Conceived and designed the experiments: EHE AEL. Performed the experiments: EHE AEL. Analyzed the data: AEL. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: EHE. Wrote the paper: EHE AEL.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Scholars partly attribute the low number of women in academic science to the impact of the science career on family life. Yet, the picture of how men and women in science – at different points in the career trajectory – compare in their perceptions of this impact is incomplete. In particular, we know little about the perceptions and experiences of junior and senior scientists at top universities, institutions that have a disproportionate influence on science, science policy, and the next generation of scientists. Here we show that having fewer children than wished as a result of the science career affects the life satisfaction of science faculty and indirectly affects career satisfaction, and that young scientists (graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) who have had fewer children than wished are more likely to plan to exit science entirely. We also show that the impact of science on family life is not just a woman's problem; the effect on life satisfaction of having fewer children than desired is more pronounced for male than female faculty, with life satisfaction strongly related to career satisfaction. And, in contrast to other research, gender differences among graduate students and postdoctoral fellows disappear. Family factors impede talented young scientists of both sexes from persisting to research positions in academic science. In an era when the global competitiveness of US science is at risk, it is concerning that a significant proportion of men and women trained in the select few spots available at top US research universities are considering leaving science and that such desires to leave are related to the impact of the science career on family life. Results from our study may inform university family leave policies for science departments as well as mentoring programs in the sciences.
Qualified and interested women are still kept out and drop out of academic science
Research that examines the impact of the scientific career on family life has several limitations. Single-institution or university-system case studies limit generalizability
Our study is distinct in that it examines how graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty in leading science Ph.D. programs at 31 universities comprising 100 departments — programs that have a disproportionate impact in shaping the future of science and the next generation of scientists — view the impact of family factors on career and life satisfaction as well as projected career track.
As part of the Perceptions of Women in Academic Scientist (PWAS) study, we selected a random sample of 3,455 scientists from the more than 14,000 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and tenure-track/tenured faculty members in the top 20 Ph.D. programs in all subfields of astronomy, physics and biology. Programs were ranked by the National Research Council (1995) and correlated with the rankings of
For this paper, questions about significant influences on the pursuit of a science career, career experiences and impediments, and the work-family balance were analyzed from the PWAS survey. Some questions on the PWAS were replicated from existing studies of women in science, such as NSF ADVANCE surveys conducted by PIs examining gender differences in science at particular universities. We used two-tailed tests of statistical significance and logistic regression to analyze the data. T-tests are a premature measure of interpretation because they do not take into account any additional differences between men and women. Logistic regression allows estimates of how one variable predicts another variable, while adjusting for multiple other predictor variables. Thus, logistic regression permits comparison of men and women on key variables of interest while statistically equalizing their different demographic and human capital characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were weighted by rank, sex, and discipline to reflect chance of selection into the sample. Logistic regression coefficients are reported as odds ratios that center on the number 1. Values less than 1 have a negative effect on the dependent variables while values larger than 1 have a positive effect on the dependent variable. All analyses were conducted with the statistical program STATA version 9 from StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA.
The Perceptions of Women in Academic Science received an expedited human subjects' approval 08/07/08 from Rice University's Institutional Review Board, which has been renewed every year of the three years of data collection (protocol number 09-008E). The PI requested and received permission that informed consent be waived for the survey portion of the study (data from which is reported in this paper). The letter that was sent requesting participation in the survey included an information sheet about the study as well as contact information for the PI and the director of the Rice University IRB should any complaints arise.
We found that work satisfaction, life satisfaction, and family factors were closely intertwined for faculty in the sciences. For example, survey analyses reveal that, when compared with their male colleagues, a greater proportion of women are dissatisfied in their roles as faculty members (15.5% of women vs. 11.5% of men, p = 0.0438, n = 1,302;
Graduate Students | Postdoctoral Fellows | Faculty | ||||
Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | |
Age | 27.1 | 26.7 | 33.3 | 33.0 | 47.2 | 46.9 |
Married (%) | 26.1 | 24.2 | 60.3 | 51.0 | 82.8 | 72.2*** |
Weekly hours worked | 52.1 | 52.2 | 54.9 | 56.1 | 54.9 | 56.1 |
White (%) | 65.8 | 63.8 | 59.3 | 60.9 | 83.4 | 81.8 |
Black (%) | 1.2 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
Hispanic | 7.5 | 4.3 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 2.5 | 3.2 |
Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | 23.4 | 24.2 | 30.5 | 31.2 | 11.9 | 13.2 |
Foreign national (%) | 33.8 | 32.4 | 61.4 | 65.2 | 39.9 | 35.0 |
Has children (%) | 8.8 | 5.5 | 35.8 | 22.4 | 74.6 | 64.2*** |
Number of children | 0.11 | 0.08 | 0.53 | 0.26 | 2.05 | 1.88 |
Fewer children than desired (%) | 20.3 | 39.4*** | 39.0 | 55.4*** | 24.5 | 45.4*** |
Overall dissatisfaction with life (%) | 19.0 | 17.8 | 24.7 | 20.4 | 16.6 | 17.1 |
Income |
1.12 | 1.11 | 2.37 | 2.22 | 5.98 | 5.89 |
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Long work hours (%) | 19.5 | 27.1 |
19.2 | 23.8 | 11.6 | 18.5*** |
Balancing work and family (%) | 23.7 | 27.9 | 31.8 | 33.2 | 32.0 | 47.6*** |
Overall dissatisfaction with present career stage (%) | 17.9 | 17.1 | 15.6 | 16.2 | 11.5 | 15.5 |
Concerned about not being able to have a family prior to graduate school(%) | 7.2 | 28.5*** | 7.0 | 12.4 |
2.5 | 12.1*** |
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Seek tenure-track position (%) | 66.5 | 60.1 | 84.0 | 69.2*** | — | — |
Seek teaching position (%) | 33.5 | 41.3 |
30.4 | 31.1 | — | — |
Seek research scientist position (%) | 55.6 | 54.1 | 63.2 | 62.4 | — | — |
Seek industry position (%) | 43.9 | 41.2 | 39.4 | 44.1 | — | — |
Seek job outside science (%) | 25.2 | 26.4 | 16.4 | 20.3 | — | — |
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* p<0.05.
** p<0.01.
*** p<0.001.
Is your university salary 1-below $40,000, 2-$40,000–49,999, 3-$50,000–$59,999, 4-$60,000–69,999, 5-$70,000–$79,999, 6-$80,000–89,999, 7-$90,000–99,999, 8-$100,000–109,999, 9-$110,000–119,999, 10-$120,000–129,999, 11-$130,000–139,999, 12-$140,000–149,999, 13-$150,000–159,999, 14-$160,000–169,999, 15-$170,000–179,999, 16-$180,000–189,999, 17-$190,000–199,999, 18-above $200,000.
Logistic regression was used to determine factors that influence the work satisfaction of scientists, as measured through their degree of agreement with the statement: “Overall, how satisfied are you with being a faculty member at your current institution?” Adjusting for sex, age, rank, income, marital status, number of children, weekly hours worked, scholarly productivity, and satisfaction with life outside work, we find that women are less satisfied than men. We also find that being more satisfied with life outside work positively predicts faculty satisfaction (
Satisfaction with Career | Satisfaction with LifeOutside Work | |||
Female | 0.696 |
0.707 |
1.330 |
1.540 |
Age | 0.981 |
0.981 |
1.026 |
1.024 |
Black | 8.657 |
8.713 |
0.377 |
0.465 |
Hispanic | 0.684 | 0.687 | 0.807 | 0.813 |
Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.780 | 0.788 | 0.805 | 0.889 |
Assistant | 0.695 | 0.701 | 1.302 | 1.394 |
Associate | 0.743 | 0.748 | 1.067 | 1.105 |
Income | 1.064 |
1.064 |
1.035 | 1.033 |
Married | 0.960 | 0.962 | 1.601 |
1.609 |
Children (n) | 1.051 | 1.046 | 1.141 | 1.078 |
Weekly hours worked (ln) | 0.806 | 0.809 | 0.919 | 0.943 |
Publications (ln) | 1.054 | 1.055 | 1.196 | 1.205 |
Life satisfaction | 1.607 |
1.600 |
— | — |
Career Satisfaction | — | — | 1.612 |
1.599 |
Fewer children than wished | — | 0.979 | — | 0.818 |
n | 1175 | 1175 | 1175 | 1175 |
R2 | 0.060 | 0.060 | 0.063 | 0.072 |
p<0.05.
p<0.01.
p<0.001.
−2 Very dissatisfied, −1 Somewhat dissatisfied, 0 Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 1 Somewhat satisfied, 2 Very Satisfied.
Despite the distinct differences between male and female faculty in satisfaction with work, there is no gender difference in life satisfaction for science faculty. In response to the question: “Overall, how satisfied are you with your life outside of work?” 17.1% of women vs. 16.6% of men (p = 0.9588, n = 1,295) reported being somewhat or strongly dissatisfied with their lives. Adjusting for sex, age, rank, income, marital status, number of children, weekly hours worked, scholarly productivity, and satisfaction with work, logistic regression analysis reveals that women, those who are older or married and those who are more satisfied with their careers have greater satisfaction with their lives outside of work (
Previous research shows that women are more likely than men to drop out of the pipeline before achieving tenure-track science faculty positions
We used logistic regression analyses to determine factors that influence graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to consider choosing a career outside science (
Graduate Students | Postdoctoral Fellows | |||
Female | 1.204 | 1.042 | 1.257 | 1.251 |
Age | 1.020 | 1.009 | 0.966 | 0.973 |
Black | 2.230 | 2.265 | — | — |
Hispanic | 0.577 | 0.456 | 0.841 | 0.899 |
Asian/Pacific Islander | 1.138 | 1.342 | 1.073 | 1.139 |
Number of children | 0.998 | 0.924 | 1.140 | 1.268 |
Married | 1.005 | 1.062 | 0.667 | 0.588 |
Afraid can't have family due to science career | 0.831 | 0.809 | 1.218 | 1.390 |
Life satisfaction | 0.884 | 0.983 | 0.951 | 1.025 |
Fewer children than desired | — | 1.210* | — | 1.291* |
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621 | 411 | 446 | 395 |
R2 | 0.012 | 0.022 | 0.012 | 0.035 |
Female scientists at top universities not only have fewer children than their male colleagues but also are more likely to say that, due to the science career, they have fewer children than they want. Yet having fewer children than desired has a greater impact on