Why Students Need Professors' Perspective on Family Issues

Donna Nelson

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Science Careers

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Publication Date

1-1-2004

Abstract

Don't ever have a baby. ? They are too much trouble," my mother told me. I deeply respected her opinions, and, because I was extremely serious about my career, decided as a high school student against having children. However, by the time I finished graduate school and got married, I was beginning to hear other opinions on the subject of parenting. As a postdoc, I was part of a female science faculty lunch group that included a couple of older women who had also decided not to have children. I recall them expressing concern and regret about growing older without children and grandchildren; their friends all seemed to enjoy such things, and they would never experience them. I made a rare decision to go against my mother's advice.

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Originally published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). HTML fulltext available through remote link.

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