“Will I be able to have children and have an academic career?”
“How can we manage international travel with a baby?”
“What do academic women do about childcare?”
“Should I have a baby in my PhD or is that just too hard? What about as a soft-funded postdoc?”

These are some of the questions that women ask, as we consider and navigate our personal and professional lives. But they are rarely discussed in academia. This informal session is an opportunity for women (and everyone!) to learn and think about parenthood and academia.

We will start with a panel discussion with three Nuffield Professorial Fellows, whose six children range from ages 5-18: Professor of Political Theory Cécile Laborde, Professor of Economics Barbara Petrongolo, and Professor of Child and Family Social Work Lucie Cluver. The panel will be moderated by Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow Dr Molly Fee, and DPhil student Dr Sopuruchukwu Obiesie (both also parents, of four children between four and ten years old). We will be guided by what matters to you!

If you would like to submit a question in advance for the panel, you can do so (anonymously) here: forms.office.com/e/7nU8E6jY6

We will then have time for informal mingling in the Nuffield College Dining Hall, with champagne (perhaps not quite Moët!) and cake.

If you need to bring a child or two, no problem. Just let us know and, of course, note that they must be supervised!