“My academic life is over”, thought researcher Cândida Pereira da Costa, from the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering at Unicamp (Feagri), when she had a postdoctoral scholarship rejected after a period of total attention to motherhood. The funding body's requirement to maintain academic activity in the last two years did not fit into Cândida's reality, as she had dedicated herself entirely, for three years, to raising her daughter. After the refusal, the researcher needed to rebuild her career.
Situations like this, which impose barriers on parents - and especially mothers - scientists, motivated the creation of the movement Parent in Science (Mothers and Fathers in Science), of which Cândida is an ambassador for Unicamp. The group seeks to discuss the impact of parenthood on scientific careers and was the first Brazilian project to win the Nature award for Inspiring Women in Science, in 2021, in the category Science Outreach.
The academic world is not neutral
O Parent in Science was created in 2016 and currently consists of a Central Nucleus and 72 ambassadors in all regions of the country. Since its inception, the group has collected data on the impacts of motherhood and fatherhood on academic careers, as well as promoting policies to support scientist mothers and fathers. “It is said that science is neutral, but what we see, from the data collection, is that we have a strong bias in relation to gender. When you think about parenting, there is an even greater rupture”, explains Cândida.
The researcher emphasizes that the problem is accentuated for mothers, since, historically, childcare is attributed to women. According to a survey of the Parent in Science, this causes a significant drop in productivity in the first years of motherhood, which does not occur among those who become parents. “For women, there is a scissor effect in the gym. They start in large numbers at the base of the career, but when you reach higher positions, such as productivity grants and deanships, there is an incipient or even zero number. Our productivity drops mainly in the first three years of motherhood and it becomes almost impossible to reach the top.”
“It’s not fair that we have to choose between motherhood and an academic career. Things can go together”, reflects Cândida. The researcher says that, in her case, she did not have a support network to help care for her daughter and be able to maintain her career at the same time. Realizing that many women faced similar obstacles and ended up giving up, Cândida joined the movement Parent In Science in 2020. Since then, he has worked with the group to transform this reality. At Unicamp, he is also part of the recently created Academic Women's Network.
O Parent in Science seeks to break with the belief that motherhood and fatherhood do not interfere with a career. “It was taboo to talk about parenting, because everyone thought that a career was just a matter of meritocracy”, observes Cândida. By bringing together women scientists, the group identified reports of grants being cut or projects being denied after the period of maternity leave. It also found that in most institutions there are no support policies for mothers and fathers, such as daycare centers or child allowances. Another survey, carried out during 2020, identified that the pandemic period accentuated inequalities in scientific careers, further exposing the problem.
Pandemic brought more impact to the careers of black women
The impact of the pandemic on researchers' productivity, according to a report by Parent In Science, was higher among women. They had a greater decline in productivity, while men remained at the same level or even expanded production.
The discrepancies were even greater when the “maternity” factor was combined with the racial profile. Black women were most affected, with or without children, followed by white women with children. “During the pandemic period, female academics had almost zero productivity, while that of men remained the same or increased. And then we notice an intersection, mainly racial. Productivity is much worse for black women and solo mothers.”
This reality, Cândida points out, is not exclusive to academia and needs to be analyzed in other sectors of work so that public policies can be designed at a national level. One of the discussions held Parent in Science is the increase in paternity leave, which is currently five days, extended by up to 20 days in some cases. “To think about institutional changes, we need to think about social, cultural and political changes of federal scope, for example, in paternity leave. With a man's leave of five working days, how will he be able to have any bond with his son?”, he asks.
Maternity at Lattes and support for mothers
In April 2021, Lattes, the main platform for researchers' CVs, started offering the possibility for women to enter their periods of maternity leave. The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ), which manages the platform, responded to a request sent by the Parent in Science, called “Maternity at Lattes”.
The movement has been demanding this inclusion since 2017, with the argument that productivity analysis needs to take the license into account. Thanks to the group's mobilization, says Cândida, in addition to being included in Lattes, several funding notices in teaching and research institutions also started to consider the period of maternity leave in their evaluations.
Another front of action by the Parent in Science it was the Tomorrow Program. Through fundraising, the movement supports postgraduate mothers, especially solo, black and indigenous mothers.
The award granted by Nature, says Cândida, is an important recognition of the group's work, which has also been inspiring similar movements in other Latin American countries, such as Colombia. With the amount received, the movement wishes to strengthen its actions, which until then depended exclusively on fundraising. “What we hope is that motherhood and fatherhood are accepted”, concludes the researcher.
