Cathy Kessel Mathematics education consultant Berkeley, California mathedck.wordpress

1. MAA Committee on the Participation of Women in MathematicsJoint Committee on the Participation of Women in the Mathematical SciencesParental and Family Leave for Graduate Students and Post-docs: Policies and Experience Policies Cathy Kessel Mathematics education consultant Berkeley, California http://mathedck.wordpress.com

2. Scope of family and parental leave • “Family” may include parents, spouse, or domestic partner as well as children. •  “Children” may include adoptive children as well as biological children. • People taking leave may be male as well as female.

3. The problem in 2004 “I am not surprised that so few of my junior colleagues have decided to have children. Graduate students pick up the signal very early: devote time to family or community at your own risk.” —UC faculty member Mason & Goulden, 2004

4. Survey of UC science post-docs Women postdoctoral scholars who had children after they became a postdoctoral scholar at the UC system were twice as likely as men who experienced a similar life-changing event to change their career goal (41 percent versus 20 percent). UC post-doc survey, 2008

5. Changes for UC faculty: 2011 64 percent of assistant professors in the University of California system have children, up from 27 percent in 2003. Mason, 2011 For chairs and deans: Creating a Family-Friendly Department: http://ucfamilyedge.berkeley.edu/toolkit.html

6. The UC Family-friendly Edge The program adds to a series of family-friendly programs already in place in the UC system. Introduced in 1988, they were progressive for their time but have had low use rates, mostly because of a discouraging campus culture. —Mason & Goulden, 2004

7. Complexities of policy implementation • Policies for family leave need to exist. • Eligible people need to know that these policies exist. • Use of these policies needs to be culturally acceptable.

8. Existing benefits: 2008 Of the 62 AAU universities: • 23% offered post-docs at least 6 weeks of paid leave following childbirth. • 13% offered graduate student researchers at least 6 weeks of paid leave following childbirth. • 43%: paid maternity leave for graduate student researchers was ad hoc, less than 6 weeks, or non-existent.

9. Complexities of policy for graduate students and post-docs • Federal law • Federal funding policies • State law • University policies • Citizenship

10. Brief and comprehensive reference A Forgotten Class of Scientists: Examining the Parental and Family Benefits Available to Research Trainees January 2012, http://www.thefdp.org Also, National Postdoctoral Association’s “Family-Friendly Resources for Postdocs” www.nationalpostdoc.org/index.php/publications/family-friendly

11. Some FCS Recommendations • Actively highlight, advertise, and support family accommodation policies and guidelines for all research trainees. • Provide a part‐time or full‐time campus‐wide family advocate for graduate student and research trainee parents. • Maintain zero tolerance policy for discriminatory and disparaging comments and behaviors from faculty, staff, and students.

12. “You should know that female graduate students are telling us over and over again across the nation that they are not going to become faculty members because they do not see how they can combine work and family in a way that is reasonable.” —UC faculty member Mason & Goulden, 2004