The COVID-19 Pandemic is Squeezing Women Out of Science

Marina K. Holz, Ph.D.

In the early days of working from home during the pandemic, before everyone discovered virtual backgrounds, I noticed something peculiar. My male coworkers joined meetings from bookshelf-lined offices, while my female colleagues logged in from kitchen tables and living rooms. “My husband and I are both professionals who work from home, yet somehow, he is holed up in the upstairs office, while — as you can see — I am here in the dining room,” one of my co-workers remarked during a recent video conference.

In the past two decades, we have achieved remarkable gains in equalizing the standing of women in science. The numbers of women as lead authors on research papers and recipients of major research grants, in the senior ranks of the tenured professoriate, and in academic leadership have been on the rise. I am one of these success stories, being the first female dean at my institution, one of many to come. There is still much progress to be made, but we started 2020 with great hopes for the new decade.

The pandemic abruptly caused research laboratories to shutter, and working from home became the new normal for most academics. “Great, we will finally have the time to write all the papers we always wanted,” the scientists hopefully proclaimed.

But startling posts shared on social media by journal editors suggest that the share of papers submitted by female scientists has dropped significantly during the past two months. The professional slide for women in science has started to emerge.

While many male scientists, unencumbered by their usual travel and other distractions, have hit their productivity peak, a disproportionate number of women have experienced a productivity deficit — women overwhelmingly picking up the household responsibilities associated with caring for children and aging parents under the dictate to shelter in place. Women scientists were surprised how swiftly this happened to highly educated, self-aware professionals who have long advocated for equity in science but fell into the all-consuming role of the caregiver in their own homes. To be clear, many of us acknowledge that our wonderful spouses, who have been supportive of our careers, shouldering the burdens along the way, did not exactly force us into this domestic role. It just happened that they took over the home office and shut the door.

Institutions across the nation gradually are reopening their research programs, and scientists with schoolage children are scrambling to come up with child care solutions, as daycares and summer camps will not return to business as usual this summer. Running a backyard child care operation while managing a lab is not an option. Hiring a nanny on a graduate student stipend or a postdoc salary is impossible. Scientists are notoriously nomadic as they progress from grad school to postdoc and faculty positions, leaving them without a local network of reliable family and friends. It is clear that the majority of the child care burden will fall on the female heads of household, who will remain at home while their male colleagues return to their offices and labs reenergized. Summer, one of the most productive seasons for scientists, effectively is canceled for many women in science.

It truly would be revealing to see the gender breakdown of grant applications to the National Institutes of Health (the primary federal funder of research) submitted for the June and July deadlines. The adverse effects on female scientists’ productivity — fewer papers, fewer grants —likely will have long-lasting and wide-ranging consequences. Papers and grants are the main currency for competitive fellowships, tenure-track appointments, promotions and awards, the lack of which will affect women scientists disproportionately.

While men return to the active practice of science in all of its glorious forms, a large fraction of women will not, perhaps permanently. Whether or not academic institutions and research funders urgently address this issue now will determine the professional futures of women in science for decades to come.

As appeared in ASBMBToday on June 5, 2020.

When There Is Diversity Without Inclusion

Ira J. Bedzow, Ph.D.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

If there is one thing that Americans can agree on today, it is that people are angry. The cause of the anger is different for everyone, but the common thread that holds the ire together–even when the ire itself tears society apart–is the senseless death. The deaths are senseless in both meanings of the term. They are without purpose, and they are leaving us all incapable of recognizing the pain that Americans feel.

In the past three months, over 100,000 people have died from Covid-19. The majority of these people come from either vulnerable populations, people who are deemed “past their prime,” minorities, or people of lower socio-economic means. Each of these groups can be identified as being outside the standard deviation of society’s bell curve for the “average” American. These are not simply individual tragedies to be mourned. This is a national loss, which has shown how reactive thinking and prioritizing short-term efficiencies over long-term sustainability disallows public preparation for uncertainties. It also shows that the greatest burden of this strategy is placed on those least equipped to handle it.

The past three months have also shown us senseless deaths that are not related to the pandemic. Steven Taylor was shot and killed in a Walmart. Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed while jogging. George Floyd was literally kneeled on to death. These are just three names among many. In every city that has seen protests and violence throughout this past week, other names are included and serve as cries for recognition. When names become symbols, they lose denotation to the persons who carried them. They begin to serve a collective need to replace the needs of the individual lives that were lost. Whichever name is used to recall a senseless death, these incidents show the danger that results when fear and mistrust replace the rule of law. They also reinforce the idea that fear and mistrust may be warranted–at least for those who feel outside the law’s protection.

One may argue that these are all isolated incidents and do not represent a systemic weakness or a quality control issue. However, in private industries that utilize risk analysis and risk management, such as engineering, healthcare, and security, these types of errors are viewed as cumulative act effects, or systemic failures that are not simply caused by human error. When errors occur, leaders and managers engage in a “Swiss cheese model” of analysis that investigates whether the accident can be traced to organizational influences, supervision, or preconditions. The analysis allows for a better understanding of how the act occurred and a more efficient systems-based strategy to prevent it in the future. Think of the initiative that Starbucks established after an employee in one store called 911, claiming that two black men were trespassing. Not only did the manager leave the company; the company’s 175,000 employees had to participate in day long training so that a similar incident would not occur again.

Yet, it does not seem that anyone truly feels protected by the rulers who make the law. Shelter-in-place orders are causing protesters to ignore social distancing and to gather in anger in state capitols. The economic and mental health toll of sheltering in place has not been mitigated in a way that allays the concerns of those who see these orders as a threat to their livelihoods and quality of life. Because of the deep-seeded distrust people have in the authority of their leaders, health guidelines and public health related policies are being construed as attempts at political maneuvering to control the populace. Even financial relief legislation has become viewed as a way to bolster the wealthy’s economic and political power at the expense of small business owners, akin to the creation of the “New Russians” who made their fortunes during Russia’s frenzied transition to a market economy in the 1990s.

The government’s hold on the economy and on society has become the modern, metaphorical Bastille prison in Paris, the symbol of the French dictatorial monarchy. It seems only a matter of time, if it has not happened already, that the status quo will be attacked by an angry and aggressive mob that seeks revolution and overthrow of the old regime to be replaced by the disenfranchised–a moniker now claimed by every group on the political spectrum.

In the U.S. version, however, the mob declares, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” rather than

the French, “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.” It is not that the American ethos does not value the idea that all people are created equal or that we should join in common purpose. These values seem to have become–at this present time–simply too far out of reach or too much to ask for. When life itself seems at risk, let alone one’s pursuit to live life as he or she deems fit, it is hard for people to even imagine values that demand people to see each other as equals and in common relation.

The anger of the current moment, however, did not arise from the experience of the past three months. The social, economic, and public health crisis was simply the pressure cooker that allowed it to cook much faster than it would have otherwise. This fire of discontent has been stoked for years, and the cooking has been uneven, burning different parts at different times.

Just as the anger of the current moment has been simmering for years, it will not subside in a moment–even if the news outlets change headlines quickly. The fire of discontent will not dissipate by shifting direction or by creating distraction. Anger like this needs to be let out. The pressure is just too great to think that it can be held without release. Yet, it need not be destructive. Fire is only dangerous when it is uncontrolled. The person who tends his or her own fire well can use it to melt the hardest of metals to be fashioned as tools.

When people are angry, more important than providing solutions is providing an outlet for people to be heard. Not only for people to speak–as important as the voice that cries bitterly are the ears that are inclined to hear it. We must create a way for individuals to encounter each other. We can no longer live alone, side by side. Good fences do not make good neighbors.

It is not enough to read other people’s tweets or learn about others through books or diversity training. We need to hear other people’s voices, see their faces. And not the collective others, individuals. Listening does not demand agreeing or conforming to a compromised middle–it means being open to the idea that another person lives differently but lives nonetheless. This idea should not be a threat to the listener or his or her life choices, but an affirmation that choices are possible. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” is not one size fits all motto, and when we recognize that, we might also be ready to call for equality and fraternity as well.

As appeared in Forbes on June 1, 2020.

Human Rights and Social Inequity Issues are Magnified by COVID-19

Padmini Murthy, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is considered a powerful document at present, more than 70 years after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its 3rd session on December 10, 1948, in Paris, France.

Since its creation, it is currently available in 360 languages and it is no surprise that it is the most translated document in the world. It is not an exaggeration to refer to it as an acceptable global tool used to measure right and wrong and fight oppression, discrimination and uphold human dignity in communities.

I refer in particular to Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which addresses “the access to medical care, necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of lively hood in circumstances beyond his control.”

In my role as a non-governmental organization (NGO) leader (both nationally and internationally), representing my health NGOs at the United Nations over the past decade and being actively involved in several international health initiatives— including initiatives on the Ebola crisis in Africa—I believe the response globally to the COVID-19 pandemic has failed to address human rights for many people. Shaking the very core of our existence on planet earth, this health crisis has further highlighted the glaring gaps in access to health care and prevalence of social inequalities, which are creating barriers in addressing the crisis.

A specific example is the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), globally in countries for the first responders (i.e., health care providers), essential workers in various settings who are without an exaggeration are in the fight of their lives while helping their fellow citizens. This is, in my opinion, a lack of access as PPE availability is a component of health care access. As a health care professional, I am sad, angry and puzzled by the apathy shown by policymakers and some elected officials in not heading the genuine and earnest pleas for protection by the first responders while they go about doing their jobs with utmost dedication and serving others before their own health and safety. Isn’t this violation of human rights with specific reference to Article 25 of the document as it compromises their security?

On a similar note, I am dismayed to note that the recent statistics about the mortality rates due to COVID-19 in New York are the highest among African Americans, which highlights the persistent socioeconomic inequalities which are raising their ugly heads during the crisis.

It is crucial that stakeholders need to work together and without delay on innovative and effective solutions without social exclusion of vulnerable populations and accelerate the response to address this catastrophe caused by COVID-19 on multiple levels.

A final example of the global human rights failure in the context of COVID-19: maternal mortality in India. Specifically, women who recently gave birth in a public hospital in Hyderabad after the world’s biggest lockdown in India faced several challenges. Some of these include the lack of food and necessary personal supplies needed as the hospital cafeteria was closed, and their relatives were not allowed inside to bring the necessary supplies, and this led to this sorry state of affairs.

Yes, the lockdown measures were enforced, and social distancing enforced to try to reduce the spread of the disease, but unfortunately, there were no mechanisms in place to address the needs of these vulnerable women and their newborn infants. As a woman, I am dismayed and cannot help wondering if men in hospitals would have faced the same challenges faced by these women? I strongly believe this highlights gender discrimination, which is magnified often challenging to address more so during global emergencies caused by war, disease, or natural calamities.

As a global citizen, I appeal to my fellow citizens that we need to strategize on how to level the playing field for all groups of the population and work to ensure that the human rights of all are not violated.

As appeared in Medpage Today’s KevinMD on April 15, 2020.

ETHICS IN THE TIME OF COVID