Chapter 9: Introduction to Part II: Work–Life Balance within Higher Education Structures

As I set out to write this introductory chapter, I couldn’t help but view my involvement in this Latina/o work–life balance volume as alternately ironic and hypocritical. As the self-described “problem child” co-editor who encountered numerous work–life balance challenges this year in meeting all the self-imposed organizational and editorial deadlines, it became something of a quest to bring this work to fruition—including the writing of this introduction! To be very honest with our readers, I have never really experienced work–life balance as a Chicana faculty member in a researchintensive, predominantly White institution of higher education—never. Moreover, since I spent the better part of a decade being one of only three Latinas in my school of education and due to the other two women being involved in academic work outside our school or in administrative roles, I typically felt quite alone. I very often assumed the notion of work–life balance was reserved for those with whatever forms of privilege were necessary to secure it, including the ability to put oneself (and only one’s own needs) first in all situations. Given that I had set out to contribute to the transformation of higher education to better reflect and respond to the strengths and needs of Latinas/os and other communities of color, I believed I could not allow myself to reflect too deeply or too often on just how out of balance the work–life scenario was for me. However, as readers will come to appreciate from the contributing authors in this section (and truly, throughout this volume), it is well worth pointing out that there is nothing particularly “balanced” about the pervasiveness of institutionalized racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, heteronormativity, and whatever we call the bias against single parents or other caregiving/family structures—to name just a few of the invisible (to those with privilege in these dimensions) sources of oppression that we endure as active participants in higher education institutions. Thus, rather than internalize the sense of failure that accompanies the persistent impact of institutionalized biases, which drain our energies for the things we most love about being academics, this section’s contributors allow us to see how even within the structures of higher education one can find inspiration and reconnection to one’s personal and “big picture” missions, as well as a commitment to not just strive for but to take action toward obtaining work–life balance.