Cassandra Watt, 2014 Simmons GSLIS Alum 2012

1. How moms can solve the Library Bubble: Sustainability of librarianship through family-friendly management policies Cassandra Watt, 2014 Simmons GSLIS Alum 2012 Motherhood and the Library Bubble Women in Libraries • 85% of librarians are women, but women make up only 52%of library directors • Wage gap is worse for librarians than other, similar professions • The Library Bubble is more apparent in women than in men • Female librarians tend to leave the profession in their early 30s and rejoin in their late 30s or early 40s • Women starting their career later and retiring later than their male counterparts contribute to a sustainability crisis in the LIS profession Why? • Female librarians with children face challenges balancing family and career obligations • Women are much more likely than men to be primary caregivers of small children • Female librarians with young children tend to have a greater need for family-friendly policies than their male counterparts Library Bubble • Over 55% of Librarians are over 50 • Only 17% under 40 • Library Bubble Challenges: Sustainability of profession? Advancement and placement for younger workers? Why? • Academic and Public Libraries tend to lack family friendly management policies • Many librarian positions require nights, early mornings, weekends, and on-call hours, and part-time positions are scarce because they tend to be filled by senior librarians • Family benefits available to librarians do not tend to be as generous as benefits available in other, similar professions, such as tenure track academics Women, Work, & Motherhood • Family-friendly management policies help women stay working and to advance in their careers • Some policies are: Daycare friendly shifts, flextime, ability to work from home, pump rooms, and paid maternity leave