Drawing on time use diary analysis, the unique and detailed study in Productivity, Professionalism, and Parenting in Academia: Rhet Comp Moms by Christine Tulley, fills in the larger narrative about what it takes, hour by hour, to navigate academic motherhood with a rhetoric and composition career.

Looking specifically at the intersections between parenting and writing for publication in order to find out how and when writing for career-advancing tasks such as publication occur, but also through the lens of disciplinary time constraints including heavy grading and administrative workloads, the book examines support systems noted within diary entries that make combining motherhood and a career in rhetoric and composition possible. 

Using both quantitative analysis of hours and qualitative coding of time use diaries from rhet comp moms, this book answers questions about publishing, professionalism, and parenting. This book will interest scholars and graduate students working in a variety of disciplines while parenting or supporting academic parents as well as those working in the graduate and faculty writing support, particularly those working on labor and professional issues, on gender and equality within the discipline, and anyone working in all fields looking for ways to foster a better work–life balance. Purchase it in the 2026 TAA Institute for Textbook & Academic Authors Bookstore. 

Join us for the Textbook & Academic Authors Association’s first-ever TAA Institute for Textbook & Academic Authors, designed to support authors across different experience levels. Do a deep dive on topics especially important to you!