Balancing act: from bench to bassinet and back
True of nearly every career, landmark moments on the work front coincide with major life milestones. Around the time you start establishing yourself in your career, you might also be thinking of starting a family. In academia, demanding research schedules and commitments can complicate the decision to start a family. Research work entails long hours of unwavering focus in the field or lab; add parenting to the mix, and the challenge is further compounded.
Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers face tremendous pressure to meet research and publication demands while expecting a baby and caring for young children. The pursuit for work–life balance and the guilt associated with prioritizing either career or family can take a toll on a young researcher. Often, the lack of institutional support for parental leave and childcare facilities pushes some to take up part-time roles or bow out of academia altogether. Unfortunately, the burden of caregiving responsibilities disproportionately falls on mothers, who often find themselves grappling with the delicate task of balancing childcare duties with career aspirations. That is not to say that young fathers are far from being frazzled with parenting responsibilities.
There are ways to strike a balance between career aspirations and caregiving responsibilities, and institutions are beginning to recognize the need for policies that encourage diversity and address the “leaky pipeline” problem in academia.
Organizational support for young parents in academia
Recognizing the need to support the diverse needs of their faculty and staff, many academic institutions have begun to prioritize organizational support for young parents. From comprehensive parental leave policies to flexible work arrangements and on-campus childcare facilities, these initiatives aim to reduce the burden on young parents.
Supportive leave policies
Women returning from months of maternity leave feel out of the loop and left behind. The demand for support during parental leave has brought about an interesting solution: roving researchers. The Laboratory of Medical Sciences at Imperial College London came up with the concept of part-time support for research work by “roving researchers,” who cover work for researchers on maternity leave. The preliminary success of this program has inspired several other European research organizations to follow suit this year. This approach ensures that lab productivity is unaffected and projects continue to advance while the new parent can recover from childbirth and the difficult months of parenting (and not be wracked with guilt!).
Grants and fellowships targeting parents in science
Research career re-entry fellowships provide postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to re-establish their scientific careers after a long break from research, such as parental leave (Wellcome, Women Scientist Support Grant, grants for academic returners at Imperial College).
Affordable childcare options and family-friendly workplaces
Researchers who are parents greatly benefit from a supportive community. Imperial College London has a vibrant parents’ network and has family-friendly policies and child-friendly perks and discounts in place.
Early childcare and education for the children of its faculty and students, as provided by universities like Vanderbilt University, also allow young parents to work at ease knowing their children are nearby and being taken care of.
How researchers balance career and parenting: experiences and lessons
Understand leave policies
Leave policies vary according to institution and tend to be obscure. Parents-to-be should be aware of parental leave policies and parental benefits and accordingly have clear conversations with their supervisors about the leave they are planning to take and any flexible work arrangements they are willing to explore.
Researcher moms Amanda Gorton and Tess Grainger have been advocating for policy changes to support parents in academia. Recognizing the lack of transparency in leave policies, they have created a database to shed light on differences in paid leave availability across career stages in Canada and the US. They plan to expand this database globally.
Become a time management expert
Limited time can make you devise ways to prioritize tasks and manage time prudently. As a PhD candidate with one child and another on the way, Allison McKendrick realized that she needed to structure her schedule in a way to maximize efficiency. This would involve giving up on things like post-work schmoozing. She has no regrets because she still feels that this structuring has made her more efficient than her peers.
Rachel Flecker had three children while she was a lecturer. She advises researchers to plan their work such that one completes whatever can be wrapped up before maternity leave (experiments, data collection, etc.), and tasks like paper writing and revision can continue from home.
Know that you can take a break
If tackling work and parenting simultaneously is not for you, there are ways to hit the pause button for a greater focus on family. These include extended parental leave, a career break, or some form of flexible and/or work-from-home arrangement. As mentioned earlier in this article, the roving researcher option and re-entry fellowships make this route viable for researcher parents.
Get creative! Improvise!
If you are feeling that itch to get back or at least stay connected with the goings-on in your lab during your leave, you can attend meetings with your baby in tow! According to Olivia Carter, such continued “visibility” can work in your favor.
Similarly, you need not lose hope if you have an important field trip coming up but no way to leave your child behind. Learn from researchers who have taken their children on fieldwork trips and have shared what worked for them:
For the travel and stay, account for extra planning to cover all childcare needs. Do not forget health insurance!
Hire caregivers, or if possible, travel with family support.
Find alternatives to field travel: conduct experiments locally, train researchers to do local field work.
Don’t be discouraged if you are a single parent in academia
For single parents, the already daunting task of juggling parenthood with work is magnified. One researcher narrates her story of being a single parent in academia, and how working in a country different from her home country exacerbated feelings of loneliness and burnout. She says that one needs to keep moving forward. In such cases it is all the more important to build a support system of family, friends, and fellow parents.
This single academic mom talks about her grueling journey, where she was even shamed for being “selfish” because she made certain career choices. She shines the light on fearlessly making choices that need not be what is traditionally “expected” from a mother but those that will help your career and will later make your child feel proud of you.
Final thoughts
Triumphs and trials are all part of the balancing act in academia and parenting. You can learn from the experiences of others and explore what suits your unique circumstances and family dynamics. The best part is that you get to be the superhero your child thinks you are. Picture this: It’s career day at your child’s school. As you step into the classroom, you’re greeted with awed hushed tones and nudges of admiration. Your little one proudly introduces you as a scientist, and suddenly, you’re inspiring the next generation of young minds, who see you as proof that they too can do it all—balance a successful career in science while being an awesome parent!
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