Comments on: Time for Family, Time for Science

By: Jen F

Jen F — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:14:35 +0000

I am a female “scientist” who has left academia to pursue other science-related career interests. I don’t regret my decision one bit.

I now have a job where I am eligible for maternity benefits, my salary is almost double what I made as a post-doc, and the work is just as intellectually rewarding. In fact, it is more intellectually rewarding because I don’t spend most of my time doing mindless, repetitive tasks required in bioscience research.

These are considerations for either male or female scientists, but become more urgent for women because they tend to carry more of the burden in having children.

I think the core of the problem, at least in the biosciences, is related to the long years essentially required as a post-doc. It is the most likely time to think about having a family, and yet you don’t have the resources or time to do it. In some cases, you may not even have an adequate health care plan.

Becoming a professor does come, in theory, with increased job stability, salary and “family-friendly” policies. However, getting a professorship often doesn’t come until your mid-thirties or later. That’s too long to wait for many people.

By: Jason D

Jason D — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:33:31 +0000

As a male, tenure-track social scientist, I would just offer two comments from my own experience. First, I started a family in graduate school and received tremendous encouragement to prioritize being a father from my peers and advisors – in graduate school, as a postdoc, and as a newly hired faculty member. I even took almost a year off to be a full-time dad during grad school, and it didn’t really put me much behind my peers in terms of finishing my PhD. That said, I often wondered if I would have received the same encouragement along the way if I had been female. Second, the demands of staying “on track” with an academic career have pushed my marriage toward much more stereotypically gendered roles than I am comfortable with. I consider myself a feminist, yet do little domestic work apart from parenting. So we might ask whether the demands of academic careers not only drive away women with PhDs, but also reify gendered roles for the men who pursue careers in academia.

By: Michael F. Sarabia

Michael F. Sarabia — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:00:14 +0000

Consider the following as purely a logical proposition, don’t pay attention as to whether it is true or false.
Imagine a planet in which women and men are different, not only in the physical aspects, for which we are all appreciative, but in the mental capacity.
Now, obviously everyone is aware of their own abilities but, how could you know if your ability is better or not as good as another person’s? Focus only on the mental abilities.
Of course, anyone can walk in the forest and appreciate the beauty and serenity. Is there any way to know if your impression is better, equal or mediocre compared to that of the other sex?
Of course, we all know it is impossible to know! And, THAT is the problem. The claim or assertion of EQUALITY is not founded in any scientific data, yet many continue to insist it is true.
Are there men that could be better Mothers than their wives? My point is that there is no way, at all, to know the answer.
In the absence of data, should we limit changes to a minor degree, and re-visit the data to see if there ia any reason to make minor adjustments?
I studied Calculus and the best two students in the class were pretty young Sophomore ladies.
I studied Engineering Drafting and the best and clear superior student in the class was a charming young lady. I could go on…
My first Engineering job was with a group of great engineers and I lernt a lot. The Group Chief was a woman, very smart and great at explaining matters.
At all levels in my career I worked with women that were great at their work. Were they happy? I don’t know.
Were all the other workers happy? I don’t know.
If one group of people are good with technical abstractions, advanced quantum mechanics, etx., and others are good at walking in the forest and suddenly wonder if the speed of light is, indeed, a constant, like all teachers and books said.
I think everyone should be free to demonstrate their ability, within the scope of their work, and judged on their merits. No, I did not get promotions as fast as others, but I sometimes did wonder if I needed to learn something, and made a change accordingly.
Feel free to interpret the above to fit within you “framework”, or “the way we make sense of words” in the way that is natural to you, for which I have not the slightest clue. Just like any normal communication.
Pay Equality, I do believe,
Equal consideration for promotion, yes!
Equality of results? That is not true within either,
it will only distort the world and make the incompetent
focus on discrimination instead of trying harder -like men.

By: belinda

belinda — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:29:42 +0000

There are all kinds of measures that can ease family formation in academic settings for pre-tenure women. On-site daycare. Services such as national babysitting services, where a researcher can arrange a sitter ahead in another city while attending a conference – some universities provide this as a subsidized service. Funding for taking the family along when research travel might be extended, for example in the summer (Harvard does this for pre-tenure faculty). Time off the tenure clock. Training for department chairs in how to mentor careers for young people with families (men included). A serious consideration of how to make it work, and what the needs are is more important than just money.

By: Elsie

Elsie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:43:05 +0000

While I agree that policies to help young parents stay in academia aren’t a bad idea (number one in my book would be affordable childcare…number two would be rooms set aside for nursing mothers to pump breast milk), articles like this irritate me because it implies that mothers who leave academia are leaving science altogether, which is not the case.

I had a child as an academic postdoc, and I can assure you that though I left academia I am still very much a scientist. To suggest that the NIH wasted its money on my education is completely ridiculous and just a little insulting.

Also, my decision to leave academia had nothing to do with becoming a mother and everything to do with the awesomeness of being able to do applied science in Industry.

By: Eskimo

Eskimo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:51:34 +0000

Here’s what will help women who want to have families and stay in science:

Don’t marry another scientist.