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Family Leave Policies for Astronomers

Hannah Jang-Condell Carnegie Institution of Washington. Family Leave Policies for Astronomers. AAS 209th Meeting, Seattle, WA CSWA Special Session January 7, 2007. Motivation. Jang-Condell et al., 2004. Some National Policies. Sweden: 390 days paid leave, shared between parents

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Family Leave Policies for Astronomers

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  1. Hannah Jang-Condell Carnegie Institution of Washington Family Leave Policies for Astronomers AAS 209th Meeting, Seattle, WA CSWA Special Session January 7, 2007

  2. Motivation Jang-Condell et al., 2004

  3. Some National Policies • Sweden: 390 days paid leave, shared between parents • Canada: 15 weeks for birth mothers, plus 35 weeks paid parental leave - up to 50 weeks total • The US and Australia are the only industrialized countries without paid maternity leave

  4. US: FMLA • Family and Medical Leave Act • 12 weeks, unpaid • Only applies to companies employing >50 • Employed for the previous 12 months • At least 1,250 hours during those 12 months (24 hrs/wk) • (Australia has 52 weeks unpaid leave)

  5. Parental Leave for Astronomers • Graduate students • Are they employees? Full time or part time? • Postdocs • Employees? Contractors? None of the above? • Dependent source of funding? What about outside fellowships (e.g. Hubble, NSF, etc.)? • Faculty • Does the tenure clock stop? Is this automatic?

  6. CSWP Female-Friendly Departments Survey • Maternity leave • 42 have plans (includes FMLA) • 19 covered under general leave of absences • 70 have no plan/case-by-case basis/informal arrangements • Family Health Benefits • 13 fully covered • 105 plan is available, but costs extra • 13 no plan available (131 responses - http://cswp.womeninphysics.org/results.php)

  7. Caveats • Informal arrangements can work out very well, sometimes better than FMLA. However, depends on having a supportive advisor • Even if a university has a policy in place, the department implements it and has ultimate power

  8. Recommendations • Grad students: add 1 year to thesis clock • Postdocs: extend term commensurate with leave • Faculty: add 1 year to tenure clock • Maintain health benefits during leave

  9. Time and Money • Career gap - risk of falling behind your peers • Unpaid leave not necessarily affordable, especially if dependents don’t get health coverage • Financial - who pays for leave? Gov’t? Univ? grant agencies?

  10. Problems for Postdocs • Taking even 3 months off during a 3-year postdoc can be detrimental • Even if you extend the term, that puts you off-cycle: many jobs have fall start dates • Often aren’t considered employees so FMLA does not apply

  11. Hubble Fellowship2007 Guidelines “Eligibility Applicants must have received a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral-level research degree in astronomy, physics, or a related discipline on or after January 1, 2004.” “Commencement of the Hubble Fellowship The Hubble Fellowship should generally begin on September 1, 2007, but other starting dates may, in individual cases, be jointly negotiated with the Fellow, the Host Institution, and the STScI Hubble Fellowship Program Office. All Fellowships must in any case commence by the end of 2007.”

  12. Recommendations • Prize Fellowships (e.g. Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra) should develop family leave policies • Universities should ensure that all researchers at their institutions have family leave policies, regardless of their funding source • Leave policies should be publicly available • Establish grant programs (NSF, NASA, AAS) to fund family leave

  13. Faculty • Some women view taking maternity leave as a sign of weakness and don’t take it, thereby hurting themselves and their families • Make extensions to the tenure clock automatic rather than by petition

  14. Other Important Issues • Health benefits - coverage for spouse and dependents • Childcare

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