The dilemma of part-time career patterns.

Recently, mothers who are health care professionals have been asking employers for more flexibility in their full-time posi­ tions. These women want part-time jobs and jobs with flexible hours, and they want their employers to under­ stand that they must take time off when their children are sick or when emergencies arise. But these women should heed what has happened to their counterparts in academia who have received what they asked for. Universities have traditionally employed more women than men in part-time nontenured positions 'Inc! tend to be increasing the number of these positions rather than creating more full-time tenured positions (Ai­ senberg & Harrington, 1988). Women in academia, particularly those who work part-time, do not play the aca­ demic game in the way that men do, nor are they involved in the "old boy" academic network (Aisenberg & Harrington, 1988). Women who work part-time are now realiZing that what they thought was a satisfactory situa tion has in fact eliminated them from opportunities for advancement and that they earn disproportionately less money and have less security than do persons in full-time tenured posi­ tions. Indeed, these women's salaries are inappropriately low and they can­ not advance on the pay scale. They are not accepted into tenured posi­ tions if their goals change and are not given credit for their years of part­ time work. Perhaps just as important, many of these women receive little respect or acceptance from their co­ workers. Their suggestions go un­ heeded, they feel unwelcome in the academic community, and they are not part of the "in" group. Although the work settings of Diana M, Bailey --_._--­