Despite becoming increasingly represented in academic departments, women scholars face a
critical lack of support as they navigate demands pertaining to pregnancy, motherhood, and child
caregiving. In addition, cultural norms surrounding how faculty and academic leaders discuss
and talk about tenure, promotion, and career success have created pressure for women who wish
to grow their family and care for their children, leading to questions about whether it is possible
for these women to have a family and an academic career. The current paper is a call to action
for academia to build structures that support women professors as they navigate the complexities
of pregnancy, the postpartum period, and the caregiving demands of their children. We
specifically call on those of us in I-O psychology, management, and related departments to lead
the way. In making this call, we first present the realistic, moral, and financial cases for why this
issue needs to be at the forefront of discussions surrounding success in the academy. We then
discuss how in the U.S. and elsewhere, an absence of policies supporting women places two
groups of academics—department heads (as the leaders of departments who have discretion
outside of formal policies to make work better for women) and other faculty members (as
potential allies both in the department and within our professional organizations)—in a critical
position to enact support and change. We conclude with our boldest call—to make a cultural
shift that shatters the assumption that having a family is not compatible with academic success.
Combined, we seek to launch a discussion that leads directly to necessary and overdue changes
in how women scholars are supported in academia