2009 Grace Hopper Bof 1 Page Pregnancy In Graduate School

Baby Loading, Please Wait: Pregnancy, Graduate School, & Computing Laurian Vega, Mara Silva Center for Human-Computer Interaction, Virginia Tech 2202 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060 {Laurian, Mara}@vt.edu Abstract Past research has shown that babies do matter in terms of time to graduate and future careers in academia and industry. Not only does bias play a part, but also having to deal with new responsibilities on top of work-life balance presents an entirely new set of challenges in the generally laissez faire climate of graduate school. In this panel we hope to address questions and provoke thoughtful discussion about a) whether graduate school is a ‘good’ time to become pregnant, and b) what should future graduate student mothers know before and after becoming pregnant? Our goal is to create a semi-informal discussion about these issues and raise awareness about best practices. Background Women are currently receiving about half of all awarded Ph.D.s [1]. The number of women reported receiving their Ph.D. in computer science, however, is twenty-one percent [2]. Part of the reason why this number is so low is the leaky pipeline: the challenge of retaining women who move through the educational pipeline from high school to undergraduate to graduate education and then to a career in computing. Somewhere along the way, women seem to be leaking out of the area of computing and taking with them thousands of study hours that are usually funded by state and federal taxes. Even with the increasing push for more women in science and engineering from the NSF (eg.: www.advance-portal.net) and other government organizations, people have ignored the “elephant in the room” – motherhood [4]. One of the major reasons why women leave is work and family balance–, as reported by 7 out of 10 women in a 450 person survey [2]. Part of work-life balance is trying to plan a family. It can appear as though a woman has to choose between having a family and having a career within higher education. Indeed, it can seem daunting to think about years in graduate school with a small salary, long hours in the lab, and the rigors of publish or perish while trying to balance pregnancy, a new born infant, and then early motherhood. Even in post-1970’s women’s right movement, women still are found to be the ones doing the majority of home management, thereby taking hours away from busy academic careers [4]. In this panel we hope to address these concerns by looking at the issue of pregnancy while enrolled graduate school. For some, having a baby in graduate school might actually be a beneficial time. After all, not only is a biological

clock ticking, but as reported by Mason and Goulden, “only one in three women who takes a fast-track university job before having a child ever becomes a mother” [5]. Having a child before having to apply for tenure, can be a positive time overall to start a family. After all, a mother can add an additional semester to her graduation date, but not all universities have a program to stop-the-clock. We recognize and acknowledge that there are pros and cons for having a child during graduate school; many people feel strongly that having a child after the tenure is the best time. However, for some would-be mothers, waiting is not an option. Plan of Action In the first part of the panel we want to introduce each of the panelists and their experiences (1 minute per panelist). We will then give a brief presentation on why this issue is important, as covered in the previous section of this proposal (8 minutes). Next, we will pose probing questions about individual experiences. In the remaining time we will open the floor to questions from the audience. The total time will be one hour. As additional material, we will provide a handout with citations to literature on the topic and a list of questions for possible new mothers to consider themselves. A copy can be found here: http://idisk.mac.com/laurianvegaPublic/GraduateSchoolAndPregnancy.pdf. Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of our panelists: Dr. Deborah Tatar, Mirkeya Capellan, OTHER. We would also like to thank the Latinas in Computer Group for their feedback. Bibliography 1. Williams, J.C. and D.L. Norton, Building Acaemic Excellence through Gender Equity. American Academic, 2008. 4. 2. Rosser, S.V. and M.Z. Taylor (2008) Expanding Women's Participation in US Science. Harvard International Review 30. 3. Monosson, E., ed. Motherhood, The Elephant in the Laboratory. 1 ed. 2008, Cornell University Press: Cornell University. 219. 4. Mason, M.A. and M. Goulden, Do Babies Matter (Part II)? Closing the Baby Gap. Academe, 2004(NovemberDecember).