physical plant staff, or scheduling conflicts, but all in all the role provides
them with opportunities for a busy and interesting life. They may wish for
more appreciation for their efforts, but even though this is not forthcoming,
they know that they are making a contribution to the campus, the community,
and the state. In fact, they may enjoy the role so much that leaving the
role,
when the president moves or retires, poses problems.
Even if the "fit" between the traditional expectations and the
wishes of
the president's wife is a good one, there are factors which cause a need
for
adjustment and choices that need to be made by both members of the "presi-
dential team." The size and location of the campus can affect each of
them in
different ways. While he may like a large campus, she may find the complexity
more difficult. The campus may be small, just what he wants, but it may be
located in a very small town and she may have problems with local gossip
and lack of privacy; she may miss big city opportunities for enrichment or
professional advancement. The campus town may be an ideal place to raise
their children, or it may pose problems. Although many couples have to face
multiple factors about where they live and work, there are aspects of these
problems that are related to the public roles presidents and their families
play.
Also, since her husband may be moving fairly often (the average presidency
being five years), and since the choices may be few, she may feel somewhat
trapped by the circumstances if not the substance of the role. Moves do not
provide her with advancement and greater professional development. They
mean instead a shift in living circumstances that may or may not prove
satisfactory.
Many presidents' wives are not satisfied being unpaid adjuncts of their
husbands, since they have had careers of their own. They know that they
have the ability to develop professionally, but may not have the opportunity
on this campus or in this town to do so. The adjustments that have to be
made to accommodate the career aspirations of both husband and wife may
not be easy. Some of them are common to all dual-career families and include
concerns about child care and the maintenance of the everyday management
of a household, the attitudes of family and friends, the lack of leisure
time,
the combined stresses brought into a household from two work settings, and
the strain on people and cars of extra commuting. Dual-career families have
different patterns, and some of these have been described by researchers.3
Some of the stress that the president and his wife experience are common
to
these families. Some of them are related to the very demanding role of the
president and the expectations he and others hold for the role of his wife.
An important factor is whether or not the couple has reached agreement
about the professional involvement of both persons. Dual-career marriages
in-
crease the need for compromise and support. Adding such demands to the
hectic lifestyle of the president and his family must be accompanied by addi-
tional actions as well as expressions of support and encouragement. If the
presidency comes after a pattern of dual-career marriage has been estab-
lished, there is an expectation on the part of the wife that this will continue.
Prior experience helps somewhat in that coping strategies have been worked
out, although unexpected events that always produce their share of chaos
-
a sick child, a conflict in scheduling, car brakes that need fixing, the
failure of
a colleague to do what was expected - may produce greater likelihood that
plans will need changing if they are now a presidential couple.


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