Tracing scholarly trajectories in children’s and young adult literature: values, mentorship, and relational resilience

Amid growing precarity in the humanities, this study examines how long-term scholarly careers are formed and sustained. Focusing on Children’s and Young Adult Literature (CYAL) as a telling microcosm, we trace the narrated trajectories of 28 established US-based scholars. Using narrative inquiry, we theorize relational resilience – a co-constructed capacity for persistence rooted in collective stewardship and academic ‘knotworking.’ Findings reveal that while scholars navigate the ‘values schizophrenia’ of the neoliberal academy, their persistence is fueled by catalytic sparks, innovative mentorship models, and advocacy-driven joy. We explicitly acknowledge a survivorship bias, noting that these accounts reflect only those who remained in the field despite systemic pressures. By proposing a multi-scalar normative framework, this study suggests how institutions might better recognize and resource the informal relational infrastructures that currently sustain scholarly continuity. We argue that scholarly continuity depends on these relational infrastructures that transform institutional precarity into purpose-driven persistence.