Maternity Muddle Ing Parenthood Or Who Are Preparing for a Child Need to Be Aware of the Challenges That Are Likely to Await Them

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do a lot about this period when you are pregnant and you cannot be in the lab,” she says. For example, Granberg believes that research councils and granting agencies should estab- lish funding to support female researchers’ AMY DEVOOGD/GETTY programmes during pregnancy and directly after their return from a maternity leave. “Efforts should be aimed at sustaining the research momentum at the same level as that of their colleagues,” she says. Her experience illustrates the challenges for women who are trying to juggle the obligations of the lab with the demands of motherhood. The decision to start a family often clashes with the time when researchers are launching their careers and working towards tenure. Maternity-leave benefits and experiences vary widely among employers and at institutions across the globe, and even between departments. The amount of time a woman spends working during her leave depends on variables such as personal desires, career phase, the nature of the research and the institution’s policies. Most researcher parents agree that there is no perfect time in a career for the arrival of a child. Already having tenure might offer job security, but it also comes with the respon- sibility of overseeing lab members and projects. Having a child during the early days of CAREER GAPS a career means that there may not be major projects or personnel to oversee — but it can interrupt the momentum of the research. Early-career researchers who are consider- Maternity muddle ing parenthood or who are preparing for a child need to be aware of the challenges that are likely to await them. Depending on their The support available for childbirth and rearing varies wildly. location and employer, some or all of their New parents come up with creative ways to juggle demands. maternity leave may have to be unpaid, they may need to work from home at times, and they could well need to find ways to keep their BY AMANDA MASCARELLI Neither her department nor her granting body, research programme afloat. the Swedish Research Council Formas, could It is a tough road to navigate, especially for arine scientist Maria Granberg gave offer her funding for a lab assistant. Between those who are just getting under way. Peo- birth to her first child in 2006 and a pregnancy that restricted her work and six ple who have travelled down that road warn took roughly a year off at 80% pay. months of partial maternity leave, she lost a full that junior researchers who are considering MBut in 2010, when she became pregnant with season of field samples and a year of work. The parenthood should find out specifically and her second child, she was at a more challeng- losses resulted in missed publication opportu- well in advance what benefits their employer ing career stage. By then an assistant professor nities and altered her long-term plans for the offers and be ready to negotiate if they do not at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, project. “That’s a very stressful thing,” she says. exist or do not meet their needs. she was building momentum, planning “The pregnancy comes along and kind of dis- research activities and establishing collabora- turbs your plan.” AVENUES OF SUPPORT tions — and had yet to recruit staff for her lab Four years on, Granberg says that she is No matter how supportive the work environ- to keep the research moving in her absence. finally regaining traction, but she still views ment, breaking away from research can be In addition, her research on marine- that period as troublesome to her career. “Sci- fraught with difficult decisions, and there is sediment bacteria involved work with solvents ence is a lot about timing, having momentum, no universal formula for how to satisfy the that are unsafe to handle during pregnancy. and I think the scientific community could twin demands of work and family. Some

institutions and agencies offer support was 6 months old. Because the university did through a mixture of programmes and poli- not provide any paid maternity leave, she used cies — but with varying levels of success. sick leave to get partial pay during that time. The US National Science Foundation in In 2012, when her twins were born, she did ANNE HODGE Arlington, Virginia, for example, is starting to much the same thing. She and her husband, incorporate ‘family-friendly practices’ into its Christof Meile, a biogeochemical modeller at framework. Its Career–Life Balance Initiative the same university, juggled their parenting was launched in 2011 and provides, among around each other’s tenure demands. other offerings, supplemental funding of three In the early days, most parents have not months’ salary — about US$12,000 — to help yet organized formal child-care services, principal investigators, postdocs and gradu- which presents demands when trying to keep ate research fellows to pay for a technician a research programme running. When Joye during their maternity leave. And the Euro- started venturing back onto campus three pean Research Council has adapted its rules months after the birth of her daughter, she to allow principal investigators who become brought her child with her when meeting stu- parents additional time for each child born to dents, attending seminars and joining lab or apply for specific grants. faculty meetings. Most of her colleagues and university staff were supportive of the pres- TIME TO NEGOTIATE ence of her child, she says. Some institutions offer very little in the way of Mara Dierssen, a neuroscientist at the Center formal support. Gretchen Hansen was finish for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Spain, ing her PhD in limnology and marine science Jenny Briggs occasionally took her daughter with took about four months of leave after each of at the University of Wisconsin–Madison when her on fieldwork trips in the early months. her four children were born, but found crea- she became pregnant with her daughter. She tive ways to stay in touch with lab members, told her adviser about her pregnancy and asked for specific maternity benefits at her new including walks through the park with her PhD about the maternity policy for graduate stu- institution, and can only claim the minimum students, with her child in a pushchair. dents. “Nobody knew,” she says, “and there was 12 weeks of unpaid leave offered by US law. Hopi Hoekstra, an evolutionary geneticist no policy.” She plans to use holiday time, sick leave and at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massa- She and her adviser then devised a plan the ‘disability allowance’ for which employees chusetts, took three months off after her son that would allow her to drop down to a become eligible when pregnant to cover most was born in 2012. But about a month in, she 33% appointment during her leave, reduce of her salary for about nine of those weeks. began bringing the baby into the lab, enter- her salary by one-third and keep her health Samantha Joye, an oceanographer at the taining him in a baby seat and sometimes insurance. Hansen spent about five months University of Georgia in Athens, slogged rocking him to sleep during lab meetings. working from home when she could, and her way through a similarly knotty mater- Her husband, also an evolutionary geneticist spending one day a week in the lab. nity experience. A tenured professor, she at Harvard, took their son into his office as She is now a fisheries research scientist gave birth to her now-6-year-old daughter well, where he kept baby gear. In retrospect, at the Wisconsin Department of Natural and worked mainly from home for about 8 she adds, “I wish I had been more off-line. The Resources in Madison and is expecting her months, writing several papers and submit- team did just fine on its own.” second child next month. She is not eligible ting two grant proposals before her daughter Trying to include lab time and face time with graduate students and other lab members during parental leave is difficult enough, COPING TIPS but many researchers also have to contend with the demands of fieldwork. Managing How to maximize maternity benefits that schedule takes some nimble and creative planning, they say (see ‘Coping tips’). Jenny Researcher parents have come up with “You want to be strategic and realistic about Briggs, an ecologist at the US Geological Sur- a host of ideas that have helped them to what time of day you’re going to work on vey in Denver, Colorado, was working on a juggle the demands of work and family. what,” says Natalie Boelman, an Earth project in the Rocky Mountains when her Here are a few: scientist at Columbia University in New York. second child was due in 2010. “In my work, ●●If possible, hire an assistant or technician During the early days after her daughter’s biological changes happen season by season,” to help run lab or field duties during birth, Boelman found that she needed she says. “You can’t put annual studies on hold maternity leave. to sleep during her daughter’s morning for a year.” So she arranged with her boss to ●●Sit down with your department head or nap but could write efficiently when her funnel the money that she would have been chair several months in advance to discuss daughter slept in the afternoon. earning had she not taken unpaid leave to goals, identify possible support and plan out ●●As much as possible, share parenting a graduate student who could take over the the return from maternity leave. responsibilities 50–50 from day one, says study. She returned to fieldwork just weeks ●●Form a support network of other scientist Susana Martinez-Conde, a neuroscientist at after her daughter was born, sometimes bring- mums and dads. Facebook groups are one the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, ing her infant to breastfeed and her mother to way to build up this type of community. “It’s Arizona. She and her husband, Stephen assist. Usually, she left the baby at home with incredibly important,” says Jenny Briggs, Macknik, also a neuroscientist at Barrow, a carer and took breaks behind trees or in the an ecologist at the US Geological Survey in have shared parenting equally for all three field truck to pump breast milk. Denver, Colorado. “Other mothers who do of their children. When necessary, says this have been my greatest allies.” Martinez-Conde, “we take turns, where one TOP NOTCH ●●When trying to juggle work and parenting, person may be writing a paper or grant and Some universities offer exceptional maternity figure out when you are most productive. the other takes the kids to the park”. A.M. and paternity benefits. Many academic institutions in Scandinavia offer both parents up to

390 | NATURE | VOL 509 | 15 MAY 2014 © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved CAREERS a year of paid leave, for example, and under UK national policy, institutions must provide statutory maternity pay — a percent- TURNING POINT age of average weekly earnings — for up to 39 weeks and leave of up to a year. The United States has a few standout examples. Collin Diedrich At Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, many departments offer mothers three months of full pay for childbear- Collin Diedrich has overcome learning ing and adoption leave and another three disabilities to carve out a promising career months for child rearing. “I never felt pres- researching HIV and tuberculosis (TB) sure to be in the office during maternity co-infection. He talks about what prompted his leave,” says Yarrow Axford, a geologist move from the United States to the University who had a son last year. “Of course, I had of Cape Town in South Africa. to keep up with what was hap- What challenges did your disabilities present? pening in my lab I was diagnosed with reading and learning dis- and with students abilities in primary school in St Louis, Missouri. conducting inde- But my parents got me private tutors right away, pendent research. who helped me develop strategies to improve But that is just part my reading comprehension and organizational of doing the busi- and memory skills. Given the stigma and feel- ness of science.” ings of inadequacy that can come with a learn- Northwestern also ing disability, I have struggled with impostor grants a one-year complex, cycling through phases where I feel from anyone else, and was approachable and extension on the completely out of place and inadequate, as if it helpful — which helped me both scientifically tenure clock to is only a matter of time until I am ‘found out’. and emotionally. “The scientific mothers after Luckily, I am driven and have an amazing sup- community the birth of their port network in my advisers, colleagues, my Why go to South Africa? could do a lot child and to both wife and my family, who have all been helpful I wanted to work on co-infection in human about this period parents following and patient when my mind is racing. samples, which are in greater supply in South when you are an adoption. Fur- Africa than in the United States. I knew pregnant and thermore, it offers What drew you to a career in science? that Robert Wilkinson was working on co- you cannot be in three months of I didn’t really think of science as a career infection at the University of Cape Town, so I the lab.” paternity leave option until I took a biology course at univer- secured funding to do my postdoc there. Maria Granberg — so Axford’s sity and realized how much I liked the idea of husband, Christo- becoming a researcher. The more I learned What did you find hardest about the move? pher Kuzawa, a biological anthropologist at about HIV, the more fascinated I was by this When you start a postdoc in a new lab, you Northwestern, also stayed home for three virus that can attack your immune system. I have to learn where things are and new tech- months after their son’s birth. “Those early read books about it, but what intrigued me niques. I had cultural differences and practi- months are so formative,” says Axford. “If most were the first-hand accounts of peo- cal concerns to figure out, and I also had to more dads could take substantial time away ple with HIV. Before I read them, I couldn’t determine how to get access to the samples from work to be home with their children understand why anyone would engage in the necessary to research how HIV alters the in the early months, I suspect there would risky behaviours that could lead to HIV infec- granuloma, the inflamed tissue. be more dads out there who are 100% com- tion, but I came to understand that the threat fortable being left alone with their kids, of death a decade or more later was not often How did it change your perspective? and moms comfortable leaving them.” an immediate concern, especially among those Seeing the effects of these devastating diseases Kuzawa notes that the time at home with already-risky lifestyles. first-hand has been a powerful experience, allowed him and Axford to jointly figure even though I am doing basic research. I have out the intricacies of caring for their son. Did you discuss your disabilities with any also learned that just because US scientists do “We established all the patterns together,” potential advisers? something one way doesn’t mean it is the only says Kuzawa. “So it never felt like one of When I started my PhD at the University of way. I’ve replaced my US-centric views with a us was the primary caregiver and the other Pittsburgh, I didn’t want to tell people about broader appreciation of research approaches. was kind of in the passenger seat.” Axford my learning disorder — I was nervous and heads out to Greenland this summer for intimidated about mentioning it. Then I met What do you plan to do now? three weeks of fieldwork, but she and her JoAnne Flynn, who was head of the molecular I hope to continue working here throughout husband feel somewhat less anxious about virology and microbiology department, and my career, at least half-time. I have funding her impending absence. “We were faced working on simian immunodeficiency virus until the end of 2015, and have developed with everything that comes with being a (SIV) and TB co-infection. Our conversation strong collaborations. I would also like to be parent — all that middle-of-the-night stuff, went so well, I felt comfortable telling her. an advocate for students with learning disabil- weird naps, crying for no reason, won’t eat,” Without missing a beat, she directed me to the ities and help university admissions officers Kuzawa says. “We had to come up with university’s learning-disabilities centre. After find ways to look beyond examination scores solutions to all of that. And we did.” ■ spending time in her lab, I decided to do my to include candidates, such as myself, with dissertation with her, focusing on the cascade research aspirations. ■ Amanda Mascarelli is a freelance writer of immunological responses that follows SIV in Denver, Colorado. infection. She expected as much from me as INTERVIEW BY VIRGINIA GEWIN