Just call her Dr. Mom
Alicia Schatteman earned her doctorate while raising five children

By Fredda Sacharow

Three-and-a-half years ago, at the age of 35, Alicia Schatteman had one bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, three children (with another on the way), and one fervent desire: to leave the world of nonprofit administration for academia.

When the Bloomfield resident took possession of her hard-won doctoral degree this month from Rutgers–Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration, a total of five children and one beaming husband were on hand to cheer her on.

The newly minted Ph.D. did something after the ceremony she hadn’t been able to do in a long while: She took a deep breath and plopped down on the sofa for the blessed relief of watching House M.D. with no homework to finish or papers to grade.

Schatteman, who had served just shy of four years as executive director of the Montclair Historical Society, was seven months pregnant with her fourth child when she started classes toward her doctorate in September 2005. Weary of putting in long hours and weekends, she longed for the more independent routine that academic life promised.

“I loved the possibility of being more in control of my own time,” Schatteman said. “As a college professor, I could have a more flexible schedule that better fit me as a working mother.”

The ensuing semesters were a blur of coursework, comprehensive exams, teaching as a graduate assistant, diapering, lunch making, birthday party planning, researching, and thesis writing. Schatteman went into the project with her eyes open, grounded by years of parenthood already under her belt.

“With the first child, you’re clueless… By the time number four rolled around, I already had a system,” she said. “The house was totally baby-proofed, my husband and I had already given up going out to dinner and having a clean house. We didn’t have to go through any major shifts when I went back to school – we’d already done that.”

Schatteman was researching and writing her dissertation – an examination of mandated municipal performance reports in her native Ontario – when her last child was born; she defended the thesis just before he turned one year old.

“Basically, I treated school as my job: I showed up every day at 9 a.m.,” she said. “When the kids went to school and daycare, Mommy went to school.”

With a degree of discipline a boot-camp drill sergeant would envy, Schatteman and her husband, Matthew, got all five children into bed by 9 p.m. almost every night. She spent the next two hours organizing her notes and conducting online searches.

“The kids understood what I was working for and accepted it,” Schatteman said. “Actually, the younger ones didn’t know any other lifestyle. They knew when I went to soccer practices and birthday parties, I would bring books or papers to grade.”

Matthew Schatteman – who his wife describes as part friend, part cheerleader, and part financier – has a starring role in his wife’s success. “He’s committed as much to this project as I have [been]. We’re both big believers in education; we both really love learning and going to school,” Alicia Schatteman said.

During her time at Rutgers, Schatteman enjoyed informally mentoring other women who were juggling family and academic obligations. It’s a relatively small sisterhood, she said, and its members need to support each other.

“We have a tremendous amount of mom-guilt, but we have to let some of that go for the long-term benefits,” she said. “If you miss taking your 2-year-old to a friend’s birthday party, chances are she won’t remember it down the road. But she will appreciate it later when you’re able to pick her up after school, because you’ve been grading papers at home.”

The next challenge that looms is finding a job teaching, either at the graduate or undergraduate level. Schatteman has been interviewing both in the northeastern United States and in Ontario. Plan B, put in place because of a dismal economic climate, is to stay close to academia, either in a research or policy position, and maybe do some adjunct teaching on the side.

“I’ll keep teaching at Rutgers over the summer, but September – that’s the big question mark,” she said.