Women, parents and early-career faculty in ecology most impacted by COVID‐19 15 Dec, 2020
Mom teaches daughter for work on laptop. Photo: shixart1985 is licensed with CC BY 2.0.
In April 2020, Lise Aubry learned that the daycare her children attended in Fort Collins would be closed for several weeks. Aubry, an assistant professor in the Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Department at Colorado State University, and her husband, Professor Dave Koons, began to juggle childcare at home for their two kids – ages 4 months and 4 years old – and work responsibilities.
Aubry said she was happy after a successful day early on of balancing these duties, having completed at least six hours of work.
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In April 2020, Lise Aubry learned that the daycare her children attended in Fort Collins would be closed for several weeks. Aubry, an assistant professor in the Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Department at Colorado State University, and her husband, Professor Dave Koons, began to juggle childcare at home for their two kids - ages 4 months and 4 years old - and work responsibilities.
Aubry said she was happy after a successful day early on of balancing these duties, having completed at least six hours of work. Reflecting on the day, I felt pretty good, said Aubry, also an instructor for the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology at CSU. But I realized there might be other people - single parents, young faculty starting out - in the university setting who were really struggling.
Non-tenured and female faculty feeling COVID burdens, study says
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many faculty scientists to come in from field work and leave their labs for makeshift home workspaces. Those disruptions have affected faculty differently.
Purdue University and Colorado State University researchers surveyed ecology and evolutionary biology faculty across the United States to understand how the pandemic is affecting them and their work. In the journal Ecological Applications, they report that junior faculty and female faculty especially those with children are most negatively affected.
“Women in these fields are often still primarily responsible for their children, and we found that this is obstructing them from keeping up with the demands of their research and teaching,” said Zhao Ma, a professor in Purdue’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources. “Faculty seeking tenure or promotion feel a lot of pressure to conduct and publish r
916 students are studying from their home countries
December 10, 2020 SHARE
Arts & Sciences sophomore Serena Wu has chosen to take most of her courses synchronously, which means she is often in class until 3 a.m. She connects with classmates through the student group Washington University China Forum.
Though far from campus, 916 international students are finding new ways to connect to the Washington University in St. Louis community. Faculty members have established special discussion sections and office hours, schools are recruiting mentors and students are creating their own support networks in their home countries.
“What makes WashU special is the excellent education and the caring community,” said Ruthie Pyles, associate dean and director of graduate enrollment management at Olin Business School. “We’re learning that we can still deliver those things today, just in a different way.”