Iglasias and Freeman in Science:
Cecilia hadn’t expected the video to resonate so deeply. She often watched online talks about her field of research. But this one didn’t just present pioneering scientific ideas; it put into words the uncomfortable reality she had been grappling with. She was nearly 30 years old and single, and she had recently interviewed for a postdoc position that would require her to uproot her life yet again. She couldn’t ignore a growing question: whether and how she would be able to have children. The talk, by anthropologist Marcia Inhorn, explored the silent struggles many highly educated women face in balancing their careers not just with motherhood, but with what comes before: relationships and planning for a family. It was an “aha!” moment. Cecilia sent it to her friend and fellow academic Erika, who responded immediately: “Why haven’t we talked about this before?”
We’d often discussed how motherhood seemed like a career roadblock. But Inhorn’s talk illuminated something else: Many women in academia weren’t delaying parenthood by choice. Rather, they found themselves unable to reconcile their biological clocks with the unpredictable, demanding pace of an academic career.
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