Mommies Know Best: Pregnancy, Graduate School, & Beyond
Alexandra Holloway Caitlin Sadowski
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
{fire, supertri}@soe.ucsc.edu
Abstract
The Grace Hopper conference celebrates all women in
computer science. However, the many women who at-
tend this conference fill more roles that just the role of a
computer scientist. They are also mothers, grandmothers,
sisters, wives, and daughters. In this panel-based BoF ses-
sion we discuss the important role of motherhood in par-
ticular reference to its impact on young computer science
academics and beyond.
1 Introduction
In order to achieve true gender equality within the work-
force of STEM fields, particularly in academia, we need
to also have mother equality. Motherhood is a crosscut-
ting concern for women spanning economic, religious,
and cultural groups. A known problem is the “mother-
hood penalty” [1]: mothers are presented with fewer pro-
fessional development opportunities, have weaker social
networks, are rated as less competent, and face increasing
demands for work-life balance. Within particular demo-
graphics the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers is
larger than the pay gap between women and men [2]. Neg-
ative stereotypes about working mothers, but not about
working fathers, make it particularly challenging to pur-
sue both motherhood and a career.
These challenges are particularly disparaging due to
their inequity; children provide a benefit for men and a
penalty for women. For example, men with young babies
are 38% more likely than women with young babies to
achieve tenure [4]. Perhaps a partial reason for this is dif-
ferences is the social expectations about who will care for
children. In a survey of more than 400 faculty in the Uni-
versity of California system, it was found that women with
children spend almost twice as many hours per week act-
ing as caregivers than men [4]. Despite this, a 2004 survey
of German postdocs found that there was not a difference
in scientific productivity between scientist mothers and fe-
male scientist non-mothers [3].
2 Format
One aim of this session is for the decision to both have [4] M. Mason and M. Goulden. Marriage and baby blues:
children and pursue a career in computing, particularly in
the overworked areas of academia and research labs, to
not be an isolating experience. This session will be orga-
Laurian Vega
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060
laurian@vt.edu
nized around a discussion session with the audience; we
would like audience members to share their own stories
and experiences.
This hour-long session will begin with a brief overview
of research touching on motherhood and careers in sci-
ence, particularly focused on academia, as outlined in this
proposal. We will then transition to the panel-led discus-
sion. In previous years, the audience contained a good mix
of women who had children and women who were con-
sidering having children. Questions will be addressed to
panel members, and then to the audience; audience mem-
bers may also ask questions. Starter questions to foster
discussion include: (1) What are maternity benefits to ex-
pect and fight for? (2) Is graduate school or early career
a “better” time to have a child? (3) What are some strate-
gies for handling childcare? (4) How can career goals and
research focuses change after having a child? (5) What
advice do you have for women considering pregnancy in
graduate school?
3 People
We have a diverse group of people sharing their recent
experiences. Panel organizers include Caitlin Sadowski
(Moderator) and Alexandra Holloway: two Ph.D. students
from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Lau-
rian Vega, a Ph.D. Candidate from the University of Vir-
ginia. The panel also includes Susan Sim, an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Informatics at University
of California at Irvine, Ann-Marie Horcher, a Ph.D stu-
dent in Information Systems Security at Nova Southeast-
ern University, and Melissa C. Smith, an Assistant Profes-
sor at Clemson University.
References
[1] S. Correll, S. Benard, and I. Paik. Getting a Job: Is
There a Motherhood Penalty? American Journal of
Sociology, 112(5):1297–1338, 2007.
[2] A. Crittenden. The price of motherhood: Why the
most important job in the world is still the least val-
ued. Metropolitan Books, 2001.
[3] V. Gewin. Baby blues. Nature, 433:780–781, 2005.
Redefining gender equity in the academy. The Annals
of the American Academy of Political and Social Sci-
ence, 596(1):86, 2004.