BOF: Mommies know best: Continuing the Discussion on
Pregnancy and Graduate School
Alexandra Holloway Caitlin Sadowski
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
{fire, supertri}@soe.ucsc.edu
1 Introduction
The Grace Hopper conference celebrates all women in
computer science. However, the many women who at-
tend this conference fill more roles that just the role of a
computer scientist. They are also mothers, grandmothers,
sisters, wives, and daughters. In this proposal we discuss
the important role of motherhood in particular reference
to its impact on young computer science academics and
beyond.
In order to achieve true gender equality within the
workforce of STEM fields, and in particular the work-
force of academia, we need to also have mother equal-
ity. A known problem is that mothers in STEM fields
face the “motherhood penalty” [1]: mothers are presented
with fewer professional development opportunities, have
weaker social networks, and face increasing demands for
work-life balance. For example, within particular demo-
graphics, the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers
is larger than the pay gap between women and men [2].
However, this difference does not extend to men: fathers
do not make less than non-fathers. Negative stereotypes
about working mothers, but not about working fathers,
also make it particularly challenging to pursue both moth-
erhood and a career. Mothers are rated as less compe-
tent and committed to paid work than nonmothers [1]; this
characterization again does not extend to fathers.
The challenges of combining a career in science with
motherhood have been expanded upon in a recent book
of essays [8], as well as numerous research papers: see,
for example [4, 9]. In a survey of approximately 450
scientists and engineers employed at research universi-
ties, more than 70% cited balancing career with family
as the most significant challenge facing their career ad-
vancement [9]. In fact, in the UK, women who have sci-
ence or engineering degrees and have school-age children
are less likely to be working than women with other de-
grees [4]. These examples demonstrate that the effect of
1
Laurian Vega
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060
laurian@vt.edu
motherhood on a career is of particular salience to STEM
fields.
Similarly, the challenges of combining a career in
academia with motherhood have been expanded upon in
a recent book of essays [3] as well as numerous research
papers: see, for example [7, 9, 6]. Much of the difficulty
with academia and motherhood is due to the fact that the
years spent working long hours on acquiring tenure co-
incide with the years when it makes the most biologi-
cal sense to have children. It is difficult to re-enter the
pipeline once a woman drops out of the academic work-
force [7, 6].
The thing that is particularly disparaging about these
challenges is their inequity; children provide a benefit
for men and a penalty for women. For example, men
with young babies are 38% more likely than women with
young babies to achieve tenure [7]. Perhaps a partial rea-
son for this is differences is the social expectations about
who will care for children. In a survey of more than
4,400 faculty in the University of California system, it
was found that women with children spend almost twice
as many hours per week acting as caregivers than men [7].
Taken together, all of these statistics present a daunt-
ing picture for a women thinking or starting to venture
into motherhood. However, universities and organizations
are taking some steps to improve the position of women
who want to combine motherhood with a career in sci-
ence. Part-time and stop-the-clock tenure-track options
are becoming more popular [5]. A 2004 survey of Ger-
man postdocs found that there was not a difference in sci-
entific productivity between scientist mothers and female
scientist non-mothers [5]. In Britain, Daphne Jackson Fel-
lowships help female scientists return to the pipeline after
taking a leave of absence [5].
In this proposal we present a panel of women who will
discuss their highly relevant and recent issues of entering
into motherhood. At a conference that values and cele-
brates the multifaceted nature of its participants, a discus-
sion of the impact of motherhood on careers and work-life 4 People
balance is necessary. This topic has been shown to be of
value at Grace Hopper. Our session will build on this pre- Caitlin Sadowski (Moderator) Caitlin Sadowski is a
vious success, continue the disucssion, and explore with Ph.D. student in Programming Languages at the Univer-
the participants of of the Birds of a Feather audience the sity of California, Santa Cruz. Her research previously fo-
steps to continue our discussion virtually. cused on dynamic analyses for concurrency bugs, but has
currently become side-tracked by trying to figure out how
to get more women interested in computing. After dis-
2 Audience covering how many women and how few men drop out of
the STEM pipeline due to trouble with balancing a career
Based on the very active discussion at similar sessions in and family, she developed a research interest in mothers
both both the 2008 and 2009 Grace Hopper conferences, in computing.
we believe that this topic is of deep interest to a variety
of attendees. At the 2009 Grace Hopper conference, the
Alexandra Holloway (Panel) Alexandra is a Ph.D. stu-
“Baby Loading” session had a large attendance: 60 mem-
dent in Human-Computer Interaction at the University
bers ranging from people who had already had children to
of California, Santa Cruz and the mother of Leon (14
people who were considering it. Motherhood is a cross-
months). Her dedication to both babies and computing ex-
cutting concern for women spanning economic, religious,
tends to her research: she is currently developing a birth-
and cultural groups.
partner training game.

3 Format Laurian Vega (Panel) Laurian is a Ph.D. candidate

in Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech and
One aim of this session is for the decision to both have mummy of semi-planned Cameron (19 months). She re-
children and pursue a career in computing, particularly in searches trust in the design of software and is a member
the overworked areas of academia and research labs, to of the Association for Women in Computing and Systers.
not be an isolating experience. This session will be orga- She is now working full time with Cameron in daycare.
nized around a discussion session with the audience; we
would like audience members to share their own stories Mara Silva (Panel) Mara is a PhD candidate in Com-
and experiences. Furthermore, we will be creating a mail- puter Science at Virginia Tech where she researches body-
ing list focused on mothers in computing to continue the based interaction techniques for desktop games. Mara re-
discussion. ceived a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from
This hour-long session will begin with a brief overview UNICAMP, Brazil in 2000. Mara is a member of Latinas
of research touching on motherhood and careers in sci- in Computing, The Association for Women in Computing,
ence, particularly focused on academia, as outlined in this and Systers. Her first child is 11 months old.
proposal. We will then transition to the panel-led discus-
sion. In previous years, the audience contained a good
Ann-Marie Horcher (Panel) Ann-Marie is a Ph.D stu-
mix of women who had children and women who were
dent in Information Systems Security at Nova Southeast-
considering having children. Questions will be addressed
ern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the mother
to panel members, and then to the audience; audience
of two. Her daughters, Kate-Alice and Monica were born
members may also ask questions. Here is a sample of
eleven years apart while she was working full-time in IT
the starter questions to foster discussion:
at a chemical company. As a result, the experiences were
• What are maternity benefits to expect and fight for? each a challenges due to both her age and the different
stages of her career.
• Is a “better” time to have a child: graduate school or
early career?
Sadaf Alam (Panel) Sadaf is a scientist and a task lead
• What are some strategies for handling childcare? at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre. She started
• How can career goals and research focuses change her PhD program at the University of Edinburgh when her
after having a child? son was about a year old, followed by post-doc and staff
positions at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She is
• What advice do you have for women considering involved in education and outreach activities in the highly
pregnancy in graduate school? gender imbalanced supercomputing field.

2
References
[1] S. Correll, S. Benard, and I. Paik. Getting a Job: Is
There a Motherhood Penalty? American Journal of
Sociology, 112(5):1297–1338, 2007.

[2] A. Crittenden. The price of motherhood: Why the

most important job in the world is still the least val-
ued. Metropolitan Books, 2001.
[3] E. Evans and C. Grant, editors. Mama, PhD: Women
Write About Motherhood and Academic Life. Rutgers
University Press, 2008.
[4] G. Gehring. Mixing motherhood and science. Physics
World, 15(3):18–19, 2002.
[5] V. Gewin. Baby blues. Nature, 433:780–781, 2005.

[6] M. Mason and M. Goulden. Do Babies Matter (Part

II)? Closing the Baby Gap. Academe, November-
December, 2004.
[7] M. Mason and M. Goulden. Marriage and baby blues:
Redefining gender equity in the academy. The Annals
of the American Academy of Political and Social Sci-
ence, 596(1):86, 2004.
[8] E. Monosson, editor. Motherhood, The Elephant in
the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out. Cornell
University Press, 2008.
[9] S. V. Rosser and M. Z. Taylor. Expanding Women’s
Participation in US Science. Global Education, 30(3),
2008.