Career–life balance for women of color: Experiences in science and engineering academia.

Abstract

The National Science Foundation recently recognized that career–life balance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) may present some unique challenges for women of color compared with their White and/or male counterparts, thus negatively impacting retention and advancement for a minority demographic that has long been underrepresented in STEM (National Science Foundation, 2011). However, there is a dearth of literature on this topic. This article advances our understanding of the nature of these challenges by analyzing career–life balance issues for three underrepresented minority women and the impact of these issues on their career trajectories. We explore the experiences of these women, at different stages of pursuing STEM academia, as they encounter career–life balance issues. Using the approach of narrative inquiry, we describe the interplay between domestic realities (e.g., social life, elder care, pregnancy) and the ideal worker norm, a prevalent gendered standard within STEM of pure dedication to scientific work. Using the lens of cumulative disadvantage we examine how the intersection of racial/ethnic and gender identities generated a set of experiences for each participant that positioned her outside that norm, resulting in significant obstacles (e.g., exclusion from professional networks, lack of support, questioning of competence). We describe how continual tension with the ideal worker norm impacted these women’s career trajectories, illustrate how their experiences of career–life balance may be different from those who more closely embody the norm, and detail issues that need to be addressed to increase the participation, retention, and advancement of women of color in STEM academia.

Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success

“…Our prior research (e.g., Hodari, Ong, Ko, & Smith, 2016;Kachchaf et al, 2015;Ko et al, 2014;Ong et al, 2016), and the research of others (e.g., Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Cheryan, Master, & Meltzoff, 2015;Johnson et al, 2011;Melkers & Welch, 2009;Seymour & Hewitt, 1997;Sosnowski, 2002;Tate & Linn, 2005) indicate that STEM culture occupies a dominant space in which requirements for successful ongoing participation are shaped, at least in part, by the force of racialized and gendered privilege (and withholding of privileges) that reproduces itself over time. Relatedly, our present analysis aligns with existing studies on student persistence within STEM culture (e.g., Camacho & Lord, 2013;Chang, Eagan, Lin, & Hurtado, 2011;Chang et al, 2014;Ellington, 2006;Ellis, 2001;Espinosa, 2011;Leyva, 2016;Nuñez, 2011; Journal of Research in Science Teaching Perna et al, 2010;Soldner et al, 2012;Tate & Linn, 2005;Varma, 2002;Varma et al, 2006;Yosso, 2006;Yosso et al, 2009) that argue that counterspaces, and underrepresented students' participation in them, are shaped in response to the central practices governing privilege, offering a haven from it.…”

“…These groups—including women, racially/ethnically underrepresented students, and women of color—have traditionally not been included in STEM education or careers in proportions that are representative of their U.S. population (Committee on Equal Opportunities for Science and Engineering [CEOSE], 2014; Ong, Wright, Espinosa, & Orfield, ). Counterspaces are made necessary by, and are partially defined by, STEM's culture and its structural manifestations and behaviors that have historically privileged norms of success that favor competitive, individualistic, and solitary practices—norms that are associated with White male scientists (Johnson, Brown, Carlone, & Cuevas, ; Kachchaf, Ko, Hodari, & Ong, ; Ong, ; Traweek, ).…”

“…Sue et al () described microaggressions as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color” of which the perpetrators are often unaware (p. 273; see also Sue, ). Within STEM, common microaggressions against women of color from classmates or faculty include sexist or racist remarks, either subtle or overt (Kachchaf et al, ; Parker, ; Shehab et al, ; S. W. Brown, ), and a withholding of recognition from peers or professors that women of color are competent as emergent scientists or engineers (Camacho & Lord, ; Carlone & Johnson, ; Parker, ; S. W. Brown, ). Microaggressions exacerbate the sense of not belonging and in this way are linked to the isolation felt by women of color and members of other underrepresented groups in STEM education (Joseph, ; Justin‐Johnson, ; Shain, ; Valenzuela, ).…”

Why female science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors do not identify with physics: They do not think others see them that way

“…Academic and personal support such as family encouragement or peer and faculty relationship and mentoring by faculty can increase the persistence of women and particularly women of color in STEM fields [89][90][91][92][93]. Ong et al [91] suggests that supportive mentoring relations with the faculty can be crucial but rarely provided for minority groups in STEM disciplines such as women of color.…”

Who Is Writing About Women in STEM in Higher Education in the United States? A Citation Analysis of Gendered Authorship

“…Traditionally, women have had to, and continue to, champion for resources, access, benefits, and promotion when it comes to gender equity issues in the academic workplace (Feeney and Bernal, 2010;Bachman, 2011;Villablanca et al, 2011;Adamo, 2013;Beddoes and Pawley, 2014;Kachchaf et al, 2015;Su and Bozeman, 2016). Changes to policies and procedures are often achieved through service and committee work which are traditionally unequally shouldered by women faculty compared to men (Guarino and Borden, 2017).…”