Clare Brock
BIO
Assistant Professor of Political Science, mom of 2.
Instagram: @clarephd
Twitter: @clare_brock
Clare Brock
“Learning to set clear and appropriate boundaries around work has allowed me to protect my rest and my time with my family.”
I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science, specializing in American Politics and Public Policy. My research focuses on how partisan polarization impacts lobbying in the agricultural policy arena, and what that means for our food system.
Becoming a mother during graduate school was overwhelming, but exciting. A few months after giving birth, I needed to conduct interviews in Washington, DC. My husband took vacation time and spent his days taking our son to museums while I conducted elite interviews and pumped in bathrooms. In the evenings we ate takeout Peruvian chicken in the dark hotel room while the baby slept (it was fun and delicious).
I was offered a tenure track position just a few hours from my hometown, and soon gave birth to another baby boy. Again, while nursing, I needed to do field work in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, this time my husband couldn’t take as much time off. I was lucky enough to bring my parents and sisters along to entertain the kids, and I went back to pumping in bathrooms and break-rooms between interviews.
While I am well aware that many professors do not have this experience, I have found that my career gives me flexibility to be with family while also allowing me to engage with students and research in an intellectually sustaining way.
There have certainly been challenges – a miscarriage, discouraging words, exhaustion, and burnout – but I have the invaluable support of many people rooting for me.
Academia is a career that can easily move from vocation to avocation, absorbing all free time and attention. However, learning to set clear and appropriate boundaries around work has allowed me to protect my rest and my time with my family. These boundaries also ensure that when I work, I do so with excitement – ready to give my fullest attention to my research and bring my best, most compassionate self to my students.