A couple of years ago my son was invited to a party by a friend from his preschool.  This party fell in a particularly inconvenient week for me.  I had a grant due, several papers on my desk that needed editing, some teaching to prepare for, and we were seeing research patients at night.

Does the time a woman must spend away from research to care for her children undermine her confidence in her scientific abilities? For a number of reasons, Dr. Nesrin Hasirci, a professor of science and mother of two children, believes it might. She advises mentors to step in and encourage these women to stay in the profession.

Reaching the top echelons of science is difficult for women researchers who must take time off for pregnancy and childcare. Professor Habiba Bouhamed Chaabouni argues in favor of evaluating candidates for managerial positions in a way that would be more equitable to scientists who are also mothers.

Women researchers with children are constantly pulled in two different directions. Flexible work schedules in labs and research institutes are key to combining motherhood and science as well as key to keeping women in the profession.

Astrophysicist and mother of two, Isabel Marquez Perez, believes changing the face of science requires making it easier for mothers to stay and more attractive for girls to enter.

Few women are as affected by the rush of the modern world as women scientists. Their duties as mothers, wives, daughters and homemakers take a great deal of time away from their science. Cultural factors can change, but biological factors cannot, and Dr. Eugenia del Pino Veintimilla suggests ways for woman scientists to devise personal coping strategies.