Mayda Arshad
BIO
Medical Writer. Mother of 2.
Instagram: @diaryofasciencemama
Twitter: @MaydaArshad
Mayda Arshad
“During my write-up stages I realised as much as I love research, I want to cherish and spend more time with my children while they are little.”
My journey into research began without any kids. During my initial PhD programme, my supervisor found out I was married and since then she would always find a way to tell me a career in research wasn’t suited for my lifestyle. Experiments always went wrong and she even once said “You should just have kids”.
I decided to leave and apply elsewhere. I was fortunate to get a doctoral scholarship from another university in medical device innovation. After my first year I got pregnant, and once my daughter was born I took 1 year leave before returning to complete my PhD. However, 3 months in and I found out I was pregnant again, but I persisted because I was lucky to have such an amazing research group and supportive supervisor.
I took another year's leave with my son and went back more determined than ever to complete my PhD. I could not have done any of it without my family’s help and support. However, the mother's guilt is always there and remains. I found that I have always valued time with my kids when I’m with them and we use every opportunity we have to learn. Managing both kids wasn’t so bad but it is now harder as they’re a little older… What I found helped me the most was a routine and we stuck to it. I always made sure on weekends the kids had at least one activity with my husband and I.
I have now completed my PhD and am currently just working on amendments.
During my write-up stages I realised as much as I love research, I want to cherish and spend more time with my children while they are little. This became especially apparent because I home-schooled my 4 year old during Covid-19 lockdown and it was such an amazing experience. This has inspired me to also think about going into teaching.
One of the most loveliest things my daughter said to me was, “mama I want to be a research scientist like you one day”. I don’t know what it is about what I’ve been doing that has made her interested in science, but it was so nice to see that it’s something she found cool and interesting because her mama did it.
Research is a demanding career and many women can manage. However, I decided to move to industry and I was lucky to land my first job a few months ago. The first day of my new job was the same day I submitted my thesis. I currently work as a medical writer for a medical device marketing agency, and I work from home which gives me plenty of flexibility with my time.