Additionally, women's career and family choices tend to follow a pattern of fragmented phases rather than a smooth continuum descriptive of their male counterparts. This paradigm tends to characterize university women's careers as disjointed. Public Mindsets Society vehemently declares that childcare is the responsibility of women. Mothering, not fathering, is a prevalent societal norm creating personal role conflicts that permeate institutions of higher learning. Religion and mores further confound the problem facing women who desire to maintain a quality career and family life.
Most women feel pressured by society to make a choice.
Even though female academicians have greater earning power than most other women in the workplace, they continue to bear the burden of the caretaking responsibilities of the home. In fact, socioeconomic status is negatively correlated with the amount of hours spent in housework activities. Therefore they receive lower salaries, fewer promotions, and suffer from reduced productivity. Provisions Few institutions of higher education provide childcare facilities, thereby requiring women to acquire childcare on their own. When such programs do exist on college campuses, implementation was historically initiated as a result of student versus faculty needs.