Thread by @28cranfield

I wrote an application for a summer stipend to the @FletcherSchool PhD cmte. asking for some help to cover down on babysitting costs so I could finish writing my diss. w/ 4 kids at home. Zero expectations that this need would resonate. 1/
@Momademia #AcademicChatter

In fact, I have been told before *not* to include childcare costs in funding requests because it’s “frowned upon.” But it’s what I *really need* in order to finish this academic odyssey. I need help balancing work/family at this time. That’s the truth. 2/

I was told yesterday that the @FletcherSchool PhD cmte., lead by @monicaduffytoft, granted my request and Security Studies, led by R. Shultz, doubled it. I was shocked. Absolutely the most validating day of my academic life. 3/

Suddenly, I felt like my choices were “ok.” That it wasn’t stupid to try and do this PhD with 4 kids and an incredibly busy Army husband, @Thomas_Burke16. I thanked Dean @rkyte365 and she explained that a “culture of inclusion” includes moms. 4/

There was supposed to be more to this, but I am a Twitter thread neophyte...! 5/

Other female professors/deans wrote to me about how how they tried to balance family and finish papers with a baby on their lap. And how hard it was. It was a sudden feeling of camaraderie that I hadn't felt in academia before. And I am so grateful (and relieved!). 6/

The point of this story: please let us normalize asking for family help (whether its child-raising or elder caregiving or whatever) when we ask for funding. Some of us will never be able to finish our research without this "line item request" becoming a norm.7/

I can't describe how happy it makes me that @rkyte365 and @monicaduffytoft and all the other @FletcherSchool folks off Twitter are building a community where these kinds of funding requests are met with empathy and understanding. Spread the word! (This the actual end.)/