STEM parents call for a change in culture and policy
“We all face this central dilemma of a scientist: Can we be a parent, a caregiver, a partner, a friend AND a scientist?”
Monica Malta, assistant professor at the University of Toronto, articulated this question during a LinkedIn chat hosted by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to discuss the systemic challenges facing parents and caregivers who work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
As a single parent, Malta said, she almost gave up her academic career. After taking unpaid maternity leave, she didn’t think she could return to her field. “But against all odds, I’m still here,” she said. “Three kiddos later.”
Malta described the uphill battle she and many of her colleagues face: “Mothers in STEM face discrimination, reduced productivity and inequities in pay and promotion — all of which contribute to this huge drop in full-time STEM workforce.”
The career path from bachelor’s degree to tenured faculty includes low pay, long hours and, often, frequent moves, so raising young children is difficult without financial support or care.
As a result, mothers are almost twice as likely as fathers to leave academia as postdocs and three times less likely than childless women to obtain a tenured position.
Ahana Maitra is a postdoctoral fellow at Fiocruz Amazônia. “There is growing evidence … showing that systemic barriers related to motherhood are driving the major drain in the STEM pipeline,” she said, “but this problem has been forever ignored.”
This year, Congress took the first step to help pregnant and caring parents in STEM. They passed a provision in the CHIPS Act and Science which directs the White House Office of Science and Technology to advise federal science agencies on implementing flexibility and supporting care at all career stages.
Moreover, after letting it stagnate for ten years, the legislators finally passed the Pregnant Workers Equity Act in December as one of two amendments to the fiscal 2023 omnibus bill to help pregnant workers in the United States The amendments require employers to provide reasonable accommodations during pregnancy and childbirth as well as more time and space for breastfeeding.
Organizing and speaking
Most research institutions and federal science agencies offer little support to help parents of young children navigate STEM careers, resulting in significant barriers to achieving a successful balance . No standard policy or best practice ensures equitable and adequate support for parents at all stages of the academy career. The support a parent receives varies according to their circumstance, gender, employment status, institution, state and country.
Comparison of the 2017 and 2021 National Postdoctoral Association The Institutional Policy Reports show an increase of more than 20% in the number of institutions surveyed that offer paid maternity leave to postdoctoral staff. While this progress is encouraging, more than a third of institutions still do not have paid maternity leave and have a reduced amount of support for postdocs who are not employees of their institution (those funded by training grants, fellowships of a research study or other external sources of funding).
Phil a letter to the National Institutes of Health in 2019, Postdoc Parents for Change called for changes in federal policy for postdocs including (1) at least eight weeks of paid parental leave and an additional four weeks for birth parents, (2) expanded fellowships and grants to account for family leave , (3) transitional support back to work, and (4) assistance with affordable childcare.
The NIH agreed that many policies were insufficient but offered no concrete solutions at first other than to “begin discussions to address concerns.” (You can read the full letter and NIH’s response here.) The NIH then released a year birth extension for K99/R00 awards and incremental improvements that allow a Allowance of $2,500 for the cost of childcare for each budget period for fellowship or training grants of the National Research Service Award.
Maitra is a member of Mothers in Science, an international non-profit organization founded in 2019 that has brought together thousands of STEM students and professionals worldwide to raise awareness of systemic structural barriers that push silent mothers away from STEM career paths. Their rapidly growing community developed a wealth of resources, research and promotion to support and elevate the needs of STEM parents.
Malta belongs to the grassroots organisation 500 Women Scientiststhat started her SciMom Trip campaign, also in 2019, to bring more visibility to mothers in science, share their stories and promote improved policy making. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have developed concrete recommendations to help supervisors, employers and universities minimize the career penalty for parents in STEM fields; they favor tenure extensions or promotion, creative workplace/learning accommodations and supportive and flexible professional environments.
More than policy making
Institutional policies aren’t the only things hurting STEM parents. Cultural stigma can also cause mothers and fathers to feel that they cannot be both an attentive parent and a successful scientist.
In the ASBMB LinkedIn chat, scientists challenged the idea that being a parent is a weakness or a career barrier.
Maitra said she faced discrimination when she tried to gain access to career opportunities, such as important conferences or meetings or research projects. Sometimes, she said, she was bluntly told that it was more important to take care of her child first than to devote herself to her career. “These experiences affected my chances of gaining more visibility as a researcher,” she said, “and I missed several opportunities for collaboration.”
Malta encourages institutional leaders and employers “to confront the cultural belief that STEM professionals with caring responsibilities are less valuable, less engaged in their careers and less productive than their colleagues without these responsibilities .”
She also calls on leaders to listen to parents in STEM, especially those who experience additional layers of discrimination, such as those directed at racial, ethnic and LGBTQIA+ minorities, and work with them to figure out solutions and strategies tailored to work for them.
Unique challenges
There may not be a one-size-fits-all solution. Parents who belong to groups that have historically been marginalized in STEM are affected in the only and intersectional ways arising from cultural and personal perceptions. 2017 report from the Pregnant School showed that white postdocs are more likely to have supportive advisors and to request and receive parental leave than postdocs of color.
Toni Mosley, Black woman, mother and program manager for 500 Women Scientists’ Fellowship for the Future, said she has battled mental health challenges. “Black women are expected to do all this not only by society but by ourselves as well,” she said. “When I found myself struggling to live up to my responsibilities, I realized that I couldn’t live up to my own expectations. I didn’t know how to ask for help, because I was afraid of looking weak, and this caused my work and my mental health to suffer.”
When Mosley finally asked for support, she said, she received simple advice: “Never lose sight of your goals, but be realistic and forgive.” This has empowered her to be flexible with some of her goals and timelines so she can begin to relax and enjoy being both a mom and a STEM professional.
Malta and the other scientists in the chat agreed that a supportive environment was essential for their retention. In the case of Malta, the lack of support pushed it to switch to an organization that was more welcoming.
And she continued her comments on the “scientist’s dilemma” with a sobering admission: “Of course it is NOT easy to be a mother and continue to work in STEM. … I’m not going to lie: It’s hard.”
If you have more ideas about how federal agencies and institutions can support parents in STEM, contact the public affairs team at [email protected].