Gretchen Goldman responds to this interview late at night, by e-mail, when everyone is sleeping at home.
It is 00.10 in Washington, United States and the workday is not over for this scientist who has become popular on social networks after she showed with an image how difficult it is to maintain the balance between personal and professional life during pandemic.
Dressed in a
yellow
blazer
, Gretchen Goldman gave her opinion to CNN from her living room on the election of David Legates, a climate change denier, to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, for his acronym in English).
After her intervention, the Research Director of the Center for Science and Democracy wrote on Twitter: "Just to be honest. # DíaDeUnaMamáCientífica" and shared an image of what the place from which she records her interviews is like.
Just so I'm being honest.
#SciMomJourneys pic.twitter.com/4yZMKtVxwP
- Gretchen Goldman, PhD (@GretchenTG) September 15, 2020
Surrounded by a chaos of children's toys and boxes, the scientist places her computer on a chair and is on a table in front of the window for good lighting.
Beyond the yellow suit, Goldman wears cycling pants and sandals from the waist down.
The image of this woman invaded with pots and dressed like many of us - let's not kid ourselves - during the pandemic, had 300,000
likes
and many messages of support in less than three days, as it represents the image of millions of people who try balance your personal and work life in the same space.
Same here pic.twitter.com/KEe6KCx9eK
- Gema Zamarro (@gema_zamarro) September 16, 2020
Here we are the same.
"I shared the photo because I wanted to show the reality of my situation which is that of many moms and that of other people who are struggling at the moment. It is not possible for parents to sustain a situation like this and I think we should be open about it, prepare ourselves to fail because when we work, we are still human, we are still mothers and fathers. We need to be more open when talking about this, "Goldman tells
Verne
.
A member of the non-profit organization 500 Women Scientists, Gretchen Goldman is part of a network that guides and advises on how to balance work and professional life for workers in science who have now also become full-time caregivers.
"It's a challenge every day. My husband and I work as scientists and we have two young children, ages 2 and 4. My job requires me to organize projects, lead a research team, and be available for media requests."
He acknowledges having the privilege of being able to work from home, but considers that it represents a challenge, a triple workday.
"We have to manage our work schedules while taking care of children physically and emotionally. I barely keep up with tasks as a mother and worker," she says.
Moms in science are used to juggling parent and work duties.
Here's a time I gave public comment at the @EPA with my one-month-old while I was on maternity leave.
https://t.co/NUES1Nt6Uz
- Gretchen Goldman, PhD (@GretchenTG) September 16, 2020
"Scientist moms are used to juggling work and parenting obligations. Here's a moment when I made a public comment on @EPA with my one-month-old son while on maternity leave."
While balancing his professional and personal life, Goldman reflects on the costs that the pandemic will have on the workforce.
Especially about women.
"The responsibilities of raising children and the home fall disproportionately on women and many are leaving the workforce after having no option to combine the two. I am very angry about this. This problem should not fall on the parents, it is It is the responsibility of our institutions, our legislators and our employers to ensure that employees are supported and comfortable, "he adds.
According to consulting firm McKinsey, 54% of the jobs destroyed in the world during the health crisis were carried out by women.
With higher probabilities of losing work compared to men and with the implanted role of care and conciliation work, the pandemic threatens to erase an entire generation of female progress, as this
S Moda
article told
.
"We will lose many of the advances for women in science that we have seen in recent years," she says.
Goldman teams up with her husband and they distribute their schedules so that while one has a meeting, the other takes care of the little ones.
Later, at night, when calm reigns, the doctor spends two or three more hours to carry out pending issues and is happy that her image on Twitter serves to talk about how difficult it is to reconcile family and work life.
"I'm happy to remind other parents that no one is perfect and that no matter how flawless your Zoom screen is, we are all having a difficult time."
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