Power Women – Stories of Motherhood, Faith, and the Academy

IVP Readers' Choice Award "The dominant narrative we hear as professor mothers is that motherhood and academia are incompatible."Two challenging vocations, each filled with complexities and daily ups and downs. Yet more and more women are answering the call to both the academy and motherhood. A growing body of literature addresses parent-professors, but what about the particular needs of Christian women seeking to navigate both callings while living out their faith?With Power Women, Nancy Wang Yuen and Deshonna Collier-Goubil have curated a unique resource by and for Christian academic mothers. This collection of essays includes the voices of women of different backgrounds, academic disciplines, institutions, and stages of parenting and career. Together contributors provide wisdom, encouragement, and solidarity for women who share a similar vocational journey. Combining research with personal stories, they address topics such as these:how parenting and teaching can be mutually enrichingmanaging ambition, identity, and timeaddressing misconceptions about motherhood in the academy, church, and societynavigating gender roles in marriagetaking maternity leaveflourishing as an adjunct professormentoring professor momsresisting imposter syndrome by finding rest in GodThere is no magic formula, but there are many paths to thriving in the call to motherhood and the academy. Christian academic moms will find in this book honest yet uplifting reminders that they are not alone. In addition, administrators, family members, and friends will grow in understanding and appreciation of the power women in their lives.

Refreshingly honest, Power Women is an invaluable resource for women of the Christian faith who are scholar mothers and for those who hope to support them well. While candid, these essays remain hopeful in their proposals for moving forward personally, spiritually, and structurally. They insightfully explore and interrogate the tensions between being an active researcher and educator alongside being an active and present mother. The diversity of cultural perspectives adds to the depth and beauty of the volume as a holistic approach to thriving as a scholar mom. As someone who regularly has conversations with women who want to pursue further scholarship but also want to be moms, this is an especially valuable resource. Family members, colleagues, and administrators will truly benefit from reading this as well.--Christa L. McKirland, lecturer in systematic theology at Carey Baptist College in Auckland, New Zealand, and founder and executive director of Logia International, Too often, working moms feel the pressure to 'get it all done' and live up to unrealistic expectations. As I read this book, I felt an immediate sense of solidarity with those who hold scholarly work and motherhood in creative tension. Power Women does not offer a one-size-fits-all approach to surviving motherhood and the academy as people of faith. Instead, each contributor shares hard-earned, embodied wisdom of how she embraces her complex, God-given vocations. They do this not as martyrs or superheroes but as finite, faithful human beings. This book should be read by those in need of encouragement and those who seek to support the thriving of working mothers in the academy.--Janette H. Ok, associate professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, Finally! This is the book I have wanted and needed for more than a decade. Now academic mothers will have easier access to mentors who can help them navigate the challenges and joys of their multiple callings. These essays weave vulnerable personal narratives with sociological research on women's experiences in the academy. The result is a judgment-free zone that makes space for a wide variety of approaches to the intersection of family and academic life. Readers will not only discover that they are not alone, but they will also come away from this book with strategies for thriving in their homes and in their careers.--Carmen Joy Imes, associate professor of Old Testament at Biola University, Though powerfully centering the diverse voices of women in the academy, this book is for all of us who strive to pursue an undivided calling as parents and professors in Jesus' name. For me, it is a source of grace and learning.--Robert Chao Romero, associate professor of Chicana/o, Central American, and Asian American studies at UCLA and author of Brown Church: Five Centuries of Latina/o Social Justice, Theology, and Identity, I appreciate this collection of diverse and compelling essays. They are written by women in different stages of their parenting and careers, yet they all have in common a deep and thoughtful understanding of how their Christian faith informs their work and lives as mothers, professors, ministers, and community members. In its Christian emphasis, it fills an important niche in the existing academic-mother literature. The book also provides many helpful and concrete examples for other 'power women' who feel that God has called them to academia but might wonder how such a calling might look or worry that they won't be able to succeed. The authors advise other women to respond with God. 'Always God.' And that is the best advice a Christian academic could receive.--Joanne Marshall, associate professor at Iowa State University and editor of the Work-Life Balance book series

Nancy Wang Yuen (PhD, University of California) is a sociologist, a pop culture expert, and the host of The Disrupters podcast. She is the author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism and serves as an associate professor of sociology at Biola University. She has appeared on PBS, NPR, MSNBC, CBS News, NBC News, BBC World, and Dr. Phil. She is a guest writer at CNN, Elle, Los Angeles Times, NBC, and Newsweek. Deshonna Collier-Goubil (PhD, Howard University) is the founding chair of the department of criminal justice and now serves as interim dean of the School of Behavioral and Applied Sciences at Azusa Pacific University. She lives in Fontana, California.