Making “working from home” work for women scientists during the COVID-19 lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown measures have made working from home the ‘new normal’ for researchers worldwide, forcing an urgent reorganization of work and care roles. Without the possibility of relying on public services such as education or social care, scientific researchers are finding themselves juggling new responsibilities at the same time as dealing with anxiety about the world. Because of the gendered nature of care responsibilities, this burden tends to fall more heavily on women.

It’s against this backdrop that the Global Young Academy’s Women in Science Working Group have published “GYA Women in Science stay and work from home: How might we make Covid-19 lockdown work for us?”. The paper shares inspirational stories and advice from women scientists everywhere on how they are dealing with balancing work and family responsibilities.

“It is such an amazing and overwhelming experience to see how women all over the world have similar challenges even under such different circumstances. Our Working Group has shown that we have the willingness to share that we are not superwomen, we struggle like everyone else but we believe in sharing our small wins and helping each other. Only by sharing, we can inspire and encourage not only each other, but also younger women and girls that would like to follow our career paths.”

Roula Inglesi-Lotz (@RoulaILotz), Associate Professor in the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa, and co-leader of the Women in Science Group of GYA.

The shared pieces of advice and practical ideas aim to help others find a positive worldview in these unprecedented times. 

“Strong women support each other by sharing their success mantra and as a result the incredible and magical things happen.”

Arya Shalini Subash, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India, and co-leader of the Women in Science Group of GYA.

Read the full paper: GYA Women in Science stay and work from home: How might we make Covid-19 lockdown work for us?.

The Global Young Academy is an Affiliate Member of the ISC.

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