of Care to Survive as First—Gen GTA Parents, Danielle M. Koepke and Gitte Frandsen
Chapter 24: Juggle What Matters: An Autoethnography of a Graduate Student Mom, Educator, and Caretaker, Celeste L. Graham
 
Part 4: Push Back
Chapter 25: You Can be Both: Navigating Complementary not Contradictory Roles as a Conservative Muslim Mother and Academic, Nabila Hijazi
Chapter 26: You Don’t have to Keep Going: Reflections on Navigating Crises and Precarity as an Excluded Scholar, Amie McLean
Chapter 27: Know the Problem Isn’t You: Addressing Systemic Barriers for Parents in PhD Programs, Lourdes Fernandez, Jessica McCaughey, and Rachael Graham Lussos
Chapter 28: Question Normative Tropes: Possibilities for Queer Parenting in Graduate Programs, Beth Buyserie
Chapter 29: Get Rid of the Gauntlet: Redefining a Scientist’s Parenting Experience in Academia, Kristin L. Osborne
Chapter 30: Push Back: Identifying and Handling Retaliation in Order to Stop A Leaky Pipeline, Siham Lekchiri and  Barbara A.W. Eversole
 
Part 5: Leave a Note
Chapter 31: There’s Never a Good Time: Navigating Graduate Medical Education while Pregnant, Stephanie L. Graff, MD
Chapter 32: Things Don’t Always Go According to Plan: Navigating Pregnancy Loss and Challenging the Culture of Silence as a PhD Candidate, Mariya Tseptsura
Chapter 33: Investigate and Invest in Supportive Spaces: Doctoral Programs that Accept and Enhance the Experiences of Graduate Student Parents, Morgan Buchs, Rachel Flynn, Laura Leigh Menard, and Brandie Bohney
Chapter 34: It’s Not All Sunshine and Rainbows: Emotional Labor and Mentoring in the Writing Center, Jennifer Phillips—Denny
Chapter 35: My Place in the Wolfpack: The Importance of Cultivating MyPacks and Providing Student Parents with Opportunities to Belonging, Jacqueline Cerda—Smith
Chapter 36: Race at Your Own Pace: A Story of How Caregiving Sometimes Means Changing Lanes or Start Times in Graduate School, Joan Jiyoung Hwang
Chapter 37: Lean On: Planning for, Insisting On, and Accepting Support, Sara Bartlett Large
Chapter 38: Leave a Note: Powering Through an Academic Job Market as a Breastfeeding Mom, Danielle DeVasto

Closing Thoughts: From Survival to Self—Preservation, Jenna Morton—Aiken

Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Acknowledgments
Notes on Contributors
Index

Foreword by Caroline Grant xiii
Change the Conversation: An Introduction 1
Jackie Hoermann—Elliott
and
Jenna Morton—Aiken
Part I: Stay Alive
1 Embrace the Multiplicities: How Internarrative Identity
Theory Transformed My PhD Journey 17
Judith Chriqui Benchimol
2 Leverage Your Assets: How Parenting Shapes
(and Benefits) Our Scholarly Identities 22
Jennifer C. Judd, Whitney Zahar Rich, and
Alicia Christine Beretta
3 Be Your Best Advocate: Prioritizing Self as a
Pregnant PhD Student 31
Elizabeth M. Williams
4 This Too Shall
Pass: Strategies for Mothering While
Studying as a Distance—Learning
Graduate
Student 39
Elise A. Green
5 Just Be Okay: A Reflection on Pandemic Parenting,
Burnout, and Healing 47
Emily Gresbrink
6 Keep a Labor
Log: Analyzing Master Narratives about
Time and Toxic Work Culture 56
Keith Jackson
7 Send Away the Cucuy: One Mom’s Journey through
Graduate
School While Battling False Expectations 65
Karen Tellez—Trujillo
8 Órale! Apply and Earn Tu Degree: Parenting While a
(Chicana!) Doctoral Student 74
Dalel Serda
9 Stay Alive: A Black Mother’s
Responsibility to
Ride
Grief ’s Hills and Live 81
Lisa E. Wright
Part II: Your Body Has Other Plans
10 “A Lot of Us Can Swim”: One Queer Student’s
Advice for Mentoring Pregnant and Parenting
Graduate
Students 91
Rachael Jordan
11 Expect the Unexpected: Navigating the Early
Dilemmas of Becoming a Graduate
Student Parent 100
Laura Fitzwater Gonzales
12 Do Have Kids in Graduate
School: Resisting Chilly
Advice to and Treatment of Prospective Parents in
Graduate
School 108
Natasha Trace Robinson
13 Send Those
Damned Emails: Experiences and Advice
from My Premature Delivery 117
Tiffani K. Tijerina
14 Don’t
Divide Yourself: Building Hybrid Work
Practices to Reconcile the Competing Identities
of Graduate
Student Parents 125
Jennifer Burke Reifman
15 Your Body Has Other Plans: Finding Support and
Forgiveness for Morning Sickness 131
Kate Lafferty—Danner
Part III: Juggle What Matters
16 “Go to F—cking
Disney World”: Establishing a
Work—Life
Balance and Learning When to Say No 139
James B. Harr III
17 Cobble Together the Village: Securing Childcare
as Graduate
Student Parents 145
Calvin Olsen
18 The World Won’t
Pause: What to Expect When
Co—Navigating
the Academic and Professional Job
Market with a Newborn 153
Daniel Henke and Erin Henke
19 Reframe the Narrative: A Conversation on Navigating
Childcare in a PhD Program 160
Camila Ring, Brita M. Thielen, and
Hayley E. Verdi
20 Know When to Move: Intentionally Choosing When
to Share News of Fostering with Your Committee 168
Aleashia Walton Valentin
21 Find Ways to Shift: Reimagining Labor
in the
Postpartum Period amid the PhD 177
Courtney Lund O’Neil
22 Give Yourself a Break: Juggling Rugrats, Experiencing
Regrets, and Cultivating Compassionate Community 182
April Cobos, Daniel L. Hocutt, and
Megan L. McKittrick
23 Create a Toolkit: How We Developed Practices of
Care to Survive as First—Gen
GTA Parents 191
Danielle Marie Koepke and Gitte Frandsen
24 Juggle What Matters:
An Autoethnography of a
Graduate
School Mom, Educator, and Caretaker 200
Celeste L. Graham
Part IV: Push Back
25 You Can Be Both: Navigating Complementary, not
Contradictory Roles as a Conservative Muslim Mother
and Academic 209
Nabila Hijazi
26 You Don’t
Have to Keep Going:
Reflections on
Navigating Crises and Precarity as an Excluded Scholar 217
Amie McLean
27 Know the Problem
Isn’t
You: Addressing Systemic
Barriers for Parents in PhD Programs 229
Lourdes Fernandez, Jessica McCaughey,
and Rachael Graham Tin
28 Question Normative Tropes: Possibilities for Queer
Parenting in Graduate
Programs 240
Beth Buyserie
29 Get Rid of the Gauntlet: Redefining a Scientist’s
Parenting Experience in Academia 249
Kristin L. Osborne
30 Push Back: Identifying and Handling
Retaliation in
Order to Stop a Leaky Pipeline 256
Siham Lekchiri and Barbara A. W. Eversole
Part V: Leave a Note
31 There’s
Never a Good Time: Navigating Graduate
Medical Education While Pregnant 267
Stephanie L. Graff
32 Things
Don’t
Always Go According to Plan: Navigating
Pregnancy Loss and Challenging the Culture of
Silence as a PhD Candidate 276
Mariya Tseptsura
33 Investigate and Invest in Supportive Spaces: Doctoral
Programs That Accept and Enhance the Experiences of
Graduate
Student Parents 284
Morgan Buchs, Rachel Flynn, Laura Leigh
Menard, and Brandie Bohney
34 It’s Not All Sunshine and Rainbows: Mentoring
Graduate
Student Parents in the Writing Center 293
Jennifer Phillips—Denny
35 My Place in the Wolfpack: The Importance of
Cultivating MyPacks and Providing Student Parents
with Opportunities to Belong 302
Jacqueline Cerda—Smith
36 Race at Your Own Pace: A Story of How Caregiving
Sometimes Means Changing Lanes or Start Times in
Graduate
School 311
Joan Jiyoung Hwang
37 Lean On: Planning for, Insisting On, and Accepting
Support 319
Sara Bartlett Large
38 Leave a Note: Powering through an Academic Job
Market As a Breastfeeding Mom 330
Danielle DeVasto
Closing Thoughts: From Survival to Self—Preservation
337
Jenna Morton—Aiken
Appendix A: Jenna’s Self—Preservation
Toolkit 343
Appendix B: Out—of—
Office
Replies from
Stephanie Graff, MD 348
Appendix C: Labor
Log Template from Keith Jackson 351
Acknowledgments
353
Notes on Contributors 355
Index 000