"Kids grow up and do that rather rapidly," shesays. "The amount of responsibility and worry goesdown considerably when they get old enough to dothings on their own."
She also would like to see a examination of theprocess by which junior faculty members areevaluated, with greater emphasis on the quantityrather than the quantity of published work.
"If you don't have as much time to devote [toscholarship] you might not be as prolific as someof your male colleagues," Friend says. "But thatdoesn't mean that the quality of what youdo...isn't something that shouldn't be looked at."
Despite the challenges they face in trying tojuggle their students, their research and theirchildren, faculty mothers say they have achieved asense of fulfillment for having at least a pieceof it all.
Both Skocpol and Friend say raising childrenhas given them renewed energy for theirscholarship.
"It makes me maintain some balance in my life.If I didn't have a family, I think I'd probablywork too much, work beyond the point where I'mcreative," Friend says. "I need to get away fromthinking about my work specifically instead ofbeing like a drone all the time."
Mandryk says that in spite of the tensioncreated by having dual responsibilities, her sonshave alleviated some of the pressure of teachingat Harvard.
"I don't know what I would do without thelittle boy hugs and kisses to restore my spiritand put a proper perspective on what reallymatters in life," she says.
Valerie J. MacMillan and Douglas M. Pravdacontributed to the reporting of this story.