Breanna Harris
BIO
Biologist and mom of 1.
Twitter: @PhysIsPhun
Instagram: @bharr002
Breanna Harris
“Being a mom has really helped me find balance in my life and has provided so much joy.”
My name is Breanna Harris. I am a Research Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University. I have one son and am part of a dual-career, academic couple.
I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology with Spanish and Chemistry minors from Ohio University (OU). I graduated from OU 6 months before my partner and wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do with my career. I ended up taking a position as an eco-education intern at Forfar Field Station on Andros Island, Bahamas. While I was in the Bahamas, my partner set off for graduate school in California. We did the distance relationship for roughly a year until I moved to California to start graduate school; we were lucky to find programs at different schools within a small geographical area. We got married while in graduate school. I earned my PhD in evolution, ecology, and organismal biology from the University of California, Riverside in 2012. When I graduated, I thought I wanted a teaching-focused career, the balance of teaching and research at an R1 just seemed too stressful. I was hired as a visiting professor at the Claremont Colleges and taught for a year. I loved the students but realized that I missed being in the lab. Perhaps I did want a career with a teaching/research split.
My husband knew he wanted an academic job. When the opportunity for him to take a tenure-track assistant professor position arose, we discussed, he negotiated, and we took it. We moved to Lubbock, Texas in 2013. He was on the tenure track and I was a teaching postdoctoral fellow. The transition came with a substantial pay cut for me, but we determined this was the best move for us as a dual career academic couple.
My postdoctoral position was finite, and I knew we either needed two jobs elsewhere or I needed a more permanent position at our current institution. Thus, we both went on the job market. Job searching is exhausting, especially when you already have a full-time job. As a woman, I heard lots of stories of sexism in academia, particularly in hiring. I was told not to wear my wedding ring or mention my husband when in interviews. I followed the advice. I applied to many, many positions over a few years span. I got several on-campus interviews and a few job offers but was never able to negotiate offers for both of us. I was, however, able to turn those offers into a more permanent position at our current institution. I moved from teaching postdoctoral fellow to research assistant professor in 2015. That same year I got pregnant with our son.
My husband and I were still looking for two tenure-track jobs and thus I was still applying. I was again told of bias against women, particularly for mothers. I did not post any pregnancy pictures of myself on social media, nor did I mention my pregnancy in those spaces. I did not want to be judged by hiring committees. I was very scared about what becoming a mother would mean for my career opportunities.
My son was born at the end of 2015 and I went on two cross-country interviews before he was 10-weeks old. I did not mention my son other than to ask the search chairs to schedule pumping breaks for me. That experience was hard, both emotionally and physically. At my home institution, at the time my son was born, there was no parental leave policy other than FMLA. FMLA did not seem to work well for those who advise students and do animal research.
So, I was able to make a deal with my chair and double up my teaching the semester before my son was born so that I would have more flexibility when he arrived. The first year of being a mother was really tough. My son did not sleep through the night until he was 9 months old. I was just continually exhausted.
Fast-forward to today. My husband and I are still at the same institution. He is now tenured, and I am able to go for promotion (to research associate professor) this year. I am still the “trailing spouse” but I feel so grateful that we were able to find two positions at the same place. Academia is challenging, the competition is fierce, and it can be easy to let work consume your life. Being a mom has really helped me find balance in my life and has provided so much joy. We joke that our son only has one speed and that speed is running. Being a parent can be tiring, but it is also so much fun.