Claudia Segovia-Salcedo
BIO
Associate professor in Ecuador, expert in plant conservation, mom of two teenagers.
Instagram: @claudiasegoviasalcedo
Twitter: @mariacsegovia
Claudia Segovia-Salcedo
“Motherhood is considered a woman’s personal issue and it is not included in your career.”
Motherhood changed my life, but also the way I looked at science. I did my MSc when I was single, and my PhD while married with two kids. Everything was different. I realized very quickly that motherhood is not included in academia. In most cases, student-parents are not visible in the academic structure. Then, you and your family must adapt to academic life, not the other way around. However, I found out that women’s sorority can provide moral and supportive care to help achieve your academic and personal goals.
I want to thank the wonderful women at the University of Florida and the group PhDMoms (now UF Student-Parents). I learned to deal with my academic duties as well as motherhood during my PhD studies.
I realized that you need a safe environment to talk, to grow, to feel accompanied and even to heal, and often as a student-mother, you don’t have that. I also learnt the importance of good mentorship, supportive advisors and a real partner.
Now I have tried to follow that lead in my natal country Ecuador, working with young students and women scientists at the Ecuadorian Network of Women in Science (REMCI). We work on women in science’s visibility, capacity building, and nurturing a safe and supportive network - a network of mostly mothers. As a professor I understand that my life experience as a woman and a mother contributes to my academic work, my perspective of science, and how I organise my time.
But I am still struggling. In my country, as in many other Latin countries, motherhood is considered a woman’s personal issue and it is not included in your career. But my network of supportive women is my most valuable tool, and helps to not feel alone.
I am convinced that each one of us can change our future and the future of young women in science, but we need to work together, talk about these issues, and face them.