Collateral Damage: Investigating the Impacts of COVID on STEM Professionals with Caregiving Responsibilities

Kelli Paul; Jungsun Kim; Amanda Diekman; Allison Godwin; Andrew Katz; Adam Maltese

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: WIED: Partnering with and Supporting the WIED Community
Page Count: 19
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41736
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41736
Download Count: 424

Dr. Kelli Paul is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Research on Learning and Technology at Indiana University where her research focuses on the development of STEM interests, identity, and career aspirations in children and adolescents.

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Jungsun Kim Indiana University-Bloomington

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Allison Godwin Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE)

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Allison Godwin, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education and of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. She is also the Engineering Workforce Development Director for CISTAR, the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. Her research focuses on how identity, among other affective factors, influences diverse students to choose engineering and persist in engineering. She also studies how different experiences within the practice and culture of engineering foster or hinder belonging and identity development. Dr. Godwin graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Engineering and Science Education. Her research earned her a National Science Foundation CAREER Award focused on characterizing latent diversity, which includes diverse attitudes, mindsets, and approaches to learning to understand engineering students’ identity development.

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Andrew Katz Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Amanda Diekman

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Abstract

Numerous reports have showcased the negative impacts of the pandemic on women in the workforce—especially those in STEM and with caregiving responsibilities—and the ways in which COVID-19 has further compounded the challenges they face. We developed a survey to investigate how these individuals have navigated the pandemic, asking them to compare their experiences before and during the pandemic as well as to prospectively consider a future as we begin to recover from the pandemic. We compare self-reported pandemic experiences of these NSF STEM professionals, contrasting by gender and caregiving status. Specifically, we address how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the professional and personal lives of STEM professionals and whether these effects emerge primarily as gender effects, primarily as caregiver effects, or at the intersection of gender and caregiving roles. Our results highlighted that women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men in STEM have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, since they tend to bear the heavier load of caregiving responsibilities. Compared to cismen and non-caregivers, they reported decreased productivity in and satisfaction with their job/work; reduced time spent on research/writing but increased time teaching; an increased toll of societal, political, and personal physical/mental health; and greater blurring of boundaries between work and personal life. To date, the story told about the impact of the pandemic has focused on the acute crisis of COVID-19 on the STEM workforce. It may be too early to tell what the abiding, long-term effects will be for STEM professionals. As we move forward, we must begin to focus on the long-range story of what we do to support individuals in the STEM professions, preventing an “epidemics loss” of caregivers and women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men. We compare self-reported pandemic experiences of these NSF STEM professionals, contrasting by gender and caregiving status. Specifically, we address how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the professional and personal lives of STEM professionals and whether these effects emerge primarily as gender effects, primarily as caregiver effects, or at the intersection of gender and caregiving roles. Our results highlighted that women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men in STEM have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, since they tend to bear the heavier load of caregiving responsibilities. Compared to cismen and non-caregivers, they reported decreased productivity in and satisfaction with their job/work; reduced time spent on research/writing but increased time teaching; an increased toll of societal, political, and personal physical/mental health; and greater blurring of boundaries between work and personal life. To date, the story told about the impact of the pandemic has focused on the acute crisis of COVID-19 on the STEM workforce. It may be too early to tell what the abiding, long-term effects will be for STEM professionals. As we move forward, we must begin to focus on the long-range story of what we do to support individuals in the STEM professions, preventing an “epidemics loss” of caregivers and women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men.

Citation
Format

Maltese, A., & Paul, K., & Kim, J., & Godwin, A., & Katz, A., & Diekman, A. (2022, August), Collateral Damage: Investigating the Impacts of COVID on STEM Professionals with Caregiving Responsibilities Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41736

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Numerous reports have showcased the negative impacts of the pandemic on women in the workforce—especially those in STEM and with caregiving responsibilities—and the ways in which COVID-19 has further compounded the challenges they face. We developed a survey to investigate how these individuals have navigated the pandemic, asking them to compare their experiences before and during the pandemic as well as to prospectively consider a future as we begin to recover from the pandemic.
We compare self-reported pandemic experiences of these NSF STEM professionals, contrasting by gender and caregiving status. Specifically, we address how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the professional and personal lives of STEM professionals and whether these effects emerge primarily as gender effects, primarily as caregiver effects, or at the intersection of gender and caregiving roles. Our results highlighted that women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men in STEM have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, since they tend to bear the heavier load of caregiving responsibilities. Compared to cismen and non-caregivers, they reported decreased productivity in and satisfaction with their job/work; reduced time spent on research/writing but increased time teaching; an increased toll of societal, political, and personal physical/mental health; and greater blurring of boundaries between work and personal life.
To date, the story told about the impact of the pandemic has focused on the acute crisis of COVID-19 on the STEM workforce. It may be too early to tell what the abiding, long-term effects will be for STEM professionals. As we move forward, we must begin to focus on the long-range story of what we do to support individuals in the STEM professions, preventing an “epidemics loss” of caregivers and women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men.
We compare self-reported pandemic experiences of these NSF STEM professionals, contrasting by gender and caregiving status. Specifically, we address how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the professional and personal lives of STEM professionals and whether these effects emerge primarily as gender effects, primarily as caregiver effects, or at the intersection of gender and caregiving roles. 
Our results highlighted that women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men in STEM have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, since they tend to bear the heavier load of caregiving responsibilities. Compared to cismen and non-caregivers, they reported decreased productivity in and satisfaction with their job/work; reduced time spent on research/writing but increased time teaching; an increased toll of societal, political, and personal physical/mental health; and greater blurring of boundaries between work and personal life.  
To date, the story told about the impact of the pandemic has focused on the acute crisis of COVID-19 on the STEM workforce. It may be too early to tell what the abiding, long-term effects will be for STEM professionals. As we move forward, we must begin to focus on the long-range story of what we do to support individuals in the STEM professions, preventing an “epidemics loss” of caregivers and women, non-binary individuals, and transgender men. 
AU  - Adam Maltese
AU  - Kelli Paul
AU  - Jungsun Kim
AU  - Allison Godwin
AU  - Andrew Katz
AU  - Amanda Diekman
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Collateral Damage: Investigating the Impacts of COVID on STEM Professionals with Caregiving Responsibilities
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41736
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41736
ER  -