The truth was that when the K award
applications were due, I was busy
dealing with challenges in my per-
sonal life. I waited until after I
completed my Ph.D. to become a
mother, and I gave birth to our first
child during the second year of my
postdoc. We were relieved when
she was born without any compli-
cations, because my first pregnancy,
1 year earlier, had been ectopic, re-
sulting in emergency surgery and
the loss of a fallopian tube.
The following year, I became
pregnant with our second child. My
pregnancy was going well until my
20-week checkup, when the ultra-
sound technician paused and said,
“One moment please. Let me get the
doctor.” We learned that our baby
had abnormal kidney and bladder
development and a vascular anom-
aly in her brain that could be fatal at birth. To our great relief,
she survived the cesarean section. But she had urinary prob-
lems, her left leg was significantly larger than her right, and
she was later diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder.
The next 2 years of her life were a blur. Taking care of her
was a full-time job, requiring hundreds of doctors’ appoint-
ments and procedures. The procedures eased her health
issues somewhat, but the reality is that there’s no cure for
her condition. It’s progressive; it will only get worse.
I am not writing this for sympathy. I am writing this to
remind academics that life happens outside the lab. I spent
most of my postdoc years struggling to keep up with my
research in the midst of major life events at home. Some
days, I cried in the corner at work after receiving a worri-
some test result from a doctor. Other days, I could barely
think because I had stayed up all night with my daughter.
I persisted in academia thanks to the unwavering support
of my postdoc mentor, who never forced me to choose betweenmy science and my family. With her
encouragement, I put together fac-
ulty job applications during my sixth
year. I worried that reviewers might
balk when they saw I had no pres-
tigious postdoc awards, but I didn’t
know how to address that. As far as
I knew, personal information did not
belong in a CV or cover letter.
When this interviewer asked
about the K award, however, I de-
cided to be honest. I told him that
I didn’t have an award because my
daughter’s health complications
had taken priority when the appli-
cations were due. He stiffened up
and appeared flustered. Clearly that
kind of personal disclosure was not
the norm. But it didn’t seem to hurt
me—I ended up receiving an offer
from that university and others.
Even so, I wondered whether put-
ting the information in writing as part of my application
would have been easier on everyone. In that interview and
later ones, I spent an inordinate amount of time talking about
my daughter. The interviews would have been more enjoyable
and productive had I been able to focus on my science.
I’d like to recommend a solution: When universities adver-
tise job openings, they should invite applicants to describe
any events that may have impacted their professional prog-
ress. That way, an applicant would feel comfortable explain-
ing that during their 2-year publication gap, they were caring
for an ailing parent. Or that they didn’t travel to conferences
for 4 years because they had two small children at home.
I know that some people will argue that personal infor-
mation has no place in hiring decisions. But I disagree. To
fairly evaluate a scientist’s CV, it’s important to understand
their full journey—children and all. jErin Gibson is an assistant professor at Stanford University.“The interviews would have
been more enjoyable ... had I been
able to focus on my science.”
Getting personal
W
hy don’t you have a K award?” the interviewer asked, referring to a postdoc award granted by
the U.S. National Institutes of Health that is seen by many biomedical scientists as a ticket to a
faculty position. It wasn’t the first time this question had come up as I interviewed for faculty
jobs. But it still left me feeling frustrated. I had published first-author papers in Science and Cell
and acquired plenty of other funding, and I offered the department a unique research plan. I
knew I was a strong candidate. Yet in the eyes of some interviewers, my CV was lacking because
I did not have an illustrious postdoc award. I struggled through a mental tug of war with myself, wonder-
ing whether to shift the conversation and focus on my other accomplishments—or simply tell the truth.By Erin GibsonILLUSTRATION: ROBERT NEUBECKER“
334 1 7 JANUARY 2020 • VOL 367 ISSUE 6475 sciencemag.org SCIENCEWORKING LIFE
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