Cultural shift and societal expectations

In the 1970s, extended families and religious organizations that once strongly shaped family behavior became less influential (Bianchi, Reference Bianchi2014). The second demographic transition theory posits that the departure from traditional values, norms, and ideologies toward individuality and self-actualization resulted in increased autonomy in decision-making (Van de Kaa, Reference Van de Kaa1987, Reference Van de Kaa2001; Mills et al., Reference Mills, Rindfuss, McDonald and Te Velde2011), leading to a shift in fertility attitudes. As a result, American society underwent extensive changes in gender roles, where women entered the workforce at a higher rate, married less frequently, and had children later in life (Goldin, Reference Goldin2004). As women’s contributions to the labor force and education increased, their traditional, solely domestic roles became less viable (Bianchi, Reference Bianchi2014). In 2010, one-in-seven US babies were born to mothers 35 years or older, compared to one-in-eleven in 1990 (Livingston & Cohn, Reference Livingston and Cohn2010). The shift from patriarchal values to gender equity-oriented values likely influenced women’s decision to start families later in life.

Increased access to education

Between the 1970s and 2000s, a dramatic increase in women pursuing higher education prevailed (Goldin, Reference Goldin2004). In 1966, women earned 12% of all doctorates (Mason et al., Reference Mason, Wolfinger and Goulden2013); however, in 2019, they earned 53% of all doctorates awarded in the U.S., marking the ninth consecutive year in which they earned more doctorates than men (Zhou & Okahana, Reference Zhou and Okahana2019). Studies have shown a link between education and later childbearing, even when accounting for family environment and parental characteristics (Neels et al., Reference Neels, Murphy, Bhrolcháin and Beaujouan2017). Women pursuing tertiary education tend to delay their first child’s birth by nine months each year (Gerster et al., Reference Gerster, Ejrnæs and Keiding2014; Rindfuss et al., Reference Rindfuss, Bumpass and St. John1980). Despite no evidence that education causes women to delay childbearing, professional aspirations related to higher education attainment may delay parenthood. Women may postpone starting families until they are well established in their careers since juggling professional and maternal roles is time consuming and labor intensive (Becker, Reference Becker1991).

Medical and technological innovations

During the 1960s, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved synthetic progesterone as an oral contraceptive, giving women greater control over their reproductive systems (Bailey, Reference Bailey2006). With technological advances like contraceptives, in vitro fertilization (IVF), freezing eggs, and surrogacy, women can now plan their lives around academic and career goals (Kneale & Joshi, Reference Kneale and Joshi2008). Despite declining abortion rates nationwide, the proportion of abortion patients who are students has increased (Jerman et al., Reference Jerman, Jones and Onda2016). In 2014, 24% of abortion patients in the U.S. attended school, with 66% having college experience or a degree. Abortion may become more popular as a family planning method among female graduate students. Altogether, cultural shifts in fertility attitudes and gender roles, along with increased access to education and medical advances, have contributed to women’s later childbearing.

Financial challenges

One of the most imposing challenges for graduate students starting a family is their relative financial disadvantages in academia. Having a family is extremely costly in the U.S., with simple childbirth costing $3,296 to $37,227 and a cesarean section costing $8,312 to $71,000 (Hsia et al., Reference Hsia, Antwi and Weber2014). Alternative pregnancy methods, such as IVF or surrogacy, are even more expensive, costing $12,531 per treatment (Teoh & Maheshwari, Reference Teoh and Maheshwari2014). Afterward, it costs an average of $16,800 annually to raise a child from birth to age 17 (USDA, 2017). Such a prohibitive cost is problematic because the average graduate school stipend is only $41,170, with some as low as $20,000 (Bove, Reference Bove2022). Although the low wages of graduate students affect both genders, women are at a particular disadvantage due to gender segregation between academic fields. In particular, liberal arts programs, which tend to be more female dominated, typically offer the lowest stipends, ultimately highlighting the income gap (Perry, Reference Perry2020). Similarly, adjunct teaching jobs do not offer graduate students sufficient financial security due to the low salary they receive (Halcrow & Olson, Reference Halcrow and Olson2011). This is concerning as approximately 45% of graduate students consider dropping out because of inadequate funding (Woolston, Reference Woolston2022). Therefore, female graduate students may have difficulty building the financial safety net they need to raise a family.

Limited support/resources

Managing coursework, assistantship responsibilities, and degree requirements while raising a child can be challenging (Gerber, Reference Gerber and Bassett2005; Jirón-King, Reference Jirón-King and Bassett2005). Graduate students with children spend 102 hours a week on their work and nonwork responsibilities, compared to graduate students without children, who spend 75 hours (Mason, Reference Mason2006). With insufficient work–family policies offered by universities, this work overload can be particularly stressful for graduate students who are parents. Academic success and raising a family seem incompatible, so graduate students are often forced to choose between the two (Grummell et al., Reference Grummell, Devine and Lynch2009). Although many academics manage to juggle both domains, it is still an additional challenge to academic and career success that nonparents do not face.

The lack of available family-friendly policies also poses challenges for graduate students (Ahmad, Reference Ahmad2017). Unfortunately, few official policies support parents who are graduate students (Springer et al., Reference Springer, Parker and Leviten-Reid2009). Most graduate programs do not offer paid maternity leaves, childcare support, health insurance, or flexible spending accounts for dependents. Graduate students often perceive university policies as only designed to help faculty parents (Kennelly & Spatler-Roth, Reference Kennelly and Spalter-Roth2006). As a result, the primary advisor may be the only source of support for graduate students, which is problematic since a lack of consistent advisor support is one of the biggest obstacles graduate students face (Ehrenberg et al., Reference Ehrenberg, Jakubson, Groen, So and Price2007). The only option graduate students have is to request a leave of absence since most do not qualify for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA; Springer et al., Reference Springer, Parker and Leviten-Reid2009). Taking a leave of absence, however, can impede graduate students’ progress, as well as jeopardize their already precarious financial situation due to its unpaid nature. Therefore, the different completion rates between parent and nonparent graduate students may be explained by a lack of family-friendly academic environments (Lovik, Reference Lovik2004). Graduate directors and faculty may also not understand the demands of graduate students who are parents (Springer et al., Reference Springer, Parker and Leviten-Reid2009) and, therefore, offer less flexibility. Female graduate students may feel that their university does not foster a supportive environment for parents, preventing them from having children (Maxwell et al., Reference Maxwell, Connolly and Ní Laoire2019). In the next section, we will discuss the impact of these challenges on academic and professional performance.