キャリアニュース2021年8月7～17日

“Well, at least you have permanent job security,” my aunt casually remarked last summer, referring to my role in the federal government's COVID-19 response. I shuddered. Little did she know I had just learned the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would not be renewing my annual contract. In my 12 years at NIH, job security had never been a priority; instead, I prized independence. But now, new motherhood followed by the pandemic seemed to be sinking my career, and I had to find a new path. > “I was in danger of repeating a past mistake of quitting prematurely.” I had waited to have a baby until my career was well established, thinking that would help buffer me from some of the challenges I knew scientist mothers face, but I still struggled. When my son was born in 2018, I had no paid parental leave (U.S. government workers were finally granted paid parental leave in October 2020), and my husband got just 2 weeks from his small company. I could telework from home for the baby's f