The following question has come up in discussions here, and I would like to
have input from the rest of you out there. It came up in the context of
affirmative action for women (getting more women into higher positions, but it
could apply as well to men who choose to take a greater burden in raising
children/ sharing domestic responsibilities with their spouse.
Should time taken out to raise a child/ family be factored into promotion
decisions? That is, I'm sure that many of you are well aware, if you choose to
have a family, your time at work as a scientist becomes quite limited by the
demands of your family. First, you have to take time off to give birth and
care for a newborn. Then, your time at work becomes limited to daycare hours.
If your child is in school, then summers and holidays may become very limited
in terms of research hours.
Should we give a "break" to people who have chosen to have families? Should
quality of output be emphasized to a greater extent for these than quantity?
Should it be possible for to extend the evaluation time (time to
tenure/promotion) if you've got a family? What is fair?
Please reply only by posting. I think others would like to see the responses,
and I don't want to wade through alot of E-mail. I will summarize the response
if it is strong enough.
Rae Nishi
Assoc. Prof.
Cell Biology & Anatomy
OHSU
Portland OR
