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Reflective Papers

Vol. 17 (2004 Winter)

Rebalancing the Scale between the Personal and the Professional

  • Rita Culcross
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21423/awlj-v16.a185
Submitted
June 19, 2017
Published
2017-06-12

Abstract

Work-life conflicts are hardly new, even in academia. Amelia Earhart, in a letter to her future husband, George Putnam, wrote of "her reluctance to marry, my feeling that I shatter thereby chances in work which means most to me" (Earhart, n.d.). Earhart went on to become not only the most famous woman pilot, but also to hold an appointment during the 1930's at Purdue University as a consultant in the department for the study of the careers of women. Memories of her attempt to fly around the world are documented in her letters to Putnam, whose careful preservation of those communications provides a lasting record to her achievements and the conflicts felt by talented women. (Earhart, n.d.)