Part-Time Mothering: A Poetic Autoethnography of a Precariously Employed Academic’s Mothering Experiences

Abstract

While studies have explored the experiences of motherhood among female academics, the experiences of motherhood among precariously employed academics have not received adequate attention. This autoethnographic inquiry uses poetry to embody my experiences of mothering, in the context of my emotional journey and my subjectivities as a precariously employed academic in a premier higher educational institution in India. From a critical feminist standpoint, the poem explores the experiences through known metaphors including the leaky pipeline of academia, work–life imbalance in the ivory tower, and the sense of being on the hamster wheel. This work is a critical inquiry voicing the everyday realities of precariously employed academics mothering their children. It delves into how the nature of their work status influences their inner turmoil, decisions, and actions vis-à-vis motherhood. It also attempts to demonstrate and raise consciousness about how the private (motherhood) and the public (work) interact.