Associations between gender, parenthood, and family and career planning in United States doctoral students

Abstract

Academic culture is generally not conducive to parenthood and work-life balance, which may contribute to the disproportionate drop-out of women from academic careers. The extent to which doctoral students experience systemic biases (e.g., gender-based discrimination) and personal conflicts (e.g., geographic flexibility) related to their gender and parental status, factors that may impact their future career trajectories, remains understudied. Doctoral students (n = 330; 55.5 % women, 25.2 % current parents) completed an online questionnaire examining the associations of gender and parental status on choice of doctoral degree program, experiences while in graduate school, and future career and personal plans. Doctoral students without children were more likely to be enrolled in STEM programs. Men were significantly more likely to be partnered, have children, be enrolled in funded programs, and report higher household incomes. Parents and women were less flexible about relocating for graduate school or post-graduation. Women relied more on family for childcare and external funding (e.g., loans and loved ones). Fathers reported the highest perceived social support, while mothers reported the lowest. No differences were observed in second-shift work or satisfaction with second-shift responsibilities. Women anticipated significantly greater delays in childbearing compared to men. Results suggest that women experience significant conflicts between professional and personal aspirations as early as graduate school and highlight the need for institutional supports and resources to more successfully retain women and parents in academic careers.