One Extra Year @OneExtraYear

This week, we hear from the incredible Alessandra Voena. Thank you for revisiting the gruesome memories and sharing your story, putting a face to the numbers. “Post-partum hemorrhage affects around 4% of all births in the U.S., … [and] is among the main causes of maternal mortality. Pre-eclampsia involves roughly another 5%, and … Post-partum depression hits over 12% of U.S. mothers. Some of these women are our coauthors, former students, and other scholars we write tenure letters or hiring cases about. We typically never learn what they are going through. Ignoring these data is a choice we make when designing gender-neutral policies, and it puts academics who give birth at a systematic disadvantage.” open.substack.com/pub/oneextraye…

In week 18, we hear from the amazing Grace Gu. She shares her, at times, harrowing story of becoming the mother of three and reminds us of the sheer superhuman strength of mothers. Reading her and all the other incredible stories, one does really wonder "Why do universities, institutions that pride themselves on evidence-based reasoning, apply the same flat policy to a birthing mother of twins and a non-birthing parent of a healthy singleton? Non-birthing parents’ contribution is irreplaceable, but pretending the loads are equivalent and then offering one year to cover all of it is a policy that does not see eye to eye with the evidence." oneextrayear.substack.com/p/grace-weishi…

Exciting news! 🎉 One Extra Year has been featured in @dmckenzie001 ’s World Bank newsletter. Thank you to @WorldBank and @dmckenzie001 for helping amplify honest conversations about pregnancy, parenthood and academic careers. oneextrayear.substack.com Blog: blogs.worldbank.org/en/impactevalu…? #WomenInAcademia

🚨We’re thrilled to share that One Extra Year has received a generous grant from @AEACSWEP! 🚨 Alongside the personal stories at the heart of the project, we’ll use this support to collect data on policies on parental leave, tenure-clock extensions, and teaching relief across econ departments in the U.S. and Europe. 📈📊📉 We’ll soon publish the resulting data in an accessible & visually engaging format to help - departments compare their policies with peer institutions - researchers understand the broader landscape - the profession identify where change is most needed We’re deeply grateful to @AEACSWEP for supporting this next phase of One Extra Year. Stay tuned!

This week, the fabulous @leightjessica shares her story. She is in a unique position of having had kids while on the tenure track and also while at a policy institution. What can the worlds learn from each other? She closes with some excellent advice, based on the reality that our careers are not really plannable: "..if you want kids, no reason to wait! Wait until you’re ready, of course, but don’t feel that you have to wait until some arbitrary professional goal is achieved or until your household is more “stable”." oneextrayear.substack.com/p/jessica-leig…

Its story-day! This week we hear from the amazing @BarbaraBiasi who shares a heartwarming tale about how kids actually made her a better researcher and the crucial importance of role models. “I did not get there alone. Supportive colleagues, especially women, helped me in ways too numerous to count … They showed me, again and again, that motherhood and ambition did not have to cancel each other out.” open.substack.com/pub/oneextraye…

In week 15 of One Extra Year, the amazing @ProfLisaBKahn reflects on having her three daughters in a department that was not (yet) prepared to support its faculty during motherhood. She “spent quite a bit of time in my first pregnancy convincing my university to provide parental leave.” Thank you, Lisa, and the many other extraordinary women who started paving this road for us younger ones! oneextrayear.substack.com/p/lisa-b-kahn

It’s week 14! Join us for a poetic reflection on motherhood by the amazing @dfilizunsal. “Looking back, what remains with me most is how motherhood refuses coherence. Ambition and guilt. Competence and helplessness. Perhaps that is what resilience actually becomes — not mastering these contradictions but learning to live inside them.” oneextrayear.substack.com/p/filiz-unsal

It’s story day! In week 12 of our series, the incredible @GalinaHale touches on two very important topics: having a kid during the PhD and how the demon of post-partum depression can hit anyone. Thank you, Galina, for sharing your personal and impressive story. open.substack.com/pub/oneextraye…

Week 12 of One Extra Year is out (aka we almost made it through the 1st trimester)! For more pregnancy maths, read this week’s incredible and harrowing journey by @InaSimonovska. "So, if we were only evaluated on the basis of teaching, in the worst case scenario of my first kid, I would’ve needed at least 3 extra months due to physical constraints. But, we get evaluated based on research. And for that, #1 + #2 of active brain fog purely caused by hormones during pregnancy and breastfeeding would mean 29 months." Thank you so much for sharing your very personal story! oneextrayear.substack.com/p/ina-simonovs…

It’s story day! This week, wonderful Giulia Rivolta shares her perseverance through a brutal pre-/during-/post-partum ordeal while navigating insecure postdocs. A clear reminder why we need agreed norms for motherhood on CVs. oneextrayear.substack.com/p/giulia-rivol…

Week 10: This week, we hear from the amazing @emanresa82 . Count on a world-class econometrician to write about her experience AND think about what the right question and counterfactual even are conceptually. open.substack.com/pub/oneextraye…

Wednesday? One Extra Year story! This week, Evi Pappa will share her story through “Fragments from the Diary.” It is a story of resilience and success. open.substack.com/pub/oneextraye…

It’s story day! This week, we hear from the wonderful Ella Patelli and her approach to the impossible “but when is the best time in your career” question. oneextrayear.substack.com/p/ella-patelli

In week 7 of One Extra Year, the fabulous @pilossopher shares her incredible feat of birthing and raising 2 children, nearly dying from an ectopic pregnancy and getting tenure @DukeEcon oneextrayear.substack.com/p/laura-piloss…

It’s Wednesday! In week 6 of One Extra Year, the amazing @AnnaRogantiniPi shares her story, highlighting the extraordinary demands that creating new life can take on our bodies. open.substack.com/pub/oneextraye…

Week 5 of One Extra Year features the brilliant @MonicaMorlacco sharing her experience with the impossible trade-offs young mothers on the tenure track face. Read, reflect, join the conversation! oneextrayear.substack.com/p/monica-morla…

Wednesday is story day! This week, the amazing Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan shares hers, spanning multiple years, ups and downs. Thank you for bravely sharing this, Sebnem, and for supporting Project One Extra Year. @skalemliozcan open.substack.com/pub/oneextraye…

Week 3 of One Extra Year is out: The great @laura_veldkamp shares her story and talks about how maternal brain fog can persist long after pregnancy and postpartum. Want to share yours or join the conversation around better policies? Get in touch!  oneextrayear.substack.com/p/laura-veldka…