Good science is diverse science!
This means that the diversity of society must be reflected at all levels of knowledge production and the academic system. Science cannot afford discrimination and exclusion. Especially not of highly qualified researchers who are also responsible for care (care: refers to caregiving and/or nursing work, as well as all forms of care, tending, and looking after someone). Why? Because a highly diverse society depends on diverse scientists. Despite this, it is precisely parents and those caring for relatives who experience disadvantage in the academic system.
To counter existing discrimination, it must first be made visible. Discrimination based on structural racism, sexism, classism, and ableism in academia is already partially documented. However, one largely overlooked potential source of discrimination lies in the structure of research funding programs with regard to researchers who are also responsible for care.
This blogpost discusses a pilot study, developed by SAFI in cooperation with the Network for Motherhood and Science, WÆ, and funded by the Max Traeger Foundation of the GEW, demonstrates systematic discrimination against parents and other caregivers in the German academic system. The aim was to analyze and expose discriminatory tendencies toward parents and unpaid caregivers in the third-party funding sector of the German research funding system. We conducted an online survey on the discrimination experiences of parents and other unpaid caregivers in the context of research funding programs was conducted, and received almost 140 responses.
This pilot study fills an important gap in existing research about parents and other unpaid caregivers in academia.
Relevance and Context
There is currently a lack of reliable and systematically collected data on how many researchers in Germany are parents or take on caregiving roles (see BuWiN Consortium 2021). Parenthood is not systematically recorded (see Christ 2022). Despite this data gap, individual surveys provide insight into the precarious situation of parents. Researchers, despite expressing a strong desire to have children, are significantly less likely to be parents than their peers in other professions (see BuWiN 2017). About one-sixth of PhD students and nearly half of those with doctorates have children — men more often than women.
A new study by Mothers in Science also shows that 34% of the few mothers in academia leave their full-time positions after having one or more children (see Torres et al. 2023; Beutel & Schleifer 2022). Those who try to reconcile family and academia face challenges such as family-unfriendly work hours (e.g., committee meetings in the evenings), constant fixed-term contracts, and the academic necessity of geographic mobility — which is nearly impossible with school-aged children (see Zheng et al. 2022; Czerney et al. 2020).
This blog post highlights some drivers of discrimination. The full study and its recommendations can be found here.
Selection Criteria
Performance evaluations ignores, or insufficiently considers, parental leave and child-rearing periods. Parents and caregivers are directly disadvantaged when we measure academic quality primarily by the quantity of publications (see Mason et al. 2013).
Academic Age Instead of Age Limits
Age limits are one of the biggest barriers to access in third-party funding programs. General age restrictions at the time of application directly disadvantage caregivers and parents compared to applicants without children. The concept of “academic age” is not yet standardized in Germany. Arbitrary standards are often applied, and academic age is not necessarily used as a decision-making basis. Academic age should include caregiving periods, time lost due to long illnesses, special care responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, or part-time work.
Standards for Non-Discriminatory Reviews
Study participants reported negative experiences with reviewers who exhibited bias or made discriminatory remarks (e.g., regarding gender and age). When assessing publication performance, caregiving responsibilities and the resulting resource limitations were often ignored, [AD4] and sometimes even penalized. For example, the longer duration of PhD studies due to the pandemic was often not considered.
Maternity and Parental Leave as the Norm
When participants took maternity or parental leave during funding periods, they encountered various forms of discrimination in practice. Contracts and funding were often not extended accordingly. There were no funds for hiring replacements during pregnancy, maternity, or parental leave. Parental benefits were very low. Reduced working hours or extensions of project timelines were not provided. Returning from parental leave was difficult, and projects or qualification work had to be abandoned if interrupted by leave. Funding sometimes had to be repaid. Women were seen as risk factors, while men were considered success factors (see van den Brink & Benschop 2012).
Childcare Funding for Events
The lack of childcare allowances and financial support for childcare during evening events, conferences, and business trips imposes significant financial burdens on families. Often, there is no childcare provided at the venue, no coverage for non-traveling children at home, and no support for a companion (e.g., for breastfeeding infants). As a result, parents are frequently unable to attend necessary academic events.
Coverage for International Stays
For researchers with children, international stays often involve high costs for travel, accommodation, and childcare or schooling for accompanying children. Additionally, daycare or school places in Germany often still need to be paid for to avoid losing them. The demand for international mobility leads to high costs for families and often reinforces traditional gender roles (see França & Padilla 2017; Jöns 2011).
Support for Multiply Burdened Grantees
Single parents, already heavily burdened, are rarely considered in funding practices, which are often designed for traditional two-parent families. Those who care for sick or elderly relatives must receive specific support. The (temporal, financial, and emotional) burden of caring for someone with dementia or a terminal illness must be acknowledged. Applicants with disabilities must receive tailored support, and additional resources must be provided in cases of associated discrimination, such as having a disabled child: where mobility, for instance, is a significant challenge.
Appropriate Funding Rates
In Germany funding rates often do not provide a living wage. In some cases, full funding fell below the social security threshold. The qualification level of grantees was thus not appropriately compensated. Furthermore, since scholarships are often not subject to social security, recipients face significant disadvantages regarding retirement benefits and financial security after the grant period: there is no entitlement to unemployment benefits, and in the event of subsequent parenthood, only the minimum parental allowance (€300) is granted.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The study shows that caregivers – still predominantly women in Germany – are systematically discriminated against in German academia. Diverse forms of discrimination were identified, which directly impact academic work and careers. The sustainable inclusion of all talents and potentials in science and research is not just a matter of justice but also a matter of better research and project outcomes (see BMBF 2024). Yet the study reveals a wide range of discrimination against parents and caregivers in the third-party funding sector of the academic system. This discrimination against highly qualified parents and caregivers is unacceptable. It undermines the quality standards of third-party funded research by excluding a specific group of researchers — even though improving work-family balance is an official policy goal of the BMBF (see BMBF 2024), and most funding institutions recognize that diverse perspectives and the inclusion of all researchers’ experiences are prerequisites for excellent science (see DFG 2024).
Systematically Track Care Work
Parenthood and caregiving responsibilities are not yet systematically and adequately recorded by universities and research institutions. Yet proper monitoring is part of any professional funding practice — without it, structural discrimination remains invisible and support measures fall short.
Care Concerns Everyone
While gender and the role of women in science are recognized as cross-cutting issues in all areas of work by the BMBF (see BMBF 2024), parents do not have a distinct status and are not protected by a dedicated characteristic in the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). Support measures for families are often framed as women’s promotion programs. But treating parenthood as a women’s issue like in Germany reinforces traditional gender roles, obstructs equal opportunities, and perpetuates invisible discrimination. Care work must be recognized as the foundation of society — and should be acknowledged, assessed, and rewarded accordingly. A cultural shift in both society and academia is essential. Academia should lead by example.
Legal Review of Current Practices and Further Research
Further research is urgently needed to address parenthood in the context of research funding. This includes legal expertise to assess the systemic discrimination of parents in current funding practices. Although many funding institutions are publicly financed, their awarding practices often do not comply with the Federal Equal Opportunities Act (BGleiG). Public funding should therefore require these institutions to align with BGleiG statutes. Our aim is a non-discriminatory funding practice that fosters the individual talents and competencies of all members of the academic community, enables equal access to career paths, and identifies and eliminates both concrete and structural disadvantages in academic careers.
Dr. Sabrina Zucca-Soest (Helmut-Schmidt-Universität Hamburg)