Does maternity affect women’s careers? Perceptions of working mothers in academia

Abstract

Women in academia are underrepresented at the highest levels of the hierarchy. After gaining their PhDs, they seem to make little progress and their career paths appear to be hampered by their family responsibilities. Motherhood can affect scientific productivity and, therefore, promotion. Balancing teaching, research, administration, consultation, and other roles in academia with maternity can be hard. This study comprises an online-survey of mothers with children up to 5 years old, working in academia (n=80) in a Spanish university (University of Murcia), the aim being to ascertain their views regarding maternity and work. Common themes include a greater focus on teaching than on research, handicaps regarding mobility, and working from home. 63% perceived that their CVs are less competitive than those of their co-workers who are not mothers, which implies that their research productivity decreased. However, even with these difficulties, the results show that more than half are confident they will soon receive promotion. In order to reduce the existing glass ceiling, actions and policies that promote equal access and promotion to the scientific career, integrating working life and family care must be implemented.