Post by account_disabled on Feb 27, 2024 2:17:05 GMT -8
Unfounded assumptions about how motherhood affects worker productivity can harm women's careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics long before they become mothers or have the chance, according to a new study. intention to be. Let's talk about the motherhood penalty. Maternity penalty? It is well known that women are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics ( STEM) workforce , including in academia. For example, in 2017 women only made up 20% of full professor positions in the physical sciences and 15% in engineering, even though their share of doctoral degrees in those fields has increased considerably in recent decades. Maternity penalty The portalThe Conversation ,wanted to understand what could be causing women to be more likely than their male peers to give up science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers in academia.
For this reason, she conducted extensive interviews with 57 childless doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows—both men and women—in natural sciences and engineering programs at elite research universities in the United States. The interviews covered a wide range of topics, such as workplace experiences and relationships, personal backgrounds, and career and family plans. Based on the data obtained in the interviews, gender differences in intentions to pursue a Peru Mobile Number List career as a teacher after obtaining the doctorate were analyzed. It was found that upon entering the doctoral program, men and women were equally interested in working as professors upon completion of their degree. But at the time of the interviews, women were more likely than men to say they had decided not to pursue a career as a teacher.
The analysis ruled out a series of factors that could explain this gender pattern, such as the interviewee's discipline, their partner's career, and their age. Instead, we found that women who had changed their minds about becoming professors cited a work culture that assumes that motherhood—but not fatherhood—is incompatible with an academic career. We call it the “spectrum of motherhood.” Between an academic career and motherhood Several of the women interviewed said that their advisors had explicitly told them that they had to choose between an academic career and a family and that "there is more to life than babies." Women also reported experiencing intense pressure to reject, denigrate, or hide the very possibility of motherhood for fear of no longer being taken seriously in the profession.
For this reason, she conducted extensive interviews with 57 childless doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows—both men and women—in natural sciences and engineering programs at elite research universities in the United States. The interviews covered a wide range of topics, such as workplace experiences and relationships, personal backgrounds, and career and family plans. Based on the data obtained in the interviews, gender differences in intentions to pursue a Peru Mobile Number List career as a teacher after obtaining the doctorate were analyzed. It was found that upon entering the doctoral program, men and women were equally interested in working as professors upon completion of their degree. But at the time of the interviews, women were more likely than men to say they had decided not to pursue a career as a teacher.
The analysis ruled out a series of factors that could explain this gender pattern, such as the interviewee's discipline, their partner's career, and their age. Instead, we found that women who had changed their minds about becoming professors cited a work culture that assumes that motherhood—but not fatherhood—is incompatible with an academic career. We call it the “spectrum of motherhood.” Between an academic career and motherhood Several of the women interviewed said that their advisors had explicitly told them that they had to choose between an academic career and a family and that "there is more to life than babies." Women also reported experiencing intense pressure to reject, denigrate, or hide the very possibility of motherhood for fear of no longer being taken seriously in the profession.