working mother

Why?

There are several reasons why I had never been comfortable with embracing parenthood publicly. But what has been holding me back the most was an acute awareness — as a sociologist, but also as a Swiss woman — of the many biases against mothers in the contexts of work. For example, studies have shown that often, unconsciously, a person who happens to be a mother will be wrongfully perceived as being less competent, less professional, less ambitious, than a person who is not. (This is absurd, as being a parent has made me a better researcher.)

On a personal level, I have been denied more than one job opportunity when potential future employers learned that I had “young children at home”. (Fortunately, this is illegal in Switzerland; unfortunately, it is both extremely widespread and hard to prove in court.) Hiding my parental status from public view felt like the necessary thing to do in a working environment that is so hostile to mothers. It felt like (professional) self preservation. Still, I made a promise to my future self that I would stop hiding once I was in a permanent position.

Alas, I am a researcher in academia, which is a precarious work environment where permanent positions are rare, but I didn’t want to participate in the invisibility of working mothers any longer by keeping my own parenthood invisible.

Therefore, I agreed to participate in the exhibition that was hosted at ETH on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2020. I was one of ten ETH mothers photographed by the amazing Marina Cavazza.

As if to confirm my decision, the picture of me ended up being the key visual, which was even displayed on the main building of ETH for a few days.

Indeed, being a mother of three has both nothing and everything to do with my professional life.

Anna / Outtakes

Portrait of a (Working) Mother

The photo exhibition “Potrait of a (Working) Mother” featuring the work of Marina Cavazza and Eglė Kačkutė has already been shown in Geneva at various international organisations, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the International Labour Organization.

Eglé Kačkutė’s analysis:

“In the original project which had over 25 photos and interviews, we very much focused on the obstacles that women face in managing to enjoy their careers as well as family lives – as professional migrants and parents – on the sacrifices that people have to make through the mix of gender, migration, motherhood and career advancement. And because we worked very much with the backdrop of the discourse of ‘having it all’, it was obvious that nobody was having it all.”

“In the ten new interviews and portraits that were done here at the ETH, a different story emerged. The same lens of gender, motherhood, migration and career advancement was used to produce a different effect.”

“This time around, the story shone a light on what enables women to have the lives in which both family and career are possible, namely, cooperative partners, childcare structures and support networks of family and friends. This acknowledgment is performative in that it highlights the fact that nobody can do it on their own. That unless the supportive structures are in place, people are not going to succeed in maintaining their career/professional lives alongside their family lives.”

From: Make Mothers Matter