Becky Trueman - The Struggles of Balancing Work and Family Life in Academia

The Struggles of Balancing Work and Family Life continues with Becky Trueman, an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham. From discovering neuroscience through a summer placement to building a career spanning several neurological conditions, Becky reflects on how her academic journey has evolved alongside motherhood.

In this interview, Becky discusses the realities of balancing research, teaching and family responsibilities, from adapting her working habits and navigating part-time contracts to the challenges of childcare and maternity leave. She also highlights the structural changes needed to better support parents in academia, offering honest advice to women considering starting a family while pursuing a research career.

Before we get into the more specific questions, please can you share your academic journey?

I completed my undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at Cardiff University, although I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do afterwards. During my degree, I undertook a summer placement in a laboratory with Professor Steve Dunnett, whose research focused on Parkinson's and Huntington's disease and neural transplantation. It was a really friendly group, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, so I went on to complete my final-year project in the lab before undertaking a PhD there.

I then stayed on for a postdoctoral position, continuing to work in the same research environment. I really enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside people investigating neuroscience at different levels, from cells through to human research. While I was there, I spotted an advert for a lectureship at the University of Nottingham. I didn't necessarily feel ready for a lectureship, but I thought it would be a good experience to apply. The position seemed to fit my background, and I was fortunate enough to get the job. I've now been at Nottingham for around 14 years and am an Associate Professor.

In terms of starting a family, I was previously in a long-term relationship, but that ended shortly after I moved to Nottingham. Before then, I hadn't felt I was in the right position to have children, partly because of the uncertainty associated with short-term academic contracts, and not having the financial security of a permanent position or a mortgage. After moving to Nottingham, I met my now-husband, and we decided to start a family around a year after getting married. I was fortunate that, by that point, I had a permanent position and greater financial stability, which made the decision a little easier.

What motivated you to pursue an academic career, and has that motivation changed over time?

I didn't even know what a PhD was when I started my undergraduate degree. I was the first in my family to go to university, so I had very little understanding of what an academic career involved.

It was through my summer placement that I began to discover what research was really about. I enjoyed answering questions, conducting experiments and solving problems- that wasn't limited to scientific problems, either. It could be figuring out how to get an experiment working or how to fix a piece of equipment when it broke. I enjoyed the practical challenges just as much as understanding the underlying science and mechanisms. I really enjoyed learning something new every day, so pursuing a PhD felt like the natural next step.

My research has changed quite a lot over the years. I initially worked on Huntington's disease, then moved into stroke research during my postdoctoral position. When I arrived at Nottingham, I continued working on stroke before starting a side project on myotonic dystrophy. That project eventually became the focus of my research.

Although the diseases I've studied have changed, my underlying motivation has remained the same. I've always been interested in developing therapeutics and doing research that can have a direct impact on human health. I'm particularly interested in helping underserved populations and investigating diseases that are often neglected or underfunded.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in balancing academic demands with family responsibilities? 

One of the biggest challenges was adapting the way I worked. I naturally do a lot of my writing and thinking outside conventional working hours. I used to be particularly productive from mid-afternoon through to the late evening, but once you have a child, that becomes much more difficult.

You have to be present for dinner, bedtime and all the other responsibilities that come with having a family. I had to change when I worked and make sure that my working environment allowed me to concentrate during the hours I had available.

I also have to be much more focused. Before having a child, there was more time to chat to people in the lab and have those informal conversations. Now, I often have to come in, get my work done and leave. Although I still sometimes work in the evenings and at weekends, I try to protect the time around dinner and bedtime.

I do sometimes feel that my lab group has lost out a little because I don't have as much time for those spontaneous interactions as I used to. It's been a process of adapting to a different way of working while trying to maintain those connections.

How did you approach maternity leave, and what was your experience of returning to work?

I took six months of maternity leave, but in hindsight, I wish I had taken the full year. At the time, six months felt like a long period to be away, and I worried about everything that might happen while I was gone. Looking back, I realise that things would still have been there when I returned. You can also keep some things ticking over while you're on leave, depending on what you want and feel able to do.

My husband took two weeks of paternity leave. Although shared parental leave was an option, arranging it between two different employers was so complicated that we ultimately didn't pursue it. I think parental leave arrangements have evolved, but two weeks is a very short time when you consider the realities of having a newborn, including sleep deprivation, frequent feeding and recovery after birth.

Returning to work also highlighted how differently people approach maternity leave. I wanted to remain connected to my research and students, and I was happy to provide feedback or make decisions when needed. Sometimes, however, people assumed I wouldn't want to be contacted at all. I completely understand that some people want to switch off entirely during maternity leave. The important thing is not to assume that everyone wants the same thing. It should be an individual choice, with the option to remain involved where appropriate.

Have you encountered any biases or assumptions relating to your role as both an academic and a parent?

When I was younger, around the time of my PhD or early postdoctoral career, I remember someone asking me whether I was going to be an academic or a parent, as though I had to choose between the two. I remember thinking that it didn't have to be an either-or decision. You can do both. However, I think there can still be assumptions that parents aren't working as many hours, aren't working as hard or are less committed to their careers.

For me, the lack of a family support network has been particularly significant. Both my parents have passed away, and my husband's family lives on the other side of the world. We don't have grandparents nearby who can help with school pick-ups or look after our daughter during the holidays. I've therefore made the decision to work on a fractional contract that allows me to take time off during school holidays. This arrangement is designed around the academic year, rather than simply working fewer hours across five days a week.

However, when I first made that decision, I was told that I couldn't reduce my teaching commitments, meaning the reduction in my working time had to come out of my research time. Although there have since been some improvements, it illustrates the challenges of trying to accommodate family responsibilities within academic structures. Like many people working part-time because of childcare, I often end up doing much closer to a full-time workload. I remember speaking to a senior academic who was paid part-time but effectively worked full-time. She explained that having a part-time contract meant she could at least feel entitled to say no when she needed to leave work. That really stuck with me, because it highlights how people can end up sacrificing pay just to secure a degree of flexibility.

Do you think maternity leave, childcare availability and flexible working arrangements impact women in academia?

Absolutely. There are several things that could be improved. One issue is how academic departments manage maternity leave. Sometimes, when someone goes on leave, their colleagues have to absorb their teaching and other responsibilities. That isn't fair on the colleagues who take on the additional workload, and it can leave the person taking leave feeling guilty about the burden placed on others. In my case, I was fortunate that someone was brought in to cover my teaching. However, there was no equivalent cover for my research.

Academic contracts often combine teaching and research, yet while teaching can be reassigned, there isn't usually someone brought in to maintain your research programme. If you have PhD students, ongoing experiments or a research group to run, everything can come to a halt. The impact, therefore, extends beyond the time you're actually on maternity leave because you then have to rebuild that momentum when you return.

There is also a question about how flexible academia really is. We often talk about academic careers being flexible, but that flexibility frequently comes at the expense of working additional hours. You might be able to attend your child's school play during the day, for example, but if you're already working beyond your contracted hours, what does that flexibility cost?

I think this is something we need to reflect on more. People sometimes say that academia is ideal for parents because you can organise your own schedule, but that doesn't necessarily mean the workload is manageable.

Childcare is another major issue, particularly for PhD students. The additional government-funded childcare entitlement available to eligible working parents is not automatically available to doctoral students under the same rules as employed workers. This creates difficulties for students who may be working extremely long hours on their research but do not have the same employment status or access to benefits. PhD students can find themselves treated as students in some circumstances and workers in others, and that inconsistency can leave them without the support they need.

Ultimately, flexible working, appropriate maternity cover and accessible childcare all make a difference. However, flexibility alone cannot solve the problem if the underlying workload remains unsustainable.

Are there any particular strategies that have helped you maintain a balance between work and family life?

I think having a supportive partner is essential. My husband is fantastic, and we genuinely try to share the workload fairly. That includes everything from washing and cooking to school drop-offs, pick-ups and all the other tasks involved in keeping a household running. You have to work together and find ways to make things manageable. Where possible, outsourcing certain tasks can help too, whether that's having a cleaner or buying food in when you're particularly busy.

I also try to make sure that I'm home and present for dinner, bedtime and spending time together at weekends. I don't want to be on my laptop constantly, or for my family to feel that work always comes first. It's equally important to make time for yourself and look after your own mental health and wellbeing. For me, that might mean relaxing, watching television or simply enjoying some downtime.

One of the hardest things is having enough mental and emotional energy left at the end of the working day. If all your energy has been used up by work, your family can end up getting a tired version of you. I can't say I've mastered that balance. Some days are exhausting, and there are periods when work takes over more than I'd like. I think it's about recognising that this happens and trying to make sure that there are other periods when you can properly switch off and spend time with the people who matter to you.

Looking back, is there anything you would do differently when it comes to having children or balancing your career?

I would probably have taken longer maternity leave. Beyond that, I think it's important to decide for yourself what success looks like and try to ignore external pressures about what you should be achieving. It's easy to feel that you need to keep progressing, publishing more papers and applying for more grants, but you only have one life, and it shouldn't be entirely defined by your work. You should be able to have a fulfilling career, and a family, without feeling that one has to come at the expense of the other.

One of the challenges with academia is that the work is never really finished; there's always another paper to write, another grant to submit or another experiment to do. You could spend your entire life working and still have an endless to-do list.

Because so many of us genuinely enjoy what we do, it's also easy to keep giving ourselves more problems to solve. That's part of what makes research exciting, but it can also make it difficult to stop. I've learned that boundaries are important. You have to recognise when enough is enough, prioritise what you can realistically achieve and accept that you cannot do everything. Rest isn't a reward you earn after finishing your work. It needs to be part of how you work sustainably.

What advice would you give to young women entering academia who are considering starting a family, or those already in academia who are thinking about it?

I would say that there is never a perfect time, so I wouldn't put things off waiting for everything to line up. I deliberately tried to time my pregnancy around the end of a grant, only for the grant to be extended. No matter how carefully you plan, circumstances can change. We often talk about the importance of having a permanent job and financial security before starting a family, and those things can certainly make a difference. However, I don't think you can always wait until you have the perfect contract or feel completely established in your career.

Having a supportive partner is really important, as is having people around you who can help. We don't have family nearby, but we've built a network of friends who can help with last-minute school pick-ups or look after our daughter when needed. Having that support makes a real difference. I'd also encourage people to think about what success means to them personally, rather than comparing themselves with others. Everyone's circumstances are different. Some people have grandparents nearby, some have partners who work different hours, and some have children who are happy in holiday clubs or after-school care. Others don't have those options.

Childcare can also be enormously expensive, and not every child will respond to the same arrangements. The practical realities of family life are different for everyone, so there isn't one approach that will work for all parents.

Most importantly, I don't think you can strive to be the perfect parent and the perfect academic. Neither exists. It's easy to feel guilty that you could be doing more for your family or that you could be doing more at work, but there will always be something else you could be doing. You have to find what works for you and your family, prioritise your mental health and wellbeing, and accept that other people's choices don't have to be your choices.

You should be able to build a fulfilling academic career and have a family. There isn't one right way to do it, and you shouldn't have to sacrifice your wellbeing trying to meet someone else's definition of success

Thank you to Becky for sharing her experiences and thoughtful advice. Her reflections highlight the importance of supportive partnerships, realistic expectations and institutional changes that make academic careers more sustainable for parents. As this series continues, we hope these conversations help make the realities of balancing work and family life more visible, giving women in neuroscience greater opportunities to make informed decisions about their futures without feeling that they have to choose between their careers and their families.

Keep an eye out for the next instalment of The Struggles of Balancing Work and Family Life in Academia.

---

This interview was conducted by Neave Smith and edited by Rebecca Pope, with graphics produced by Shauna Angell. If you enjoyed this article, be the first to be notified about new posts by signing up to become a WiNUK member (top right of this page)! Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch.