**2. COVID and transformations in academia across the globe**

In the first 3 months of 2020, people across the globe experienced disruptions to their daily routines because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions. By April 2020, more than 185 countries had closed schools and/or changed to remote-learning, from preschool to higher education [7]. In parallel, remote work became common to comply with shelter-in-place or other sanitary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In academia, remote work was already an option for some research or administrative tasks but expanded greatly as the pandemic worsened.

Nonetheless, these changes were met with resistance from some students and university administration. For example, concerns were raised about issues with internet connectivity. As the pandemic continued, other concerns were raised about a possible gendered impact of COVID-19 on academia [8, 9]. On the one hand, remote work has allowed some advantages such as more flexible schedules and reduction in risk of getting COVID-19. On the other hand, as schools closed and parents became responsible for overseeing their children's remote education, gender inequities became apparent. For example, initial researchers have found that the lack of separation of work and family space has led to challenges setting boundaries and productivity [10, 11]. Furthermore, academic mothers have experienced a triple shift in which they must navigate domestic tasks, work, and childcare [12, 13]. Indeed, multiple studies have found that the proportion of female-authored publications has decreased since the pandemic began [14–16]. Thus, the pandemic has exacerbated already-existing disparities [17], such as tenure and promotion opportunities [18, 19].

One possible explanation for the gendered impact of the pandemic on academics may be due to the lack of separate work spaces. The loss of a separate work space, such as an office, laboratory, or meeting rooms, has affected women academics more than men [20]. In addition to losing the physical space, academics have also missed out on opportunities to build community and collegiality. This has reinforced the notion of individuality and survival and intensified neoliberal practices and policies within academia [21].

Neoliberal practices and policies emerged four decades ago and have led to *academic capitalism* [22]. Through academic capitalism, universities view trajectories through a lens of individualism [23, 24]. Under this lens, academics guide their careers based on standards that require colleagues to compete for limited resources (e.g., awards, grants) [4, 17, 21].

#### **2.1 Academia and the gender gap**

Researchers across the globe have evidenced a gender gap in academia [4, 25–28]. Robust evidence suggests that female academics publish less, are promoted less, and tend to have more interruptions in their trajectories [29–35]. Indeed, there tends to be a horizontal segregation among disciplines and a vertical segregation in promotion processes [21, 24, 36–38]. In parallel, the dichotomous nature of academic work into teaching-administration or research-publications may also contribute to the gender gap [36].

Academic capitalism, and specifically, competitiveness and individualistic practices, have been observed across national state entities as well. A recent analysis concluded that there was a need to change policies to recognize and value academic trajectories from an anti-sexist lens [39]. At the beginning of an academic career, women may encounter barriers to engage globally as research has found that female academics travel less and may have fewer opportunities to *Tensions, Challenges, and Resistance among Academic Mothers during the COVID-19 Pandemic DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104532*

build professional networks. At the mid-career level, women academics tend to have more time dedicated to administration and teaching, which impact the time they can dedicate to research and scholarship. This in turn impacts tenure and promotion opportunities, which often are based heavily on research and scholarship production. At the senior-level, there is a low proportion of women who retire after achieving full professorships or other high-level administrative positions (e.g., deans or provost).

A recent report by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) documented gender gaps across doctoral programs and academic careers. In Chile, females are least represented in public universities (around 40%). Across public and private universities and across age groups, male academics hold more academic positions than females. In parallel, for each female-led project that is submitted for federal funding, there are 1.5 male-led projects, a disparity that carries over to awards of funding [40].

In this context, motherhood in academia does not fit or align. By placing the responsibility for work and motherhood on the individual, it is often reported as a barrier to mobility and that can cause delays in academic trajectories of mothers [27, 37].

#### **2.2 COVID-19, motherhood, and care**

Before the COVID-19 crisis, women constantly faced tensions from horizontal and vertical segregation [41]. Across disciplines, the gender gap has often been conceptualized as a *glass ceiling,* in which there is a barrier that prohibits females access from top positions [37]. The glass ceiling pushes women away from top positions (both prestige-wise and pay-wise) within academia. Difficulties in obtaining top positions may also arise due to ongoing disparities in domestic work and childcare, which continue to fall disproportionately on women, and may impact tenure and promotion trajectories.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified disadvantages that mothering academics face, while in many ways, it opened up possibilities for their male colleagues. The marketization and neoliberalization of academia create certain metrics of excellence [42]. These metrics have not changed despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic, forcing mothering academics to prioritize the demands of their child(ren) or productivity. The effects of these decisions will have longterm repercussions as research productivity has stagnated and scholarship has decreased.

Notably, mothering academics are pressured by gendered roles that promote *intensive mothering* as well as work productivity and achievement. These gendered norms are different in male academics, from whom society almost exclusively measures success by work productivity and achievement [41]. Even before the pandemic, mothering academics dedicated less time to scientific production, largely due to domestic tasks. This has only been amplified and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, mothering academics have been affected by a triple shift of triple expectations: work excellence at the university, excellence in mothering, and excellence in domestic tasks and chores.

Over time, academic mothers have been subjected to dominant discourse and norms of academic institutions. Among mothering academics, dominant discourse includes intensifying work expectations, gendered demands involving being a "good mother," and a cultural value on individual success and merit. This leads to a polarization between one's public work identity and one's private, invisible family work. Despite these tensions, we also see resistance and solidarity among mothering academics [37].
