João Pereira
BIO
Assistant professor of neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA). Father of four in a dual academic couple.
João Pereira
“My spouse was let go while pregnant, just a few months after receiving emails from her PI stating how essential she was.”
I met my spouse, Ana, in middle school. It was her eyes. Beautiful, large, brown, hidden behind pink glasses and a gorgeous smile. I didn’t stand a chance. We finally married in 2011 and purchased an apartment in our favorite city spot, dreaming of having a family. Life had other plans for us: shifts in the job market left us both in a precarious position. Having just finished my PhD, I applied to a prestigious research group at Harvard Medical School and spent the next few months convincing Ana that the USA was a perfectly safe place to go, that Boston was safe, and that it would be an excellent place to raise our family.
We landed in Boston in 2013, and loved the city. Maybe we could start our family here, even on J1 and J2 visas. Boston was vibrant and filled with life: all the activities, the parks, the outdoor movies, the culture, and the marathon. It had been three weeks since we first landed and a Portuguese friend suggested she and Ana go to the marathon's finish line while I worked. But she had to cancel. To this day, I don't know why I asked Ana not to go by herself, but I did.
An hour later, the hospital sounded an alarm: an external catastrophe — a potential terrorist attack. The next few days were a blur. I stayed in an empty apartment with only an inflatable bed and used the nearby Wok and Talk's Wi-Fi to keep up with the news. The US came together over this. Boston was, in fact, strong. Because of this, we put our family on hold. It took me changing positions and starting a new postdoc and Ana starting her postdoc for us to think it was finally time to start our family.
My spouse was let go while pregnant with our first child just a few months after receiving emails from her PI stating how essential she was. So, our first daughter was born on a single paycheck and life was much more challenging than planned.
Her employer said funds had run out, but we knew they hadn’t: a friend had just been offered a position in the same lab! Ana was let go from her job, going from being “essential to the lab” to “funds have run out.”
We lost a first-month deposit we made to secure a daycare, as we couldn’t afford our child to stay there anymore. Being on a J2 dependent visa, Ana had to interrupt her career not once but twice to care for our children. I hated this! My spouse is brilliant, and the fact that we had no choice in the matter due to visas angers me to this day.
We had our second daughter in 2018. We had always wanted more than one child, and life as a postdoc restricts our timeline. But the girls loved each other, and we were managing. Life could be ok or very tough, and daycare was still impossible.
There was a point when renting our $2000 one-bedroom apartment became unbearable. We had next-door neighbors who would bang on the walls when our children cried, and on a postdoc salary in one of the most prestigious institutions in the US, we couldn't afford a new one.
At one point, I requested a pay bump. I had transitioned to an H1B visa and worked as a postdoc with HMS-affiliated hospitals for over five years. I was told, "When you submit." Then, "When it goes for review." Finally, "when you publish". I left before the paper was out and never got a pay rise.
Ultimately, I joined a start-up biotech company and finally got better pay – I even had the privilege of realizing it wasn't for me and returning to academia, to Yale University, to act as a scientific director of a core. To say: "Wouldn't it be wonderful to have one more?" and be surprised with identical twin boys.
And finally, I was offered a tenure-track position at the University of Alabama at Birmingham this year. But I won't forget. I won't forget struggling to feed my children while being asked to publish papers before I get a pay rise. I won't forget the gatekeeping from lower pay in academia. I won't forget my brilliant spouse putting her career on hold. Twice! Visa restrictions are a huge source of stress. Gender inequality and lower pay in science end up being a very effective gatekeeping tool.
An academic science job is challenging to afford and justify as a parent. Is it worth it? I think so. I have hope. I hope that I and others can change this system that so desperately needs mothers but is then openly hostile to them. A system that asks mothers to justify career breaks and family leave, and has no options for daycare.
I think I can perhaps be in a position to help recruit women in science, promote them, and encourage them to take time off without limitations, like Ana deserved.