They were surprised: Professional legitimacy, social bias, and dual-career academic couples.

Dual-career academic couples, or faculty members who are married or partnered to other faculty members, make up a critical mass of the professoriate in the United States. Women faculty members are more likely to be in these kinds of relationships. Thus, many institutions have implemented dual-career support policies to increase the number of women in the academy. Though a few studies have examined the rates at which these policies are used, less research examines the way using (or not using) said policies can impact each partner’s ability to advance toward their professional goals. Drawing from a multiple, embedded case study of 16 couples at three research universities, I found that features of dual-career hiring processes (e.g., unstructured and informal processes) and biased notions about academic merit, quality, autonomy, and independence undermined professional legitimacy, particularly for women who were, or who were perceived to be, the “second hire.” Nevertheless, couples and partners took steps, as individuals and together, to assert their legitimacy and advance toward their professional goals. Implications for more equitable improvement of dual-career hiring policies are considered.