A soft landing after maternity leave
Since a few years it is possible for pregnant female staff scientists to apply for the returning to a career in science after pregnancy scheme. The aim of this scheme or arrangement is to help female scientists, who return from maternity leave, to successfully continue their careers. In a nutshell: it allows room for new mothers to compensate for the physical impact of everything related to giving birth and adjust to their new life, while focusing on certain aspects of the job they most desire. We spoke to three scientists: Zerrin Yumak, Eline Hutter and Kaisa Kajala about their experience with the scheme, the adjustment to their new life, and how they got their careers back on track. Discussing the benefits, but also exposing challenges and deeper lying issues for young (female) researchers in their position. An open conversation.
Zerrin Yumak: “After coming back from my maternity leave I could focus more on research. I hired a PhD candidate and set-up a lab just before going on my maternity leave and the scheme helped me to have a smooth start with my PhD candidate and the lab- after returning back to work.” Eline Hutter adds “I did the opposite, when I came back, I wanted to focus more on education to get my teaching qualification. Through the scheme I could hire an excellent postdoc to take over part of my research”. Kaisa Kajala hired a lab technician for four months. “This was very convenient. I was setting up a brand new project that had some tedious work that needed to be done: such as buying seeds and testing how to grow new plants.”
The scheme offers stress relief. Getting a baby is a special period. You have to get adjusted to, well…quite literally the nights, but also the new situation in general.
Compensation for maternity leave
Female staff-scientists can take advantage of the scheme for a period of four months, with a flexible start date up to 1.5 years after the end of her maternity leave. Eline Hutter is pleased with the scheme, because due to the specific expertise of scientists in general, it is often impossible to find a suitable replacement for maternity leave. “Therefore in reality I used the scheme to catch up for the lost time during my maternity leave”. She would recommend the scheme to every female scientist who is expecting a child. Kajala: “There is no downside to the scheme. You can choose where you want a boost in your own career.”
Zerrin Yumak adds: “The scheme offers stress relief. Getting a baby is a special period. You have to get adjusted to, well…quite literally the nights, but also the new domestic situation in general. In combination with the new reality of the job.”
Communication and thresholds
Who communicates what regarding schemes is not always evident as Zerrin puts it. “It is very important for supervisors to take initiative to spread the word on the scheme. I was very lucky as there was a lot of information and support in my group and I also tell every expecting woman about it. But that shouldn’t be left to luck. Because my experience is, that HR thinks supervisors tell about these schemes, while supervisors think the other way around. There is a world to win”. Kaisa acknowledges: “there is definitely a gap in information regarding this scheme. But also on other regulations for new mothers, I am from Finland, as an international it is not always evident or easy to find what my rights are. For example I did not know it is mandatory that Dutch law provides up to two hours of breastfeeding or pumping time for nursing women during the workday.”
Within research groups and departments, it is often the case that allocating a certain amount of money towards a specific goal, decreases the financial capabilities on other fronts. Therefore there is an unintended threshold for some scientist to apply for certain schemes. Kaisa: “it should be very clear there is a dedicated pot of money for using this scheme. Using this scheme doesn’t come back to haunt you, it doesn’t take funds away from something else”.
It should be very clear there is a dedicated pot of money for using this scheme.
Improving the scheme
Although all three scientists are content with the scheme, there is room for improvement. Eline Hutter: “You have to apply for the scheme three months before you are due. It is weird that you have to know at that moment, what you need after you have given birth and finished your maternity leave”. Zerrin recognizes this feeling: “It’s such a unique experience. You can’t compare it to anything in the world. Making plans on what you need is not always evident”. The three acknowledge that involved departments should be given time to prepare for a pregnancy leave, but the reality is often more complicated than the requirements of the scheme give room for.
“If I am honest”, Eline starts: “It felt like I only started getting back on track nine months after I gave birth. My brain was just not on the same level as before. But I started working again after four months.” Zerrin: “it’s true, whether it’s due to sleep deprivation, hormones, or just the sheer magnitude of what happens in your domestic environment. I just couldn’t be as present as I was before, all the time. It’s life changing, you are dividing you attention so much more”.
I have known several female PhD candidates, who were amazingly talented, but felt it was impossible to combine their family planning with a further scientific career.
Deeper concerns
Talking about maternity leave reveals deeper challenges for these young scientists. Namely: the pressure that young scientists feel to reach the goals of their tenure track. For young scientists in general - but also at the UU - the tenure track is the road towards permanent employment as a scientist. Therefore the pressure to perform – when you want to build a career in academia – is big. According to all three: the tenure track system does not allow a lot of room for pregnancy or the reality of raising children. Even though the tenure track can be extended by a temporary period of a maximum of three months, this is not always enough. Eline: “I have known several female PhD candidates, who were amazingly talented, but felt it was impossible to combine their family planning with a further scientific career, and therefore choose not to continue in academia. While, you should be able to do both! All this talent is wasted.” Zerrin adds: “It’s like you have to plan your personal life decisions around a permanent contract. I know of scientists who get children after their tenure track or PhD. It’s sad that this is happening. Because, what happens to a woman – in general- biologically speaking who is on her tenure- or PhD track? They have the appropriate age, biologically and culturally speaking, to have children.”
To conclude. Zerrin Yumak, Kaisa Kajala and Eline Hutter cheer for every female colleague who will use the scheme in the future. Regulations surrounding parental leave differ if you are a man or woman, scientist or not a scientist. That conclusion in itself indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done regarding equality and inclusion for new parents.