Last week, the White House and the National Science Foundation announced a new NSF Career-Life Balance Initiative aimed at increasing "the placement, advancement and retention of women in (the science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields" through "gender-neutral, family-friendly policies" that address "the balance of scientists' work with conflicting demands of life events."
The initiative includes measures like allowing one-year postponements of grants for childbirth or adoption, supplementary funding to support paid technicians to continue research during a researchers' leave, prioritizing research into women in STEM fields and working with other institutions to encourage "the extension of the tenure clock" and "dual hiring opportunities."
When asked where they see themselves in 10 years, few women at Brown will answer "at home with my kids." Yet, in practice, fewer than half of university-educated women will still be working full time in their 30s because they are having children. The fact that the greater responsibility for childcare tends to fall on women is not surprising, though it is certainly concerning and points to a continuing need for transformation in the private and social spheres. But as long as women are taking the responsibility for child-rearing, it is essential that they not be further prevented from professional advancement because of time taken off from work due to parenting responsibilities. The NSF's new initiative will mean women in STEM fields who take time away from work for dependent-care will have lower barriers to re-entry. The policies, which are "gender-neutral," could also promote greater sharing of child-rearing responsibilities by allowing men as well as women to defer grants for dependent care. Both men and women in the sciences report having fewer children than desired because of their choice of work, but the "drop-out rate" for women leaving their research fields due to the demands of family life is much higher than it is for men.
We are excited about the NSF's initiative, which seems long overdue, and its commitment to work with academic institutions to support women. The retention and advancement of educated women is a concern across most industries, not just the sciences, and the conflicting realities of inflexible demands of STEM careers and inflexible expectations of mothers create a serious challenge for a generation of women who have been raised with the idea that they can have the best of both worlds. By prioritizing research and support of women in STEM fields, and enacting systematic changes to encourage women to maintain their careers when they have children, the initiative can reduce workplace inequality and the loss of talent. We hope that the initiative is just one piece of a larger trend toward a more family-friendly workplace, for both men and women, and that the dialogue surrounding women's disappearance from the workforce leads to further measures supporting our generation in achieving the best of both worlds.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
