Comments on how having the 1st child affected one's career
It gave me some balance in thinking about what I wanted out of life. I worked less (although who knows what I would have done if I hadn't had childeren as I have many other interests that might have taken me from a complete dedication to work). I don't think having children was what kept me from advancing. More multiple interestes and an unwillingness to have a singular focus for my life.
--mom of 3, R&D, industry or nonprofit
Sleep deprived for first four years. Worried less about my performance at work, ironically.
--mom of 3, R&D, industry or nonprofit
On my vita, the number of publications did not decrease as a result of having a child. It affected my productivity in a more subtle way - I started to do more empirical work and less theory, as the former does not require the long period of concentration as the latter. It can be piece-mealed into chunks of relatively independent work. I worked more efficiently as the opportunity cost was so high.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Permanent exhaustion, resigning from academic job at end of year to go freelance to have more flexibility and time with children.
--mom of 2, untenured professor
Really no impact. I am and was an independent consultant working out of my home. I worked a little less and still do (my daughter just left for college) but that was/is my choice.
--mom of 1, R&D, industry or nonprofit
First child affected productivity little, the second child definitely put a large dent on my productivity - managing two schools and various appointments, parties and admin for two young kids is a job in and of itself...
--mom of 2, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
Having a child made me less stressed out about my work. Before that point, my happiness in life went up or down largely depending on whether my Ph.D. work was going well or not. But after having a baby, my happiness depended much more on my child, with less riding on my Ph.D.
--mom of 4, tenured professor
It's easy to see -- in the year I had each child, I dropped from 3 published papers/year to 1 paper for each of those years. It cut dramatically on my travel to conferences, lowering my visibility. Luckily my employer (industrial research lab) was very flexible about schedules, bringing sick kids in to work, working from home, etc.
--mom of 2, R&D, industry or nonprofit
I feel I have gone into slow motion...I am hoping I can recover soon.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I was already tenured so there has been minimal effect. It helps to be able to do the kind of work I need to do at home as well and I routinely work at night after my son has gone to bed.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
Use to work 10-12 hr days, now I work 8. I also pump breastmilk during the day, which takes about another hour out of the day. I have worked about 3000% harder to not take a hit in my professional life, but since I worked 110% already, I'm bone-weary! Giving talks is the hardest thing to do after having a child. The sleep deprivation leads to dizziness, memory loss, and fatigue. I had to cancel 3 talks unfortunately. In addition, the sicknesses the child picks up at daycare have hit me much harder than her.
--mom of 1, untenured professor
reduced my productivity
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It was slow the first year, but after that I did well; my best work to date has been done between the two children.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Having kids certainly cuts back on work time, but on the other hand, nothing is a better cure for a nasty referee report than coming home to the babes!
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Publishing slowed WAY down.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
The first child did not affect my career much but it enriched my life!
--mom of 2, tenured professor
The first child did not affect my career that much but it surely enriched my life!
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Made me prioritize different things when searching for a job (family-friendly envt, good place to live, etc), but ALSO having a child makes me and my husband feel really good in that even if things don't work out professionally, we've already achieved one huge goal (of having a family).
--mom of 1, tenured professor
Definitely slowed my research productivity (grant writing, papers). Decreased my ability to travel to invited lectures and conferences
--mom of 1, tenured professor
mostly slower to get grants and papers out
--mom of 2, tenured professor
A productivity gap apparent on CV, but overall a fairly minor blip.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I still got tenure. I'm in a book discipline and my book had been accepted by a press before we started trying to have a baby, so I was more or less well on the way to tenure before he was born. The big thing is that I don't want to travel or go to conferences. Especially when he was very small/breastfeeding, it was agonizing to be away, esp overnight. I did it a few times and also tried bringing him to conferences, but it was very hard. I definitely have a reduced presence on the travel and talk/dinner circuit. It's easier now that he's almost 3, but I would expect that to be reduced for a large part of my mid-career.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
It delayed my carrier quite a lot. At the moment I doubt that I will continue the carrier I started as a Graduate student, and the child is one (but not the most significant) reason.
--mom of 2, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
I think it made me more efficient. I was writing my diss, and having a confined amount of time to work helped me get more done during that time.
--mom of 1, postdoc
The birth of my son made me (and my spouse) much more structured in terms of work. While I tended to work regular hours before he was born, I was extremely bound to the 9-5 work day after he was born. Working late, working evenings, working on the weekends all became much more difficult.
--mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
My first child did not have a big influence on my career, just totally changed the rest of my life!
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It's difficult to say. How can I know the impact of working only 65 hours a week instead of 75? If I don't get tenure, I'll probably consider it a factor. That said, I have tried not to let it slow me down. For instance, I took a residential fellowship position in another state for a year and moved my family; I still try to do several conferences a year; I still work long hours.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
My professional life after having this child was hectic but thriving.
--mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
I have experienced a significant priority shift. While I know myself to be happiest as a ""working mom,"" I am much less invested in traditional standards of professional success. I feel empowered to define success personally and more creatively - in ways that address not only my intellectual needs and interests, but also my desire for a rich family life.
--mom of 1, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
constant stress between getting enough done and having time with family. One parent must pick up the slack if total hours are > 55 per week because a weekend day must be used to work. Both of us work 2+ hours almost every night. Chronically tired.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
there has been a dip in my research output that took quite a while to correct.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It significantly delayed the completion of my degree but I was very fortunate in being able to get a tenure-track position once I'd finished. So I don't feel having my child has scuppered my career, just delayed it, and I feel very grateful to have had the flexibility as a graduate student to be able to spend lots of time with my child when she was very little.
--mom of 2, untenured professor
Having a child is an amazing indelible experience! However, there is no question that it increases both the mental and physical challenges associated with doing science.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
Raising my children and having a career takes up every minute of my time and the line between the two blurs sometimes.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
no more work at night/weekend
--mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
It delayed me putting out research grants; I am also behind on papers
--mom of 1, untenured professor
Having a child slowed down my career considerably.
--mom of 2, untenured professor
It has made my professional career more fulfilling in fact since there was another aspect to my life that I can focus on that was unrelated to work.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
A slow down in time invested in my career.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I don't feel that there was any negative effect on my professional career with child #1. I became much more efficient at work to make up for the reduced time spent there.
--mom of 3, tenured professor
My first child affect my professional career a lot. He has some medical issues that kept me very near from him. So in my second one, I tried to be smart and avoid affecting my career and I think I worked it out.
--mom of 2, postdoc
i worked less time in teh lab, but spend additional time working from home
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It made my daily tasks more focused and forced me to learn to better manage my time to get things done.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Made it more difficult to travel. Much less ability to work nights and weekends.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
it has been definitely more challenging balancing personal life and professional life after the baby was born (he is now 5 months old). being in academia at least gives me the flexibility to do some work from home and combining that with day care part time during the week I am able to do most of the things I would like to do at my work. my husband is in the same profession and this helps tremendously because he has the flexibility to leave early on occasion to be at home if I have a meeting I need to attend during after hours. At the same time, I feel more complete and balanced after having my baby and this have affected my work in a positive way I think. I wouldn't have it any other way and the university has been very supportive of this decision.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
Slower advancement. More life satisfaction.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
I feel that my academic career got a slower start because of my two children being born during my post-doc years, but the kids also gave me a lot of perspective and a lot of joy outside the laboratory. Eventually, I became a better scientist because my time management skills increased about 1000-fold! It is interesting that now I am seen as some sort of role model because I managed to have kids and still eventually succeed on the tenure track. I don't really feel like I knew for sure what I was doing or how it would all work out--I just did my best to manage both, and so far, things have worked out well.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
I accomplished everything that had to be done, but it was much more difficult.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Academia was flexible in that I brought my child in with me for the first 4-6 months (until mobile). I did a lot of work in the middle of night between feeds. My ability to focus suffered due to exhaustion. My ability to make career moves has been affected by timing of birth (travel) and the stable home environment a family needs. But my family reminds me to put things into perspective.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
I've become much more efficient and my work seems more focused.
--mom of 1, untenured professor
I was fortunate to have flexibility in my work schedule and my husband was able to adjust some of his time. We adopted two children as infants (5 weeks, 4 weeks of age). My biggest frustration was having a director who initially thought because I had adopted my child that I wouldn't pursue/finish my doctoral degree. I was furious with her and I did complete my doctoral degree and have been faculty since. A huge issue was finding suitable child care when I went back to work. At that time the University had limited availability for childcare for infants and young children. I was finally fortunate to find a retired nurse and her husband who provided part time care. Finding care when the second child came along was equally frustrating as the first couple couldn't do all the hours we needed. So again I had to hunt before finding another woman who had care in her home. Nanny's were not that prevalent and affordability was another issue. It was also frustrating when my first child started school as the school system did not provide care at the time for the other half day (they do now). So it meant that I would take my child to school for 9am start and by 11:30 am I had to be back to get him and to move him to where I had my younger child in care. I can't believe I did that for the whole year. Because I had to break up my day I would work later so my husband would pick the children up at end of day. He did on occasion do the noon transfer when I had work obligations that I could not flex around. When I did my doctoral studies (started at time of adoption of first child) I went to school full-time (commute was 70 miles round trip), worked 70% appt and somehow stayed sane. Looking back on it--I don't know how I (we) did it! I hope things are better for younger faculty at this time. I had a joint appt and still do as a clinical nurse specialist in the University hospital with my asst professor school of nursing status. Because of my joint appt I was not and am not on tenure track even though I continued with my scholarship (research, teaching and practice). If I were in a starting position today there would be option of a tenure clinical track but it was not available to me when I started my career. Today when I look at the young faculty in the regular tenure or the clinical tenure track, I have concern for the clinical track folks as their load is horrendous and I frankly don't know how they do it and combine it with motherhood.
--mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
Totally stressed me out--felt as if I didn't publish as much, couldn't work the hours I needed, didn't do *ANYTHING* extra (dinners, evening meetings, etc), strained relationships with grad students
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Feelings of conflct for time spent on job.
--mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
While there was less actual time at work, while there I was more focused with experiments and planned better for efficient use of time. Home time with family was a pleasant change from research work of day. Also engaged supportive spouse helped.
--mom of 3, tenured professor
Instead of working at night for my job, I now work at night for my family.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It promoted my career profoundly. I became much more efficient in planning and thinking, and I made my ""life time discovery"" (I hope it wasn;t the last one!) when my daughter was 3 months old. It's not like ""having a baby isn't as bad as I used to imagine in terms of career"". but it is more like ""having a baby build my career"".
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I am far more focused and efficient. Overall, I think my work is of higher quality because I am forced to think often about how I use my time. As a consequence, I think I have lower productivity than I would otherwise, but that part is hard to tell.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It made life much more hectic. I was a an intern in Internal Medicine when he was a year old. It was a huge juggle regarding timing of pick up and drop offs because if my patient was coding I couldn't leave (even if it was my turn!)
--mom of 2, postdoc
You suddenly realized that you have to be more efficient at work and you have to compartmentalize your life well.
--mom of 1, untenured professor
It has made it difficult to travel and attend all of the conferences that I need to. Also, it has made it difficult to get those ""extra hours"" in on the weekends that I used to rely on to get my job done.
--mom of 1, untenured professor
It was emotionally a bit more difficult to go to work, but I didn't let having a child negatively affect my work - I had a very supportive partner - willing to do more of the house work, so I could complete my studies & advance in my career. My priorities were family & work/school - they fluctuated between 1st & 2nd depending on deadlines. Without a supportive partner, success in both arenas would have been most impossible.
--mom of 3, tenured professor
Your questions are a bit misleading. As an academic, I had no maternity leave per se. I was able to arrange to take the semester following my child's birth as a half-time semester. No teaching but, as my department chair repeatedly reiterated, my research agenda was supposed to be going forward with alacrity. (It didn't.) After one semester back full-time, teaching and contemplating my 4th year review, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to balance parenting, teaching, writing, worrying about tenure, and worrying about my aging/unwell parents. I applied for a post-doc and decided that, if it didn't come through, I would resign my position. I did get the post-doc, which was a huge relief, but I ended up resigning my job at the end of my post-doc year. I wish there were more options for academics. I would have loved to have the flexibility to convert from tenure track to part-time, or to pick up a part-time position where I did my post-doc.
--mom of 2, Not in workforce
It has made the tenure track process much more difficult and draining. As a minority status, immigrant woman, this is only compounded because I am responsible for my family as well.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I had some son as an undergraduate student so I had no maternity leave. I was back in class 4 days later. However, he focused me. Since my time was limited, I made very efficient use of time while in class, studying and then later (as I was did a summer internship and then entered graduate school) work.
--mom of 3, postdoc
My child has grounded me, and kept me going through my divorce and grad school. I regret not being able to see her 50% of the time, but since I study during that time, it worked out okay. Because of having my child during the week, I did not regularly attend events or participate in shows (as a performance major), because I could not make it for rehearsals. I have learned to focus on other things.
--mom of 1, postdoc
In some ways, it has been wonderful to be able to ""turn off"" (albeit out of necessity) my academic brain when I'm home. However, I yearn for alone time so I can write and read and . . . It's been difficult for my husband to understand that while my schedule is flexible, I still struggle to get my work done in the 4 hours/day I do not have my children (2).
--mom of 2, untenured professor
My child is still under 1 year of age and he just started to sleep through the night, therefore, in the past week I have finally been able to do about 30min-1hr. of additional work once he has fallen asleep. Before he was sleeping through the night I was not getting any additional work done once I got home from work. This has affected my work in that I have not been able to update my courses, dedicate the time I would to grading and to community service at my college.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
Since I was a graduate student, being a mother meant not being part of the grad student networks, or attending conferences, or ""hanging out"" with departmental faculty; but it did make me very disciplined and focused on my work to manage time effectively
--mom of 1, tenured professor
Although I have absolutely no regrets about having a child when I did - I can see that I was much more productive before. It reduced my productivity for many many years (at least 4)
--mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
My first child slowed the completion of my dissertation as well as slowed my progress toward publications based on the dissertation.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
I have learned to use time more efficiently or at least to figure out what I don't actually have to do. I don't think having a child has hurt my chances for tenure.
--mom of 1, untenured professor
It took me longer to finish collecting data and writing up the dissertation. It took me 8 years to complete the degree.
--mom of 2, untenured professor
Having a child has adversely affected my career. My department heads have been completely unsympathetic to my situation as mother, having department meetings on Fridays at 3:00pm, telling me that I would not get tenure if I spent my time on family issues, and on and on. Having a child is time-consuming and mind consuming. I am happy that I had a child and would do so again knowing all that I know about the professional hardships, but it has been an extremely difficult thing to try to pursue my professional career and raise a healthy well adjust African American boy.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
My first child affected my professional career in that conducting research became increasingly complex. I was a graduate student when she was born, about to undertake the research for my dissertation. I wanted to clarify the question on maternity leave. I was still a graduate student, working on my dissertation proposal when she was born. I took time off in that she was born in late fall and I wasn't scheduled to TA until the following spring quarter. In essence, there was no ""maternity"" leave. I just took longer to produce what I was supposed to produce after she was born.
--mom of 2, untenured professor
I had a lot less time after becoming a mother. In some ways, this made me a more efficient worker in the time I had available. It also added considerable stress about not meeting deadlines as quickly as my counterparts without children were.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Did having a child affect my professional career? Of course, but I don't have another life to compare it to, this is not a repeatable experiment. And I am not at all sure that the net effect was negative. For me, this question is moot, because I would have it any other way.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
My publications diminished significantly travel to conferences and speaking engagements have been half of what I'd done in the past. I waited til tenure and have been less worried about career bc I was established in the field. But 2 yrs later I'm still struggling w balance, I bring baby and partner to all travel/conf... I am starting to worry about promotion to Full Prof bc I don't work at same speed w as much dedicated writing time etc as before- am learning how to work Has helped me tremendously w putting stress of my dept into perspective
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I worked less during the work week, but made up for those hours during the weekend. The main aspect of my professional career that ""suffered"" was my research. Since I am a primarily undergraduate teaching institution, in essence, hours shifted from research to child rearing.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
I feel woefully behind but then remind myself that I was working way too many hours before my child came along.
--mom of 1, untenured professor
Encouraged me to pursue higher ed. 13 years later, I severely restricted my job search so as not to disturb her educational/social life.
--mom of 3, tenured professor
My first child died in birth and it significantly changed my professional life. I was not very well supported after my son's death and was very unsure if I would continue in academia. I did continue after 1 year.
--mom of 3, untenured professor
First child did not cause too much disruption -- both my husband and I had relatively flexible schedules and 'in home' childcare shared with two other families.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
We did several different schemes in the first months - working 6 hours a day each but only for 1-2 months, after which I worked back to normal. It didn't allow me anymore to look at many different options, be open minded at work - it forced more focused concentrated work
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It has had a tremendous negative impact on my publication productivity
--mom of 1, tenured professor
She's made it so much better! I prioritize what is important. I am more focused. I also have different research interests as a result of having my daughter. I haven't stopped traveling near or far for conferences or research. In the three weeks of her life, I did an on campus interview for a job (which I didn't get) and a museum talk. In the first six months of her life, we traveled to Kingston, Cairo, Belfast, London and Cape Cod for research (and r + r). In the first year of her life, I published one co-edited journal and one article. So, we're good. But sometimes, I get questions like: why don't you hire a sitter so that you can attend faculty meetings or talks, etc. As a rule, as a single mother, I try not to have her with a sitter more than one consecutive day/evening.
--mom of 1, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
my boss did not support me for my carrier development.
--mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
Having a child forced me to be more focused in what I accomplished during my work hours. My social interactions with my coworkers suffered a lot and my work suffered a bit but my boss was very supportive and worked hard to make it possible for me to continue my career.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
We adopted our child when she was 2 yrs. old. I was tenure track and switching to a new position at the time. Initially, I tried to get up at 2:00 a.m and for work for a couple of hours. This quickly became apparent that it would not work. I had to resign myself to the fact that work would have to take a back seat to my daughter, my family, and my health.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I coordinated my teaching schedule with my husband so one of us was always available for school drop-offs and pick-ups. I had a happy family life which enhanced my career. I did not think there was any negative affect, except working hard to be available for my kids and also get my work done. I have had a very successful career.
--mom of 2, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
I can no longer work in the evenings and I can barely work on weekends. Going to conferences is harder.
--mom of 1, R&D, industry or nonprofit
I had less time to work, but somehow my career started to flourish after my first child was born. I started to focus much more on what was important.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It's hard to say briefly - made me more organized, effecient, and balanced (i.e. have to focus on things other than work sometimes) but also upped the stress level, particularly when kids get sick, things don't go as planned, hard to shift gears (leaving crying child at daycare makes a tough start to workday) etc. Also, what got left out was any time to myself - it all became either work or family. I only got time to myself back after getting divorced... odd.
--mom of 2, untenured professor
I've had to relocate in order to get family support with childcare and for work opportunities for my spouse, so now primarily work remotely and commute to another state for work. I am hesitant to leave my postdoc since I am almost certain that a tenure track job would not allow me the time to be the kind of parent I want to be or that it would be in a geographic location where my spouse could continue his career.
--mom of 1, postdoc
Progress towards my degree slowed (but I worked more efficiently when I did work); it also slowed my spouse's professional advancement.
--mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
I left a prestigious staff position at a leading children's hospital, to stay-at-home mom over lack of flexibility in scheduling (on the hospital's part) - yep, 4 hours of flex time. I moved on to part-time adjunct teaching at several universities, then part-time fee for service work. I guess it completely derailed my intense ""career path"" - staying home with my child at least part time was just too important to me.
--mom of 2, Not in workforce
It has affected my ability to publish more. It has affected my ability to attend faculty meetings and other social gatherings in the academic setting that do not take into account children.On the other hand, one could look at it the other way too and say that my professional carreer also affected my ""career"" as a mom. I often feel guilty , either for not publishing as much as I could or for not spending enough time w/ my daugther as I should.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
has made me realize how having a more structured work day is important as compared to the erratic hours i kept as a graduate student
--mom of 1, postdoc
I can no longer drop everything for work. I leave on time and I arrive late often! And yet, I'm quite fortunate that in the time since I've had children I've gotten raises and promotions and have been treated well.
--mom of 2, R&D, industry or nonprofit
It has made me more dogged in my efforts to succeed and earn more.
--mom of 3, postdoc
I had her early in my career, when I was an OT. I took her to my job and yet was available for her. When I had her, I was working for vocational rehabilitation on contract and the second year, was a parent at the group home me and my husband (at that time) ran,
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I don't regret having a child. However, having a child has impacted my career negatively. I have less time to give to work.
--mom of 1, untenured professor
It slowed down my career progression. I have a gap in publication. My year off has cost me about 2 years of advancement.
--mom of 1, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
My children have not affected my career path.
--mom of 2, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
I work much less than before -- probably more than 3 hours fewer per day -- and consequently I get less done. I am still early in career so I don't know yet how much this will affect it but I worry a lot. I also try to avoid going into the field or at least change my fieldwork type. Again, I don't know yet how this will affect things but I worry about this too.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
I just want to clarify some of the above. I took about 16 weeks off after the birth of my daughter, then worked part time until she was about 10 months. When I went back to full time, my husband went down to part time (he's a physical therapist). I basically funded my maternity leave with a scholarship and money from an NSF grant that I had written, with my advisor's help.
--mom of 1, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
I had my first child in the summer before returning to school (after a 5 year hiatus) and my second 2 years into my PhD program. I wouldn't change a thing, but think it is much harder for women to have kids in school and in the sciences compared to men.
--mom of 2, postdoc
I work about 30 hours a week instead of 40, most of them in a 2 day block when my mother-in-law comes over to watch my 14 month old son. I am only paid for 18 hours (the time I'm on campus) which is unfortunate, but I am planning on teaching a course next quarter instead of writing during naptime to make more money. I realize this means less research, so I plan to write a education article on one of the lessons from my class. Presently, I work during naptime because I love science and don't care what my house looks like or what things I have. I want to play with my son and do science. My time is more focused than ever. I say no to things that are not in-line with more professional goals. I am no longer interested in conducting research in remote field locations in the near future.My postdoctoral research field area is 2 hours from home. The research is exciting in ways other than being in exotic locales, so I am professionally fulfilled. Also, I aim to eventually have a tenure track position, but my search is very specific while my child (hopefully children) are young. I have the flexibility to be choosy with a supportive spouse. If I didn't get tenure because I maintained family balance, I would not have any regrets. I love being a scientist, but not at the cost of my family. That being said, I am highly effective though and am sure this is not going to happen, I don't think you would notice that I took a year off and was working part time if you saw my CV. But even if that were the case, there needs to be more pathways to tenure than PhD to postdoc to Asst. Prof. and I have the patience to get there eventually and hope that I am a role model to others who want to take some time with their young children.
--mom of 1, postdoc
I had to leave or wait a long, long time to move up/get promoted.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
I was allowed 6 weeks maternity leave with my first child. After returning to work I felt it took me about another month to ""get back into the groove"" of working full time and I went through a period where I wasn't very productive.
--mom of 2, Not in workforce
too difficult! I can't imagine what life would be like without the child, so it's hard to determine effect.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
I shifted the balance of theoretical and experimental work to reduce travel. On the leave questions: I was a postdoc, and my postdoc supervisor told me to do whatever it was that felt right to me with regards to time off. He refused to stop paying me for that time I took off.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
Made me a better person and a better professional.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
Having a child affected my focus while pregnant and for a long time after. It also made it very difficult for me to do the ""extras"" often required- working past 5 and on the weekends, taking visiting speakers to dinner, going on field trips, attending meetings.
--mom of 2, tenured professor
It definitely changed my priorities a bit. I just don't want my kids to spend 8-10 hours 5days/wk in childcare. I love spending time running around the house playing with my son and he really seems to hurt when I have to push for a deadline and I can't spend as much time with him. Being a mom has made me consider trying to find an academic position that will allow me not to work much during the summer so that I can spend more time with my kids while they are growing up. I also sleep less and that could affect my productivity at work, although I am much more motivated to get everything done 9-5 so I can get home.
--mom of 1, postdoc
I have a less flexible schedule; I have to get her to school during a narrow window in the morning, on some days I have to pick her up at a particular time, and I always have to make sure that we're home at an hour that allows for time to make dinner, serve it before she is overly hungry, allow her to shower & do homework, and be in bed early enough that she gets her 9.5-10h sleep.I am mentally, emotionally, and/or physically too tired in the evening to do any work work (research).As a single parent for most of my daughter's life, professional travel involves getting myself ready for the trip as well as preparing the household for a friend to come and take care of my child while I'm gone, and involves unpacking myself when I return as well as doing all the accumulated household chores and attending to a child who missed me wildly. It usually takes me a few months to catch up on everything. Therefore, I confine myself to 2 trips per year.I have to prioritize what I attack at work and accept that some things just cannot get done; you can't get blood from a stone, or more time from a single mother.I can count on a great hug at the end of a crummy day!
--mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
Having children led to a significant slow-down of my research career and a change of career path. I've moved toward a less demanding career within research... one that requires fewer publications, less grant writing and less travel. While I am sometimes envious of my colleagues (especially my female colleagues) who chose to pursue high-status academic paths, I try to be realistic about whether I'd be happy living a life so thinly spread between my kids and my work.
--mom of 2, other occupation (e.g. govt. lab)
Don't know yet. So far, I've had to prioritize a lot more. Grading gets done late. Conference papers get done early.
--mom of 1, tenured professor
It has made things far less flexible. We are in a small town in a rural area (my husband is tenured here) and there are few second-career options. Prior to motherhood I could consider positions where I could commute weekly or where we could gradually move. Now we need a stable home in one place and we prefer both parents to be there. We have no family in the area to help with child care.
--mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
It has made it more challenging, as I have less time to work than my colleagues. It has also been hard to get caught up on my funded research after taking time off (funding agencies do not give maternity leave).
--mom of 2, tenured professor
"my career has not been affected by having a child - my overall stress level was dramatically increased. "
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"For the two-year span between the last few months of pregnancy and the end of nursing, I probably worked at 50% productivity (excluding actual maternity leave time). Since teaching and other responsibilities remained the same, this meant that my research really foundered. "
-- mom of 2, untenured professor
"The first year was challenging. In the second year, I explored other career options before settling on essentially the one I had."
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"She's an adult now, and my career has been quite successful."
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"I would like to spend more time with my child. I certainly feel less efficient--nursing him (and working from home) is very disruptive, and my days seem to vanish. I also feel considerably less clear-headed due to the sleep deprivation. I hope this will pass."
-- mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
"i'm always anxious about not having time to do what needs to be done at work. i know i can't set very aggressive deadlines for myself. my rating went down the year i had my daughter (i felt i was being unfairly compared to all the other workers who didn't have to take time off to give birth to a child) "
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"I am extremely career-minded but my kids come first. I am frustrated by where I am in my career."
-- mom of 2
"Became more focused on tasks that i accepted ; Less travel"
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"I'm one of several managers in a large university lab. Child management skills I've acquired - mostly by observing our excellent daycare providers -- have come in handy in dealing with students and faculty. "
-- mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
"It helps me enjoy life so that I can be more effective while I'm at work."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/non-research
"My department chair reduced my teaching load the first semester and my husband and I were able to teach on alternate days. Having kids has not really affected my career."
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"It has been very difficult juggling all the responsibilities. I was given one course off and traded some other duties so I was able to work from home for one semester. I also had the summer off (unpaid). I now have fewer hours to work and a good portion of my salary goes to childcare. However, at least I'm already tenure-track... I would not have been able to find a tenure-track job if I had the kid before getting such a job. "
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"i am more inspired, more creative, more organized, more motivated"
-- mom of 1
"Its been hard! I do feel like no one who doesn't have kids understands how stressful and tired having a kid makes you. Also, I'm exclusively breastfeeding, so its pretty exhausting. However, I made my choices because I prioritize my kid's wellbeing over my job."
-- mom of 1, Not in workforce
"I had my children in the early 1980s when publish or perish was not so prevalent. I did not publish as many papers as I might have, but that was not the fault of having the child. The positive effect was the closeness between myself and my husband becuase of sharing the childcare when the nany was not there."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"gave me a lot of motivation to finish my book while I was pregnant. Helped me prioritize my life and helped me decide to get a divorce when partner proved to be poor parent and husband."
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"It delayed my dissertation considerably, mainly because I needed to earn income to pay for child care so I could move forward on my academic work. I think it really prolonged the timeline."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"reminded about what's important. 80+ hours not worth it."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"In two ways - it energized/energizes me to interact with him. He makes me see everything in a new and different light - it's almost inspiring. Second, it made me a little more focus-driven at work. I found I was more forthright about tasks I did and questioned my time being wasted on tasks that I felt brought no benefit. In short, I now feel that I subconsciously weighed the value of the time I spend on a task against the time I was taking away from my son."
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"It delayed it. I stayed home and then returned to school and finished the PhD when they were in jr high"
-- mom of 2, untenured professor
"Overall, I don't think it had that much impact. At discreet moments, I had to make choices in order to remain sane because you just can't do it all no matter how much you want to!"
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/non-research
"Some days I have to take vacation hours to cover exhaustion (1st & last trimester and first 2 months after birth). Generally, I can't work as much in the evenings, and must work with longer timelines. Having (expensive) daycare that my son loves is key to the entire family's happiness. "
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"Encouraged me to live full-time academic administration and re-seek a teaching career."
-- mom of 2
"I stayed at home for 8 months and I could not actually work at all on my research. This delay did not affect my career in a direct way since all my deadlines where moved by 8 months but it might delay my promotion if I do not catch up in my research."
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"I still have not yet traveled to a conference (my son is 18 months)."
-- mom of 1
"not much. "
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"So far (my child is 15 months old now), the biggest change has been that I haven't been able to travel on business, i.e, attend conferences and visit subsidiaries overseas, as I am still breastfeeding. "
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"Two words: third shift. Atleast I am fortunate to have the flexibility to do this. "
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"It has changed my work habits, but they would have changed anyway."
-- mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
"I worked harder."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/non-research
"Having a child delayed my PhD by about 5 years and meant that I did not get a PhD from a [..] university but from a [..] one instead. [..] Retrospectively I realise that the financial responsibility of having a child meant that I was always more loyal to my employer and focused less on building my own research career."
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"I finished my Phd later than I expected."
-- mom of 1, Academia - Postdoc
"I had very good mentors who helped me decide what activities to be involved in and what and how many conferences to go to. And, she was a happy baby."
-- mom of 4, tenured professor
"I was commuting long distance and I switching to working 3 days in the office and one from home; it effectively stopped me from being seriously considered for further promotion."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"Having a child forces you to be more organised. That was the main change."
-- mom of 3, Academia - non tenure track
"So far I feel like I am able to spend about 50% of the time that my colleagues without children can spend on their work - mainly because when I leave campus I am really no longer working. I'm very worried about the impact on my career."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"I get a *a lot* less done being a parent. I have noticed that I say no to a lot of opportunities. I have to say using high tech fertility methods to get pregnant with the next child has also had the same effect."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"Since I was dissertating, not much effect."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/non-research
"I'm on campus less. My colleagues seem to think we have more in common now that I have a child, so I suppose there is a small amount of social capital in that. My chair gave me a semester off paid, which helped me recover from post-PhD/tenure-track burnout."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"My dept did not support mothers at the time. It was very stressful. I was a star researcher before I got pg and then was targeted to leave afterwards. My productivity rate did suffer my first year, but that year was off the tenure clock. I had many miscarriages for the next few years some of which had to be related to the awful stress of that time. "
-- mom of 3, tenured professor
"When I was able to get down to work I was much much more focused because the time I could spend in it (my dissertation) was precious. []"
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"My husband and I shifted out schedules [], reducing childcare to 3 days a week. We worked about the same number of hours but they were shifted around and our freetime was reduced. Having my son has probably caused me to not go after some career options requiring more travel, but with him in my life I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. He's the best!"
-- mom of 1, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"My workplace have been very, very supportive. Being a mother has not affected my professional career adversely. I have been very careful to work hard, and I travel a lot less, but that's my choice. Its also healthy for me to work less hours - no-one should have to work a hundred hours a week. "
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"I had my first child before I finished my dissertation. Then, I started my first job, still not having finished the dissertation. I'm still not really sure how I survived those first two years in my job - it was like having a new infant and two full time jobs with the dissertation and the new faculty position. I was exhausted. Professionally, my life was incredibly stressful. I could have 'stopped my clock' for the tenure process, but I didn't spend a lot of time reading the tenure code, and didn't know. Nobody who did know told me."
-- mom of 2, untenured professor
"I was able to work full time from home for much of this child's baby and childhood. I took no time off the tenure clock, and my husband and I both earned tenure at the normative time, having started at the same time. Mostly people were just impressed that we were still pulling 80-hour weeks each, bringing in grant funds, getting the publications out, keeping up our teaching evaluations, and contributing actively via service responsibilities, so I don't think it hurt us much professionally. We're still happily married but I think our older son REALLY suffered from the pre-tenure stress. "
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"Gave birth when I was writing the master's thesis. When he was 7 months I graduated and went to work full in industry. In those 7 months I was part time TAing and had a babysitter to watch him while I finished writing the thesis."
-- mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
"My job is considered 'professional staff' -- I get to leave everything behind at 4:30. I've had to miss time because of child's illness occasionally, but my supervisor (also a mother of 2) is extremely sympathetic and flexible."
-- mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
"I think I am now more focused during the hours I am working, but work less 'extra' hours. I don't feel that my productivity has gone down, but my willingness to do extraneous thing or take on additional things that might not help me in getting tenure has certainly decreased."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"My research progress slowed significantly in the first 6 mo-year after the birth."
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"It took me a little longer to finish the PhD, I think. I had my first child about a week after I finished comps. I found it harder to balance teaching and working on my dissertation after she was born. The dissertation work often got put on the back burner."
-- mom of 2, Academia - Postdoc
"My first children were twins. I worked out of town. 3 years after the twins were born I left the company and started my own business. 1 year after my third child was born I started my phd. I graduated summa cum laude with a number of publications and got an academic position."
-- mom of 3, untenured professor
"Created more time pressure to accomplish as much as pre-children, but in less time."
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"My first pregnancy was a twin pregnancy, so child one and two were born at the same time. This made returning to work more difficult and child care more expensive."
-- mom of 3, Not in workforce
"It made me realized I didn't want to be at a top-level research university -- I wanted a better work-life balance, which I have at a smaller, private university."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"It restricted my choice of research area. All-night lab jobs were out."
-- mom of 3, tenured professor
"Delayed tenure decision, delayed sabbatical to match child's school status. Did not attend as many professional conferences. College starts before local schools, therefore the child is sitting in my office looking at a book RIGHT NOW!"
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"Both children had major health problems in the first couple years of their lives, different types of problems. It basically took up my whole like for the both periods. They are both much much better now, though the oldest still has special needs. My career is some years 'behind' schedule."
-- mom of 2, untenured professor
"caused me to not get tenure - very family-hostile department"
-- mom of 2
"Having two children during grad school definitely slowed down the completion of my dissertation."
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"You should add a response for the amount of paid leave = 0. Many universities do not offer paid maternity leave. Parents have to take vacation and sick leave. I work less at night and on the weekends since my child has been born. But I wouldn't trade it for the world!"
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"During my child's first year I arranged for my courses to happen in the morning and I was home with her in the afternoon. I could cover coursework, but found it difficult to keep my research agenda going."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"Ultimately, having my first child and working part time helped me to create a good balance in my life and I think that this has had a positive effect on my career by forcing me to manage my time well."
-- mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
"My track toward full professor is noticably delayed."
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"As a single parent, my ability to travel for work (including conferences and field work) has been severely curtailed."
-- mom of 1,
"I have a special needs child and even with day care I have chosen options that allow me flexible work hours and a flexible work load."
-- mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
"Because my lab was already up and running and I had already submitted grants and gotten some funding, I didn't mind working less. However, there is NO time at work to socialize or even interact with colleagues or my students/postdocs anymore. This is where I see the biggest differences in genders in my department, and at some level, it means the women with kids in the department are less visible. My days are very short, I do some work at home at night, but I am too exhausted to do much after getting my kid to bed. I could not have done this earlier in my career, when I needed to work 14+ hours a day."
-- mom of 2,
"This has helped me to be more productive during work hours."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"I guess it derailed it. I didn't want to put an infant into child care, and ended up keeping her home until she was 2. I was a graduate student at the time so my time was very flexible and I ended up working nights. I did manage to finally finish my PhD but decided not to go on the job market. I'm currently lecturing part-time and hoping to do some reserach on my own time. The goal is to keep connected with the field enough that maybe at some point I can get a full time job, although I know I have closed many doors doing it this way. I don't regret it though. I won't lie - I would like to be a full-time professor but my aversion to putting young children in full time child care is stronger."
-- mom of 2, Academia - non tenure track
"I was finished with my undergraduate degree when my child was born and stayed at home for the first 2 years. Immigrated to the US when the child was 2 y.o. "
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"I did not want to return to working full-time."
-- mom of 1, Academia - non tenure track
"Basically, I chose family life over a more traditional research career, although I continue to work in the research community."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"I feel slower and dumber but somehow I'm getting the work done."
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"less time and focus for extended research"
-- mom of 2, tenured professor
"I can't get in on the gossip/bonding/networking that happens at post-work social gatherings, as I always have to run off to collect my daughter before the daycare closes. I'm on a 4-day flexitime schedule, meaning I work full time, but am guaranteed a weekday with no commitments, so I work outside working hours at home. I did that anyhow, but I seem to be up all hours of the night now. I am MUCH more reluctant to take opportunities to travel, whereas I used to jump at them. The only reason I kept up so well after she was born was that I had to [] "
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"It is a giant time sink but totally worth it - no longer can I have unrestricted time to work and I feel some stress about my productivity and chances for tenure. But I've figured out ways to work half days and late at night and I get so much joy from my daughter I am ok with the sacrifices. In the end I want to be a present mom more than a 100% academic. "
-- mom of 1, untenured professor
"When I'm feeling negative, I think that - exhaustion makes me unproductive/disorganised - domestic interests/demands have dulled my intellectual focus - I cannot compete with childless colleagues, who work more hours, and are more ambitious than I am now - my decision to work part-time (4 days/week) means I am not taken seriously - childless colleagues perceive me as flaky
When I'm feeling positive, I think that - despite working fewer hours overall, and more of them late at night, there is not much net loss or gain to my career, because - I work more efficiently than I did - I am better at saying no to tasks - I am more resilient - love for my daughter gives me a yardstick for what matters, and what doesn't, in my field and in my career development "
-- mom of 1, tenured professor
"More tired at work, which sometimes affects productivity. Also, if I didn't have children, I would probably work a lot more on the weekends."
-- mom of 2, Industry or nonprofit/R&D
"No effect"
-- mom of 1, untenured professor