College Students’ Views of Work–Life Balance in STEM Research Careers: Addressing Negative Preconceptions

In career discussions, female undergraduates said that if they were to attend graduate school in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and were to follow a career based on their research training, they would have to give up having a family. A subsequent survey showed that many students, both men and women, thought work-life balance would be more difficult to achieve in a STEM research path than in other professions they were considering. Their views of STEM research being less family-friendly were more pronounced on issues of parental leaves and caring for children than finding a spouse/partner and landing two jobs in the same locality. To provide role models of work-life balance in STEM professions, we convened panels of dual-career couples who described how they worked together to raise their children while advancing their scientific careers. Our selection of panelists and topics of discussion were based on findings of social science research on work-life balance. On a survey with the same questions administered afterward, the changes in paired responses of male and female students with respect to all four issues showed a significant shift toward thinking that a research-based STEM career would be no more difficult than other careers they were considering.