Students balance studies, family

When Scott Brooks first came to Penn last fall, he thought several years of juggling work, a wife and a son would prepare him for the challenges that would arise in pursuing a doctoral degree in sociology while raising a family.

But apparently, he was wrong.

Brooks said he puts more time into his graduate work than he first expected -- and the right balance between academic and family obligations is hard to find.

"I spend much more time on my graduate work here than time put together previously," Brooks said. "It is very difficult in terms of managing that."

Graduate students working as teaching or research assistants, who often struggle to make ends meet on an average stipend of $12,500 a year, say factoring a child into the equation often forces them to dip into their savings or rely on the help of others. Expenses like housing, health insurance and childcare can accumulate quickly.

Some day care centers near the University, such as the Penn Children's Center, offer discounted rates for Penn students and faculty. But even with discounts, childcare can often run from roughly $200 a week for a preschooler to over $275 for an infant.

"What we spend on day care for one child is about what our mortgage is, and what we spend for two kids is almost double," Brooks said.

And though health care premiums are covered for fully-funded students in the School of Arts and Sciences, the premiums for their dependents are not. Some have found that in order to cover things like health care for their children, they must apply for state aid.

"To be a graduate student, you have all the status and everything that is attached with that," Brooks said. "And yet to think I have subsidized health care and I actually qualify for welfare -- it just doesn't seem right."

Other graduate students with dependents also voice some of Brooks' concerns.

"Whenever I spend time on my schoolwork, I feel guilty that I'm not with my kids, and a lot of times when I'm with my kids, I feel guilty that I'm not doing my schoolwork," said Laura Carey-Anniballi, a mother of two and a psychology student.

And though students say they are willing to accept the obligations that come with parenting while pursuing their degrees, finding the time and energy, as well as the resources needed for childcare and housing, can be a challenge.

"The place I live in is a little bit more than what my friends can afford with the same stipend, but I chose that place because it's safe," Carey-Anniballi said. "When my kids are there, I have to have a safe place. I can't live in a neighborhood where I'm worried about them all the time."

Some students with children say they don't always feel as though they and their families are included in the community of graduate students at Penn.

"I still consider myself really young, and socially, there are all these graduate student happy hours," said Ricki Gever Eisenstein, a Graduate School of Education doctoral student and mother of one. "I miss out on 90 percent of the social events because they're not geared towards families."

After giving birth to her daughter last year, Jennifer Horner, an Annenberg graduate student, realized just how much assistance a new parent requires -- including equipment, child support and advice.

In hopes of creating a place for parents to turn to find that advice, she is trying to create a playgroup for students with children through the recently-opened Graduate Student Center.

After an informal meeting last month, Horner said she and others are now working to build a network of support for parents through word-of-mouth.

"One of the most important things I found when I had her is that I needed a lot of people," Horner said. "The most important resource you can have is other young parents and other older parents who can give you advice."

As they work on starting the group, however, one of the major challenges that Horner and others have encountered is finding other students with children.

"I'm not really sure what kind of population we are," Horner said.

Though single and married graduate students can find housing in the Sansom Place facilities, housing for graduate students with children -- formerly offered in Mayer Hall -- is being phased out, forcing those students with families to head off-campus for housing.

However, Horner said she hopes that by creating a playgroup, parents will be able to meet each other and express their different needs, an opportunity that is not always there given the scattered nature of the community.

Though currently there do not seem to be many resources specifically devoted to graduate students, administrators say it is something they are looking into.

Deputy Provost Peter Conn said in an e-mail statement that Penn "makes only modest provisions for graduate students with children."

But Conn also stressed that the University's lack of resources for graduate students is not a problem that is specific to Penn, but one that is found throughout peer institutions.

"This is an area that is under review both internally and across the other universities, as well," he said.

Despite all the challenges that they face, students say that for the most part, they are enthusiastic about the work they do, and in many cases their departments have been understanding and supportive of their family obligations.

"I love what I'm doing, I love the program at Penn," Carey-Anniballi said. But, she said, "If I had to do it again, I don't know what I would do. I don't know if I would do it again."

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