Padmini Rangamani is a university professor, principal investigator (PI), mother and—since COVID-19 shut down schools in California—a teacher/supervisor/helper to her elementary school-aged children who are learning remotely.
If you think that sounds like a lot for an 8-hour workday, you’d be correct. Add in other household obligations, and it’s even too much for the 24-hour day, nevermind eating or sleeping. But, Rangamani is not alone in this crisis. Mothers of all kinds have been forced to bear the brunt of the pandemic, with advocates calling on President Joe Biden to embrace a Marshall Plan for Moms.
Initially, Rangamani turned to a support network of fellow female faculty members around the United States before the group decided to branch out. They have now published an article in PLOS Computational Biology titled, “Ten simple rules for women principal investigators during a pandemic.” In addition to helpful advise for women in similar positions, the article also contains suggestions for how institutions can help working moms during this busy time.
Suggestion 1: Find a peer group of women to provide professional support
The article authors are not only members of the same online group of women PIs in biomedical engineering, but each woman also has a smaller network to pull support from. These groups can comprise women from the same department or university, from similar racial/ethnic background, or women with similar family situations. The value of mentorship and peer networks in STEM has been shown to be higher than most industries—and now is certainly not an exception.
Institutional support: The authors suggest institutions provide financial support to enable women to participate in peer groups, such as the Association for Women in Science.
Suggestion 2: Say no to requests to do anything outside of your main responsibilities
“Perhaps you say no to peer review requests. Maybe you pass on a request to serve on a new committee. As things normalize, you can return to these tasks if they are important to you,” the authors write in their article.
Institutional support: Institutions should make clear that pandemic actions, such as canceling external and nonessential service work, will have no effect on future promotion decisions. Suspending the tenure clock for probationary faculty is also a way to reduce stress and burden—and not just for women.
Suggestion 3: Drop something
Essentially, something has to give. The authors encourage looking at your teaching/service load to see if there are any items that can be put off or delegated. Perhaps a TA can step in for a specific part of virtual learning? Unfortunately, this may mean not getting around to writing the paper you had intended. That’s been a common scenario, with women falling behind in scientific publishing from the very beginning of the pandemic. If that makes you queasy, perhaps it would be easier to drop something from your homelife. Order out one extra day a week, don’t clean the bathroom for a few days, see how many times you can step on a LEGO before truly not being able to take it anymore.
Institutional support: Much like the previous suggestion, institutions can support women PIs here by reevaluating tenure and promotional expectations/clock, and negating “extras,” like course evaluations.
Suggestion 4: When you have energy to do more than the minimum, use it to support women and underrepresented groups
“If you are in the position to support women and underrepresented groups and have the energy, pick a cause and lean into it. Also, recognize that this action can take many forms, some of which may be a better fit for your individual situation. As examples of larger/more public actions, you could lobby your institution for policies to address the pandemic gender-related gap due to caregiving burdens, or push funding agencies to close racial disparities,” the authors suggest.
Institutional support: Invite women and unrepresented PIs to present their work when possible, and provide an honorarium to cover caregiving costs for the time they will need to prepare and present virtually so that they can fully engage.
Suggestion 5: Remember, you know yourself best
Make a list of 10 personal stress-reliving activities—and make sure you try one of them every now and then!
Institutional support: Offer employees access to programming that supports both physical and mental wellness.
Suggestion 6: It's OK to push back
Do not hesitate to use for your voice if colleagues start proposing extra work due to “won hours” without commutation and on-site disruptions. If you are balking at a colleague saying, “everyone is writing more grants now,” odds are, you’re not the only one—but you may be the only one comfortable enough to say something. Speak loud and proud.
Institutional support: Provide training and educational resources to ensure everyone understands the complexities women colleagues are facing during COVID-19. Be flexible.
Suggestion 7: You have some flexibility to make your own schedule
If you have pockets of time that are best for you to focus, protect them. Likewise, if there are specific times your family needs you, protect those times too by blocking out your calendar or simply being completely offline. "If you want to say 'I can't meet at this time, because I need to be on a Zoom with my kids, that doesn't mean you're not serious about your job or not doing your job well," Rangamani said. "We want to reduce this perception bias."
Institutional support: Offer remote work and online teaching options for all faculty, instructors and staff. Additionally, utilize polling methods to identify meeting times rather than relying on meeting times from prior semesters.
Suggestion 8: Whatever help you can get, take it
“Help with work tasks may come in the form of engaging staff who have limited telework—providing them with work may help them to avoid furlough, teach them new skills, and potentially lead to lasting support. For those with caregiving, help might come in the form of a family member who can provide childcare or screen time–based rewards that give you focused time to work,” the authors write.
Institutional support: Create solutions beyond Family and Medical Leave Act that allow caregivers enhanced flexibility.
Suggestion 9: Do your best to remember that others are struggling too—be empathetic and work to build a community
Some of the author PIs have arranged virtual or socially distanced events for researchers in their lab, and it was much appreciated. The activities do not need to be long or elaborate—just quick reminders that everyone is in this together and empathy for a fellow colleague goes a long way. For example, empathy could mean that when you assign a task to a group member or staff, you ask what a feasible timeline would be given their other responsibilities.
Institutional support: Provide leave options that maintain benefits for people at all levels, expand mental health care options and dedicate funds to subsidize childcare costs for trainees.
Suggestion 10: Don't lose your sense of humor
“We know, there is nothing funny about this situation. Many of us have needed or will need space to grieve deeply. However, our experience is that where you can share a laugh, you should,” the authors write.
Institutional support: Use social media outlets to build a community and provide moments of levity when possible.
While terrible, the authors believe COVID-19 can provide life-long lessons that will ultimately help those who are currently feeling under water.
“This global health crisis may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the academy to take a close look at how we can empower our vulnerable colleagues and make policy changes to change our culture for the better,” concluded Rangamani.
Photo: Padmini Rangamani, a professor at the University of California San Diego, is one of the co-authors of a recent article with 10 suggestions for women PIs. Credit: UCSD