Reading to 'Mutterschaft und Wissenschaft'
The (in)compatibility of motherhood and scientific activity
We would like to cordially invite you to an online reading on the book publication 'Mutterschaft und Wissenschaft. Die (Un-)Vereinbarkeit von Mutterbild und wissenschaftlicher Tätigkeit' on March 11, 2021 at 7 pm.
The Corona crisis clearly shows what was already visible before: we are far away from gender equality. This is true for society as well as for science. During the publication of the book "Mutterschaft und Wissenschaft" (Motherhood and Science) by Sarah Czerney, Lena Eckert and Silke Martin, the authors have to experience that the effects of COVID-19 are mainly carried out on the shoulders of mothers. They are the ones who have to take time off, take unpaid leave or even lose their jobs to care for their children during school and daycare closures. This gender care gap is also noticeable in academia: While scientists publish at an above-average rate during the Corona year, publications by (maternal) female scientists have plummeted. The aim of this book is to explore this area of tension between motherhood and science - not only in times of Corona. In it, the editors bring together the voices of female scientists who deal with the topic of "having or not (wanting) to have children" in very personal texts and in doing so address and question the still prevailing image of motherhood in Germany in a variety of ways.
The aim is to explore together different experiences of private and professional aspects in the lives of (non-)mothers working in science: "For this is what distinguishes us: the mutually exclusive idealizations and ideologizations of both positions. It is not the incompatibility of the activities, but the incompatibility of the two very different material-discursive choreographies that pits (potential) motherhood and science against each other." The tension in which scientists* who are also (or not yet, or never) mothers live is complex. During the reading, the editors and authors will provide a glimpse of the book with reading samples in order to explore this field of tension in a subsequent discussion. You can find a first reading sample of the book at: www.springer.com/de/book/9783658309312
The reading is organized by the participants of the coaching and mentoring program COMETiN in cooperation with the Office for Gender Equality at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg.
Participation in the reading is free of charge.
To get access to the event, please contact the organizer Anna Gebhard anna.gebhard@ovgu.de by mail.
We wish all participants an exciting reading and afterwards a stimulating discussion!