Collection 10 February 2021

Juggling scientific careers and family life

Career milestones often coincide with big life events. These insights from scientist parents, scientist couples and scientist caregivers tackle global career move dilemmas, home schooling challenges, and work-life balance tensions.

Advice

Being a parent is a hidden scientific superpower — here’s why

My lack of time and fresh perspective has made me a better, more focused scientist, says nutrition epidemiologist Lindsey Smith Taillie.
- Lindsey Smith Taillie
Career Column13 Mar 2024 Nature
Could roving researchers help address the challenge of taking parental leave?

Institutions are taking notice of a handful of programmes designed to address the issues scientists face when choosing to take a long-term absence.
- Amy Coombs
Career Feature7 Feb 2024 Nature
Researchers revolt against weekend conferences

Parents are pushing for employers to respect family time and keep meetings strictly to working hours.
- Amy Coombs
Career Feature1 Nov 2023 Nature
A family affair: how scientist parents’ career paths can influence children’s choices

Early exposure to science inspired four researchers to pursue research careers.
- Andy Tay
Career Feature12 Jun 2023 Nature
Couples and colleagues: how scientist duos marry work and home life

You can work successfully with a romantic partner. Meet the researchers who have cracked it.
- Rachael Pells
Career Feature14 Feb 2023 Nature
It’s time to make science in remote places family-friendly

Melissa Ward Jones and Mette Bendixen share their stories of juggling parenting and fieldwork, and argue that more should be done to help retain scientist-parents, particularly women, in academia.
- Melissa Ward Jones
- Mette Bendixen
Career Column23 Jul 2022 Nature
Childcare crowdfunding campaigns aim to keep mums on the academic track

The lack of affordable childcare threatens the retention of scientist parents, especially mothers and those of colour.
- Virginia Gewin
Career Feature9 May 2022 Nature
How we found our way through our fertility issues in academia

Our journeys were different — but we both found solace in sharing our pain with a supportive network of colleagues, say Clare McFadden and Alison Behie
- Clare McFadden
- Alison Behie
Career Column10 Feb 2022 Nature
My international-student group helped me through a hurricane

When Hurricane Elsa hit her home nation, Sheri McDowell turned to her newly formed support committee.
- Sheri McDowell
Career Column12 Nov 2021 Nature
Adopting as academics: what we learnt

Our quest to bring a child into our family led us to confront academic working practices, say Tony Ly and Nathan W. Bailey.
- Tony Ly
- Nathan W. Bailey
Career Column18 Nov 2021 Nature
The parenting penalties faced by scientist mothers

Starting a family at a key career stage comes at a cost to birthing parents — and many end up leaving the profession as a result.
- Kendall Powell
Career Feature20 Jul 2021 Nature
How we embarked on a long-distance relationship on behalf of our research career

Many scientist couples move abroad together, but Gidiane Scaratti and Rafael Kenji Nishihora chose to live and work in different countries. This is what they learnt.
- Gidiane Scaratti
- Rafael Kenji Nishihora
Career Column29 Apr 2021 Nature
One scientist couple’s five suggestions to solve the ‘two body problem’

Sarah A. Gagliano Taliun and her husband made a Plan A, but were prepared to re-evaluate their priorities to find jobs where they could live together.
- Sarah A. Gagliano Taliun
Career Column6 Apr 2021 Nature
How I advocate the importance of vaccines to my Black family

My community has a deep-rooted, justified, historical mistrust of human experimentation and scientific programmes. Here’s how I’m making a difference.
- Ty Fletcher-Beals
Career Column8 Mar 2021 Nature
How to wear your baby to work

Genoa R. Warner found a new way to manage her work–life balance.
- Genoa R. Warner
Career Column5 Nov 2020 Nature
How I managed my work and personal life as a sole parent during the pandemic

Staying connected with other single-parent academics through a Facebook group was one of four steps taken by Antica Culina to survive the lockdown.
- Antica Culina
Career Column26 Aug 2020 Nature
My triplets had coronavirus anxiety — so I taught them how to do science

They have an idea for a new experiment now, says Jeremy Grabbe.
- Jeremy Grabbe
Career Column19 Jun 2020 Nature
Screams on a Zoom call: the theory of homeworking with kids meets reality

Neurobiologist Anne-Laure Mahul-Mellier has found life under lockdown harder than she thought.
- Anne-Laure Mahul-Mellier
Career Column1 May 2020 Nature
Being a caregiver while caring about a PhD

Luke Yates discusses how he coped with his wife’s long illness during his PhD programme.
- Luke Yates
Career Column13 Jan 2020 Nature
Shared parental leave: making it work for the whole family

Lynsey Bunnefeld and her spouse took advantage of shared parental leave following their son’s birth, and this is what it taught them.
- Lynsey Bunnefeld
Career Column9 Oct 2019 Nature
Becoming a parent in graduate school shaped my approach to work–life balance

Karishma Kaushik thinks that learning to share details of her personal life at work has made her a better academic mentor.
- Karishma Kaushik
Career Column18 Oct 2019 Nature
How a decision-analysis tool helped one scientist couple make some tough career choices

When ecologist Rachel Katz was offered a government job in a region with few academic options for her partner, herpetologist Sean Sterrett, a decision-analysis tool helped to solve their ‘two-body problem’.
- Rachel Katz
- Sean Sterrett
Career Column5 Jul 2019 Nature
One couple, two cities: How to handle an international career move

Mette Bendixen and Lars Iversen found a creative solution to their ‘two-body problem’.
- Mette Bendixen
- Lars Iversen
Career Column14 Feb 2019 Nature
Juggling research and family life: honest reflections from scientist dads

Five fathers describe how they and their partners combine parenting and careers.
- David Payne
Career Feature27 Nov 2018 Nature
Relationships: Sweethearts in science

When couples are colleagues, work–life balance is key.
- Amber Dance
Feature9 Feb 2017 Nature
When two worlds collide

One half of a physics couple that met online, Jennifer Ouellette seeks some advice from married scientists on how to handle both long-distance and up-close relationships, while juggling career and family. Can love survive?
- Jennifer Ouellette
News Feature14 Feb 2007 Nature
Love in the lab: Close collaborators

Romance often sparks between colleagues, and scientists are no different. Nature profiles four super-couples who have combined love and the lab.
- Kerri Smith
News Feature25 Jun 2014 Nature

Juggling scientific careers and family life

Advice

Being a parent is a hidden scientific superpower — here’s why

Could roving researchers help address the challenge of taking parental leave?

Researchers revolt against weekend conferences

A family affair: how scientist parents’ career paths can influence children’s choices

Couples and colleagues: how scientist duos marry work and home life

It’s time to make science in remote places family-friendly

Childcare crowdfunding campaigns aim to keep mums on the academic track

How we found our way through our fertility issues in academia

My international-student group helped me through a hurricane

Adopting as academics: what we learnt

The parenting penalties faced by scientist mothers

How we embarked on a long-distance relationship on behalf of our research career

One scientist couple’s five suggestions to solve the ‘two body problem’

How I advocate the importance of vaccines to my Black family

How to wear your baby to work

How I managed my work and personal life as a sole parent during the pandemic

My triplets had coronavirus anxiety — so I taught them how to do science

Screams on a Zoom call: the theory of homeworking with kids meets reality

Being a caregiver while caring about a PhD

Shared parental leave: making it work for the whole family

Becoming a parent in graduate school shaped my approach to work–life balance

How a decision-analysis tool helped one scientist couple make some tough career choices

One couple, two cities: How to handle an international career move

Juggling research and family life: honest reflections from scientist dads

Relationships: Sweethearts in science

When two worlds collide

Love in the lab: Close collaborators

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