Changing University Parental Leave Policies with Marie McCausland - a podcast by David Mendes, PhD

Get the Papa PhD Career Readiness Tool kit !University policies... Are they set in stone? Do we get to update them, if they're unfair or archaic? If you're considering this type of question, today, you might be feeling like David facing Goliath, and tend to shrug your shoulders and just accept things as they are.This week, I'm sharing my conversation with Marie McCausland, where she lays out the roadmap of how she led a community effort that led to an increase in parental leave for postdocs at her university.
VIDEOhttps://youtu.be/d83KUy73p44?sub_confirmation=1Marie McCausland is a scientist, doula, and maternal health advocate and is the founder of the Non Profit Mom Effect and DigiDoula App.She survived a near-death experience with Post-Partum Pre Eclampsia in 2017 following the birth of her son, an experience which put her life and work into perspective and changed her career trajectory entirely.Marie has shared her experience through her TedX talk in 2019, at the March for Moms in 2017 and 2019, and in dozens of talks across the US aimed at increasing awareness and promoting change.Marie has a PhD in Molecular Virology from CWRU, a Masters in Public Health from Kent State, is a CAPPA trained Postpartum Doula, and is currently working on her MBA. She has one amazing son, Jeffrey, with her dedicated husband Jeffrey McCausland.
What you’ll learn about in this episode:How to gather a community around a common goal, among different university employee groupsWhat a postdoc representative at the university senate can doHow to start the conversation with university deciders by starting with faculty and gradually moving up the decision ladderThe power of using reference institutions as goal-setting examples for university decidersThe weight networking has in the process of getting into industryHow to access the public health spaceThe importance of advocating for yourself
Thank you, Alana Rister!If you enjoyed this conversation with Marie, let her know by clicking the link below and leaving her a message on Twitter:Send Marie McCausland a thank you message on Twitter!Click here to share your key take-away from this interview with David!
This episode’s resources:Marie McCausland | TwitterMarie McCausland | LinkedInMarie's TEDx talk | VideoMom Effect | FacebookDigi Doula | WebsitePitch Club | LinkedInKent State Online Masters in Public Health | Website
You might also like the following episodes:David Giltner – Reconciling the Research and the Development MindsetKrishna Kadiyala – Are things changing for the better for women in STEM?Alana Rister – Marketing Your Research Skills After Your PhDNatalia Bielczyk – Figuring Out Where You Fit in the Job Market as a PhDAs always, if you find value in Papa PhD and in the content I bring you every week, click on one of the buttons below and send some of that value back to me by becoming a supporter on Patreon or by buying me a coffee :) Now with the added perk of receiving the brand new Papa PhD and PhD Dojo stickers!Support the show on Patreon !Or buy me a coffee :)

Further episodes of Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD

Further podcasts by David Mendes, PhD

Website of David Mendes, PhD