Yesterday, Shoshanna Barnett hosted a workshop on pregnancy during graduate school at the University of Washington.  We discussed some of the more common issues that you might expect (what concerns should lab workers have if they are expecting?) as well as some that were surprising (did you know UW doesn’t have a policy in place for maternity leave for its graduate students?).

Shoshanna brought up many good points, including a discussion on the predominant cultural idea within science that graduate students should wait until after our degrees to start families.  How does this idea affect us and how does it lead to hidden sexism within our workplace?

This was a very valuable workshop for those who are considering families but also for those who are not, but want to support gender equality in the workplace through both policy and attitudes.  Thanks, Shoshanna!