Written by Dr. Erika E. Alexander
When I began my PhD program at the tender age of 23, many of my college friends were getting married, having babies, and starting new jobs. My Facebook newsfeed was filled with status updates about engagements and weddings, as well as pictures of ultrasounds and adorable toddlers. After a few years in my program, I started seeing more marriage/baby announcements from fellow graduate students and newly graduated postdocs. I looked around at scientific conferences I was attending, and noticed the large numbers of people with scientific posters in one hand, and small children in the other. It seemed many of my colleagues were settling down and starting careers in STEM, with their families in tow. So how do they do it? Is academia, at its core, family friendly?
The obvious pro of having a significant other/spouse/family while still in graduate school is that you have a built-in support system. Regardless of the stage of the PhD process, a solid support system is key to a student’s success and perseverance in the face of inevitable adversity. Most moms and dads will talk about the joys of coming home to a child who is always ecstatic to see them, and a spouse to confide in. Although, I am unmarried and don’t have children (for now), I still credit my significant other with being the ever-present confidante/cheerleader that I needed to finish my program. Many graduate students I encountered brought a spouse with them to school, and some began families while matriculating through their PhD.
Financially, having a family or a spouse can be beneficial to an academic as well. Most PhD programs do not pay graduate students very much in the way of stipends, so having an employed spouse to split the bills with makes the financial load easier. Although academics work much longer hours than their non-academic counterparts, their schedules are also a lot more flexible. Some parents are able to choose a work schedule that best fits their familial needs. They can also leave work to handle unexpected family emergencies without a problem, and in some cases, can even work from home. This flexibility of scheduling can certainly make carving out time for family that much easier.
However, once the doctorate is complete, having a family or a spouse can actually be a reason for leaving the academy. Previous studies have shown that women with STEM PhDs are up to twice as likely as their male counterparts to leave their STEM jobs because of the perception of their STEM work environments as unfriendly towards women. This perception of academia as an unfriendly work environment, where healthy work-life balance is a scarce commodity, is clearly something that needs to be addressed by the academic community as a whole.
In a brief released in March 2014, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) highlights the differences in early academic career outcomes here. The AIR study found that married women are the least likely to start academic careers at prestigious research institutions as compared to their unmarried female peers and their male (unmarried and married) peers. This isn’t just a problem for women. Married men and women who receive PhDs in STEM are overall less likely to begin their careers at a research institution, than their unmarried counterparts. The AIR study also reports that having a child results in a “disadvantage” for both men and women for securing a position at a research institution. Of those with academic positions, only 14% of women and 22% of men had at least one child under that age of 5 at the time of earning their degree. Women and men without young children were also significantly more likely to secure positions at research institutions, as compared to those with at least one small child.
While I would not call having children a “disadvantage” in finding job security, they are a significant life change, which can have lasting impacts on the careers of the caregivers. Scientists with families generally have different priorities than a single academic. Whereas a PhD with no children may feel comfortable working 60-80 hour weeks, some scientists may want a less demanding work-schedule so that they can guarantee time with the kids. It should be noted that the added financial responsibility of caring/providing for children could be an issue for parents considering leaving the field. The STEM career path in academia is filled with opportunities to ‘pay your dues’, but these training positions simply may not pay enough to support a family. And although traveling to other parts of the countries might result in better job opportunities, a choice is often made to limit the job search area so as to not to unnecessarily uproot children or spouses. If this means turning down prestigious job opportunities or even leaving the academe altogether for the sake of family, these PhDs appear willing to make the sacrifice. But in forcing them to make a choice between family and science, the academy loses the diversification so necessary for its survival.
While an academic career in STEM has innate benefits for young families, there seems to be a disconnect between what families need and what the academe is providing, leading to an exodus of many talented researchers. But in the interest of diversifying the professoriate and thus the pool of knowledge, shouldn’t the needs of scientists with families also be accommodated?
These leads to the question of how to best accommodate families of STEM academics. And while much of the current research focuses on the PhD recipient, I’d be curious to learn about academic life from the perspective of the non-STEM associated significant other. What is it like to be the support system for someone as they traverse the academic career track? Are there ways that your significant other’s career has negatively or positively affected your personal or professional life? How can the academe evolve so as not to push scientists with families away from the academic career pathway?
What do you think? Can STEM careers be good for families? Are you a STEM PhD with a family or the spouse of a STEM PhD? Why did your family decide to stay in STEM or go?
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