motherhood

Sarah Thebaud, University of California Santa Barbara and Catherine Taylor, University of California Santa Barbara The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Unfounded assumptions about how motherhood affects worker productivity can harm women’s careers in science, technology, engineering and math long before they are – or even intend to become – mothers, we found in a new study. It is well known that women are underrepresented in the STEM workforce, including in academia. For example, women constituted only 20% of tenured professorships in the physical sciences and 15% in engineering in 2017, despite the fact that their share of doctoral degrees in those fields has increased substantially in recent decades. We wanted to understand what might be cau...

Author Dani McClain wants us to stop pathologizing Black mothers’ experiences in this country. I first became a mother at 20 years old and was 22 when I had my second child. What I learned about the technicalities of being pregnant and what to expect came from what some have called the pregnancy bible, What to Expect When You’re Expecting. But, like many mothers, the practicalities and examples of motherhood came from the women in my family: my mother, my six aunts, and my maternal and paternal grandmothers. From them I learned what I wanted to do—and what I didn’t want to do. I made mistakes. But looking back, I realize I worked at it—hard. I find labels like, “stay-at-home mom,” “homemaker” “housewife” and “single mom” disparaging; there’s something even backhandedl...

Tag: motherhood

In STEM Careers Women Face Motherhood Penalty Long Before They Actually Become Mothers

The History and Political Power of Black Motherhood