story about another woman facing a difficult gender bias situation.
These students were more concerned about receiving educational experiences that would prepare them for the future. More importantly.
these female students shared with me their determination to succeed
in graduate school and future careers in science. I was encouraged by
these conversations and believe that we may be witnessing a change
for women in entomology and in the field of science.
Currently, I work in a very diverse environment.
My team consists of five women and three men. We have degrees in biology,
chemistry. entomology. and microbiology. I feel that I have found an
environment that fits me perfectly. Each morning, I am excited to
face new challenges at work. At the end of the day. I feel a sense of
accomplishment.
It has been a challenging road to reach this point
and I have learned many lessons along the way. At the end of the
day, my passion for entomology and determination
to succeed have
led me to a successful career in entomology.
References Cited
[GAO]Government Accountability Office. 2004. Gender issues-women's
participation in the sciences has increased, but agencies need to do more
to ensure compliance with Title IX.GAO-04-639.Available from http://
www.gao.govjnew.itemsjd04639.pdf
[NSF] National Science Foundation. 2009. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering. NSF09-305. Available
from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/
Pearson, G.A. 1992. Gender, race, nationality, and the graduate student
entomology experience. American Entomologist 2: 103-114.
Carol Pilcher is currently a Regulatory Product Manager at Pioneer Hi-Bred,
in Ankeny Iowa.
INSTANT SYMPOSIUM
------------------------------------------------/T
EntoMOMogist: My Unconventional Career Path
Rayda K. Krell
The push to get more women in science and engineering has ignored the elephant in the room-motherhood.
-Denise DeLuca, PE, Outreach Director, The Biomimicry Institute
I really appreciate your raising this issue, despite everyone
-Rachel S., Ph.D.
hese opening quotes come from the book Motherhood: The
Elephant in the Laboratory (Monosson 2008). When I found
this book, I was greatly relieved. Here it was, a collection of
T
essays by 34 female scientists who all said that being a mother does
impact a career in science. That was my experience. I had always
expected to be a mom and a full-time scientist, but the middle part
of how that would all work out was not so clear.
As an undergraduate,
I was an active feminist. I attended a prochoice march in Washington, D.C.,I spelled "women" with a "y" (Le.
"womyn"), I made my own feminist t-shirts, and I took women's
studies classes whenever I could fit them between the courses in
my majors. I shaved my head. When I got married,l did not change
my last name. I was the real deal.
By 1997, when I started graduate school in entomology at Iowa
State University, the women's movement had reached a place where
overt sexism did not seem to exist. Throughout graduate school, I
felt respected and taken seriously. I held leadership positions,l won
some awards, and I published my papers. There was no reason to
think there would be any major bumps in my career.
In the final months of my Ph.D., I interviewed for a tenure-track
position at a big land grant university. I did not get the job. My
husband was already working in California, so I pounded on some
American Entomologist.
Volume 57, Number 4
s reluctance
to discuss it openly.
doors at the University of California-Riverside and eventually I was
offered a position as a post-doc.
Since I had not gotten the "real job" and I was 30, I started to
think about having a baby. In 1997, at a Women in Entomology
breakfast at the Entomological Society of America (ESA) annual
meeting, one woman mentioned that, in her experience, the best
time to have a baby was during a post-doc. I would have preferred
to have gotten the "real job," but since I was a post-doc, I was 30,
and I had not received any other advice on the subject, it seemed
like a good time to just see what would happen. The next month
I was pregnant.
When I was about 5 months pregnant, I had another interview
for a tenure-track job at a big land grant university. I did not tell the
interviewers that I was pregnant. I looked fat, but I could still wear
regular clothes, just a size larger than normal. Did they know I was
pregnant? Who knows. Regardless, I did not get the job.
My first son was born on 26 November 2003. I had been in a
vineyard the day before, collecting samples. He was born about one
month early. Luckily, he was healthy and wonderful. It turned out
that I really loved being with my son. My three months of planned
maternity leave turned into nine. How did a raging feminist end up
wanting to care for a baby-a male baby. no less?
207
It was all more complicated than I had expected. Childcare costs
were half of my post-doc salary. When I weighed the income against
the opportunity to be with my baby. the salary just wasn't enough. It
was a I-hour commute from where I lived to where I worked, so my
choices were to find childcare near where I worked, which meant
having my infant strapped in a car for 2 hours each day in California
traffic, or leaving him near where we lived, an hour away from my job.
Ifhe became sick or (this being California) there was a catastrophic
earthquake, he would be an hour away! My husband and I had only
lived in California for a short time, and we did not have a strong network of relatives, friends, or colleagues to rely on for back-up. There
was no one else to stay home with a sick child or pick him up from
childcare if we were stuck in traffic or in the middle of something at
work. On top of all that, I was breastfeeding, as recommended by the
American Academy of Pediatrics. As someone with a Ph.D., I wanted
my son to have those breast milk IQ points! As a biologist, it made
sense to me that each mammal makes the best food for its baby. I did
own a breast pump, but pumping turns out to be more complicated
than it sounds-basically.
it sucks (pun intended).
So, why did I eventually go back? My husband lost his job, so I
went back to my post -doc part-time, because we stilI were not ready
to put our son in child care. I could work three days per week, and my
family could qualify for health insurance. My husband could care for
my son on the days I worked and I could care for him the other two
days so my husband could look for a job. We would not have much
money. but we also would not have childcare expenses.
Going back to work in my new capacity as a mom was difficult.
My son cried every day when I left. I was leaving him with my
husband, but he would stilI scream. (Apparently. it was pretty awesome to hang out with me.) There were other issues, like where to
use a breast pump when you work in an office with four people, or
when you are out in the field all day. There was never an easy way
to handle that one. I often wished for a strong female mentor. As I
said, my lab was very supportive, and I'm not shy. but it stilI would
have been helpful to discuss these issues with someone who had
experienced them personally.
When my son turned one, my husband found a job, and we had
to find childcare so that I could continue to work. It was startling.
Most of the places did not smell good. One that I toured was in a
basement and toddlers in high chairs were being handed corn dogs
for lunch. Eventually. I found one that I liked. Of course, it was the
most expensive one, but I could not imagine leaving my son anywhere
else. It cost about $1,000 per month, stilI about half of my part-time
salary. but as long as we would not lose money. it was okay.
I worked in this arrangement
for about 3 years, which was
actually a very happy time. I was fortunate to be in an extremely
supportive lab that gave me the same respect as a full-time employee. They held lab meetings on one of the days that I was there
so that I could participate. We had a very collegial, collaborative
lab group. We helped each other out, we read each other's papers,
and we bounced ideas around. I was an author on six papers during that time.
I also got to do the fun stuff, like taking my son on lingering outings
on my days off. We took "mommy and me" classes and made friends
with other women and their babies. There were no other women
with babies in the vicinity of my lab, and I would have had few friends
with young children if I had been working full-time. When you have
a baby. you need that parent network.
Then, my husband found a new job in New York. It was higher
208
paying, it had more benefits, and it was more stable. I was pregnant
with my second son and stability was desirable, so we moved. For
the next three years (2007-2009),1 did not work for money. I was cochair of the Local Arrangements Committee for the 2007 ESAAnnual
Meeting, I joined the Entomological Foundation Board of Counselors,
I reviewed papers for ESA journals, I gave talks at ESA meetings, I
volunteered in the schools, and I had a lot of fun with my kids.
Sometimes, I did miss working. I had moments where I dreamt
of wallowing in research for long, uninterrupted
stretches oftime.
Somehow, I was confident that I would work in entomology again.
Perhaps I was naive, but my view was that being with my young kids
was just a tiny part of my entire life. If I started to work full-time
again at 40, I could stilI work for at least 25 years, and that's a long
time! I tried to attend meetings and participate in entomology in the
ways that I could contribute, and I selfishly enjoyed my time with
my kids-well,
most days.
At the ESA meeting in 2009, I was asked about working on a
project with Dow AgroSciences (DAS). It would be intellectually
stimulating part-time work that I could do from home. It would
pay enough that I would actually make some money, even after any
childcare costs. My youngest son would be starting preschool. It
was the right job at the right time. Now, I am the president and
sole proprietor of my own company so that I can work as a consultant. I work 10-30 hours per week. I also do some editing for
ESA. Other things have come up: I did some content editing for a
children's book on entomology. and I volunteer A LOT. I'm very
happy. I don't assume that any door is closed to me because I have
had an unconventional path. I feel lucky to be excited about future
opportunities
and to have added them at a pace that worked for
my family and me.
The reality is that babies do affect women's careers. And they affect women's careers more than they affect men's. In a 2002 article
titled "Do Babies Matter?" (Mason and Gouldon 2002), the answer is a
resounding yes. For those who had children within the first five years
after receiving their doctorate, 77% of men compared to only 53%
of women had achieved tenure. Among the tenured faculty, 12-14
years after receiving their doctorate, fewer women (50%) than men
(70%) even have children. An American Association of University
Women report, "Behind the Pay Gap" (Dey and HilI 2007), found that
mothers earn less than women without children.
If one of the goals of the 2011 Women in Entomology symposium
is to retain the fantastic women coming up the ranks, we must stress
that mothers who want a full-time career in science are going to
need the following:
• Reasonable, penalty-free parental leave policies.
• Access to affordable, excellent childcare.
• A good salary (at least as good as a man in the same position).
• Flexible work hours.
• Strong advocates and mentors.
Imagine being hired for a job and not being given a computer
to use, or an environmental chamber, or other key lab equipment.
These things enable you to do your job. When we hire people but
don't give them good options for childcare and parental leave, we
are saying to them, "Go buy your own start-up package." We make
it more challenging for them to do their jobs.
Maybe it sounds impossible to give blatant support to great scientists who have children, but there are places taking some steps. At
American Entomologist.
Winter 2011
Princeton University. if faculty members want to attend a meeting,
they can apply to receive reimbursement
for childcare expenses
incurred while they are away. and they are also eligible for up to 100
hours of subsidized childcare in the event that there is an interruption in regular childcare options. Faculty can elect to take up to 1
year unpaid family leave, and there are tenure clock extensions for
faculty members (male or female!) with children (Princeton 2011).
The University of California has similar policies, including efforts
to guarantee that childcare is available for new hires, instructions
to consider candidates for faculty jobs even if they have a "resume
gap," and postdoctoral fellowships to encourage parents who have
taken time off to return to academia (University of California 2011).
Leading corporations, including the accounting firm Deloitte, are
exploring innovative career models such as those described in The
Corporate Lattice (Benko and Anderson 2010), a more flexible model
that challenges "the corporate ladder:' A national organization called
momsrising.org is working through political avenues to pursue policies that support families.
It's a bit scary to share my story. I don't want it to be used as an
example of another woman who left science to be with her kids. I
hope that it is seen as a story of someone who did not have an elegant
way to combine a full-time job in science with motherhood who held
on to science by her fingernails and is climbing back up. I ended up
staying home with my young children because of my circumstances
and because I enjoy it. You might take my story as an example of a
successful, evolving, unconventional career; or as a cautionary tale.
Either way, I hope you will promote policies in your field that support entoMOMogists. Really. they are the same policies that support
entoDADogists, too.
American Entomologist.
Volume 57, Number 4
Acknowledgements
I thank my graduate
advisor; Larry Pedigo, for challenging
throughout graduate school and for his ongoing
throughout
my developing career. I thank the
Perring lab (Tom Perring, Chuck Farrar, Yong-Lak
Emily Symmes, Tracy Pinckard, and Crystal May)
me
encouragement
members of the
Park, Justin Nay.
at the University
of California-Riverside (2003-2007) for their support as I navigated
science and early motherhood. I thank Betsy Matos for her presentation on graduate school and motherhood at the 2006 ESA Annual
Meeting and for sharing the article, "Do Babies Matter?"
References Cited
Benko, C.and M.Anderson. 2010. The corporate lattice: achieving high
performance in the changing world of work. Harvard Business School
Press.
Dey, J. G.and C.Hill. 2007. Behind the pay gap. American Association of
University Women Educational Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Mason and Gouldon. 2002. Do babies matter? The effect of family formation on the lifelong careers of academic men and women. Academe
88:21-27.
Monosson, E. (ed.). 2008. Motherhood, the elephant in the laboratory:
women scientists speak out. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Princeton University. 2011. Family-friendly policies and programs
for Princeton faculty. http://www.princeton.edujdofjpoliciesjfamilyjriendly j
University of California. 2011. The UCfaculty family friendly edge. http://
ucfamilyedge.berkeley.edujucfamilyfriendlyedge.html
Rayda K Krell works as an independent consultant providing entomological and agricultural communication services; Patricia L. Prasifka is a
Field Scientist in Crop Protection Research and Development with Dow
AgroSciences, LLC.
209