Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out [Hardcover]

Emily Monosson (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: April 11, 2008

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the very personal side of the struggles and opportunities that accompany the decision of a collection of women scientists to have children. But the book also gets at a larger issue that goes beyond the topic of motherhood: the failure of our scientific culture, particularly in our academic institutions, to embrace and value the full range of career options beyond the professoriate that can lead to rewarding and satisfying professional and personal lives. For both reasons the book is a good read­ even for those readers who will never be mothers." --Chemical and Engineering News

In eloquent and often witty essays, these women directly address the challenges of being mothers in the scientific workforce. -- The Scientist

The writers, who all balance science careers and motherhood, provide a fascinating insight into a world too often kept hidden. -- New Scientist

When toxicologist Rebecca Efroymson flew to Washington D.C. to defend a grant proposal before a federal agency, she lacked child care options and was forced to bring along her sick toddler. On the day of her presentation, she left her feverish, screaming son in a hotel room in the care of his grandparents, who had taken a train down from Philadelphia to babysit. Fatigued by lack of sleep, Efroymson did not give her best presentation, and her grant was not funded. "This was the first time that my split life might really have impacted my work and the viability of my job," she writes.

The "split life" between work and child rearing is one familiar to millions of working parents. For women, balancing work and family can present particularly difficult challenges in the highly competitive, often male-dominated world of research science. Efroymson's story is one of many told in a timely new book, Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out.

Contributors to this volume include biologists, physicists, geologists, and oceanographers. They are professors, writers, independent consultants, science policy experts, teachers, and government researchers. For those who fear that motherhood is incompatible with traditional scientific research careers, this book offers some stunning examples to the contrary. An atmospheric chemist writes of raising five children as she works and rises to a position of leadership at NASA. Other women seek non-traditional careers in a quest for balance, and forge new paths for themselves. The editor of the anthology, Emily Monosson, is a prime example: a toxicologist with a Ph.D from Cornell, she has established a career as an independent consultant, researcher, and writer.

The diversity of career paths described is impressive and eye-opening. Even for those who eventually end up in traditional careers, the road may be circuitous. Some of the women in these pages drop out of the workforce for a few years while their children are young, or work part-time. Some eventually return to the lab and tenure-track careers; testament that these traditional careers - often thought of as rigid, unyielding pathways - may have more flexibility than we have been led to believe. Indeed, the fluidity of scientific careers - the shifts between home life, academia, industry, government, and back again - becomes a major theme.

The book opens with scientists who received their PhDs in the 1970s, and marches through the 80s and 90s, ending with the voices of women who are in graduate school today.

It is often said that motherhood is not for the faint of heart. The same could be said for a career in science. The pace of institutional and cultural change can seem glacial. In the mean-time, scientists who are also mothers can find support by sharing their stories with one another. As one woman writes in the opening pages of Motherhood: "In the final analysis, every woman finds her own way. It's just good to know that none of us is alone." -- American Scientist, August 22, 2008

"Women trying to squeeze a career and family duties into one 24-hour day will gain much affirmation from this collection of essays. The writers, who all balance science careers and motherhood, provide a fascinating insight into a world too often kept hidden. For those without children it should come with a health warning: the juggling and compromises these women have learned to live with may add up to a sobering reality check for those who still think they can have it all. For some it may prove a powerful contraceptive."

Review

"Women trying to squeeze a career and family duties into one 24-hour day will gain much affirmation from this collection of essays. The writers, who all balance science careers and motherhood, provide a fascinating insight into a world too often kept hidden. For those without children it should come with a health warning: the juggling and compromises these women have learned to live with may add up to a sobering reality check for those who still think they can have it all. For some it may prove a powerful contraceptive."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: ILR Press (April 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801446643
• ISBN-13: 978-0801446641
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,098,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Had potential but disappointing for me November 13, 2008

By Mother Scientist

Format:Hardcover

I'm sorry, but this book was so disappointing. Not what I was hoping for at all. I feel very bad giving this book a negative review, because the intention behind it is SO good. And I do not mean to criticize the editor or the women's stories. Some stories were engaging, but not all. I think perhaps these mother scientists weren't given enough direction for their essays.

I am a mother scientist. I graduated with a PhD from MIT Biology (and a 1 and a half year old), and I am now doing post-doctoral research at Harvard. I am well-familiar with the struggles of being a mother in the laboratory. And I was looking for shared understanding and some stories of women who have done it as I am doing so. I recently read the book, Mama PhD, and THAT book was WONDERFUL!! I would highly recommend it to all looking at this book. That book had meaning and inspiration. This book was just discouraging and disappointing. It needed more "traditionally" successful mother scientists sharing their stories to help even it out. Almost none of the stories were women who maintained full-time academic work after maternity leave (which is what I intend to do, and which will help bring more policy changes from inside the system). While non-traditional paths are great and important to discuss, there should at least have been inclusion of some other more traditional stories. This book leaves the reader with the impression that it is impossible to be a successful full-time academic with children, or, if there is career success, the woman is tired and stressed and unhealthy much of the time. Too many of these stories were of incredibly disgruntled women with negative experiences. Those stories SHOULD be shared, but in combination with POSITIVE stories as well, which I know exist out there.

But where are the role models I have known? For example, my PhD advisor is one of them, a successful mother of FOUR children, at a prestigious institution. When I looked for PhD advisors (and post-doc advisors), I made sure to find the ones who were family-friendly. We have SO many choices in academia- it is important to find those who will help you in your path.

If you are a mother scientist in academia and you want to hear about other women in the same situation, I would not recommend this book to you, UNLESS you are looking for validation for leaving academia. If that is the case, then perhaps this book would be helpful in demonstrating that you can leave academia but still be a scientist. But this book is NOT for those who want to stay in academia, in my opinion.

I sincerely hope I do not offend any contributor to this book with my comments. I know you all had the best of intentions- it just didn't come through the way the book was compiled.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars This book fills a gap February 20, 2010

By Nicola Bowler

Format:Hardcover

In contrast to the comments of `Mother Scientist', I certainly recommend this book to women intending to stay in academia, as well as other scientific professions. Here we have a book containing a summary of the experiences of 34 females as they attempt to be both good mothers and good scientists. As in any group of people, some of these women's stories will resonate more strongly with one reader (for me those of the physicists) than with another. Taken as a whole, this book provides many nuggets of advice that are available for the reader to mull over, digest, and accept or reject.

As a female-tenure-track-engineering-professor-mother-of-three (girls), I value the insights provided by these writers in the way that I value conversations with others whose lives and challenges somewhat resemble mine. For me, this collection of essays fills a gap that exists due to the fact that women scientists form a dilute system in which we don't often have chance to interact.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Honoring and Supporting our Amazing Mothers December 8, 2008

By Story Circle Book Reviews

Format:Hardcover

We often praise mothers, but what's behind the words? Sometimes little in the way of support, financial assistance, day care, or flextime. Yet mothers prove that not only can they manage all their responsibilities, they can learn more, produce more, participate more, volunteer more, and give more.

That's the thesis of Emily Monosson's superbly edited book written by thirty-four scientists who also chose to be mothers in the midst of their quest for a Ph.D. These women tell what it's like to spend their child-bearing years studying, doing research, defending their research, writing grant proposals, publishing their research, teaching, working all hours in a lab, doing a post-doc, and deciding to have or not to have children.

All the women in this collection had children at some time in the process. They related how others either supported or did not support their decision. Most of the husbands, family and friends supported them. Many of the advisors, institutions, employers, and supervisors did not.

Already experienced writers, these women wrote short, beautifully expressed personal essays that make up this enlightening book. As in the title of Theresa M. Wizemann's essay, "The Eternal Quest for Balance--A Career in Five Acts, No Intermission," these women spent or are spending their lives contributing to improving society while balancing a career, family, and even hobbies. With few concessions, they are doing it all in spite of poor working situations, low pay, and often inadequate child-care facilities. But these women see their lives as enriched through making the choice to have children.

As women, each of us has chosen different career paths, but these essays remind us that we're not alone. We have a special contribution to make, but we also must accept the challenge to make the path easier for our daughters by insisting on better working conditions that allow maternity and paternity leave, child-care options, and flextime, honoring motherhood rather than punishing women for choosing motherhood.

As Wizemann writes, "Bringing up a child and bringing up a career are remarkably similar. They are sometimes hard to conceive, and sometimes heartbreaking, rarely predictable, but tremendously rewarding. Motherhood is the grandest experiment. Don't miss out. And remember that you are not alone in your eternal quest for balance."

by Susan M. Andrus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women