About half of the undergraduate and roughly 40 percent of graduate degree recipients in science and engineering are women. As increasing numbers of these women pursue research careers in science, many who choose to have children discover the unique difficulties of balancing a professional life in these highly competitive (and often male-dominated) fields with the demands of motherhood. Although this issue directly affects the career advancement of women scientists, it is rarely discussed as a professional concern, leaving individuals to face the dilemma on their own.
To address this obvious but unacknowledged crisis-the elephant in the laboratory, according to one scientist-Emily Monosson, an independent toxicologist, has brought together 34 women scientists from overlapping generations and several fields of research-including physics, chemistry, geography, paleontology, and ecology, among others-to share their experiences. From women who began their careers in the 1970s and brought their newborns to work, breastfeeding them under ponchos, to graduate students today, the authors of the candid essays written for this groundbreaking volume reveal a range of career choices: the authors work part-time and full-time; they opt out and then opt back in; they become entrepreneurs and job share; they teach high school and have achieved tenure.
The personal stories that comprise Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory not only show the many ways in which women can successfully combine motherhood and a career in science but also address and redefine what it means to be a successful scientist. These valuable narratives encourage institutions of higher education and scientific research to accommodate the needs of scientists who decide to have children.
Contributors: A. Pia Abola, biochemist, writer, and editor; Caroline (Cal) Baier-Anderson, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Joan S. Baizer, SUNY Buffalo; Stefi Baum, Rochester Institute of Technology; Aviva Brecher, U.S. Department of Transportation, Volpe Center (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Teresa Capone Cook, American Heritage Academy; Carol B. de Wet, Franklin & Marshall College; Kimberly D'Anna, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Anne Douglass, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Elizabeth Douglass, Scripps Institute of Oceanography; Katherine Douglass, George Washington University; Deborah Duffy, University of Pennsylvania; Rebecca A. Efroymson, U.S. government research laboratory; Suzanne Epstein, Food and Drug Administration; Kim M. Fowler, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Debra Hanneman, Whitehall Geogroup, Inc. and Earthmaps.com; Deborah Harris, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; Andrea L. Kalfoglou, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Marla S. McIntosh, University of Maryland; Marilyn Wilkey Merritt, George Washington University; Emily Monosson, toxicologist and writer; Heidi Newberg, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Rachel Obbard, British Antarctic Survey; Catherine O'Riordan, Consortium for Ocean Leadership; Nanette J. Pazdernik, independent author and molecular biologist; Devin Reese, National Science Resources Center; Marie Remiker (pseudonym); Deborah Ross, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne; Christine Seroogy, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Marguerite Toscano, independent geoscientist, writer, and editor; Gina D. Wesley-Hunt, Montgomery College; Theresa M. Wizemann, Merck & Co., Inc.; Sofia Refetoff Zahed, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Gayle Barbin Zydlewski, Cove Brook Watershed Council and University of Maine
Edited by:
Emily Monosson
Imprint: ILR Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 1
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780801476693
ISBN 10: 0801476690
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 15 August 2010
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction Section I. 1970s Balancing Family and Career Demands with 20/20 Hindsight by Aviva Brecher Extreme Motherhood: You Can't Get There from Here by Joan S. Baizer Careers versus Child Care in Academia by Deborah Ross Identities: Looking Back over Forty Years as a Social Scientist, Woman, and Mother by Marilyn Wilkey Merritt Costs and Rewards of Success in Academia, or Bouncing into the Rubber Ceiling by Marla S. McIntosh One Set of Choices as a Mom and Scientist by Suzanne Epstein Section II. 1980s Three Sides of the Balance by Anne Douglass The Accidental Astronomer by Stefi Baum At Home with Toxicology: A Career Evolves by Emily Monosson Geological Consulting and Kids: An Unpredictable Balancing Act? by Debra Hanneman Career Scientists and the Shared Academic Position by Carol B. de Wet Section III. 1990s Less Pay, a Little Less Work by Heidi Newberg Reflections of a Female Scientist with Outside Interests by Christine Seroogy Part-Time at a National Laboratory: A Split Life by Rebecca A. Efroymson The Eternal Quest for Balance: A Career in Five Acts, No Intermission by Theresa M. Wizemann Reflections on Motherhood and Science by Teresa Capone Cook The Benefits of Four-Dumbbell Support by Catherine O'Riordan Extraordinary Commitments of Time and Energy by Deborah Harris Finding My Way Back to the Bench: An Unexpectedly Satisfying Destination by A. Pia Abola Mothering Primates by Devin Reese Finding the Right Balance, Personal and Professional, as a Mother in Science by Gayle Barbin Zydlewski What? I Don't Need a PhD to Potty-Train My Children? by Nanette J. Pazdernik Variety, Challenge, and Flexibility: The Benefits of Straying from the Narrow Path by Marguerite Toscano The Balancing Act by Kim M. Fowler Juggling through Life's Transitions by Cal Baier-Anderson Having It All, Just Not All at the Same Time by Andrea L. Kalfoglou Section IV. 2000s Exploring Less-Traveled Paths by Deborah Duffy Standing Up by Gina D. Wesley-Hunt Because of Our Mom, a True Rocket Scientist by Elizabeth Douglass and Katherine Douglass On Being What You Love by Rachel Obbard Parsimony Is What We Are Taught, Not What We Live by Sofia Katerina Refetoff Zahed Role Models: Out with the Old and In with the New by Marie Remiker Pursuing Science and Motherhood by Kimberly D'Anna Conclusion Contributors
Emily Monosson is an independent toxicologist. She lives in Montague, Massachusetts. Visit her blog for Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory at sciencemoms.wordpress.com.
Reviews for Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out
<p> The stories in Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory are captivating and the picture of science as a field was truly sobering. I found myself thinking about the authors' fascinating stories long after I finished reading this book. Joan C. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California Hastings College of the Law
