Maternity Leave Benefit for Researchers: a Case Study of FAPESP’s Maternity Leave Policy
Keywords:
Maternity leave, women’s academic careers, academic productivismAbstract
The proportion of researchers by gender has proven virtually equal in Brazil. Maternal life often occurs concomitantly with a researcher’s career development, raising the need for policies that can prevent these two spheres from colliding. Eight years ago, maternity leave benefit was first considered by research funding government agencies. In 2013, the São Paulo State funding agency (FAPESP) also joined efforts towards the gender inclusion agenda. This article analyzes the application of the Ordinance PR nº 08/2015, which guarantees the maternity leave benefit by FAPESP. The article also aims to identify room for improvement in the application process and factors that could contribute to its full realization: a complete break from academic activities during the four-month leave period, without prejudice to the development of the researcher’s career. Its findings observe a culture of academic productivism that affects the application of the benefit in various ways, imposing significant difficulties for grantees who wish to benefit from it. We believe that the results may influence the institutional stakeholders that surround maternity leave benefit as a whole.
&
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).