What I Learned About the Gender Gap From One Zoom Call
We still have a long way to go
While at a virtual scientific conference earlier this month, something endearing occurred. A neuroscientist accepting an award delivered his lecture via teleconference with his two young daughters playing in the background. Though he was clearly distracted, he delivered his entire presentation, even with them laughing, screaming, and trying to talk to him. At the end, the girls yelled, “Yay Daddy! Are you done now?”
In that moment, I was smiling. I thought, “How wonderful to see a dad willing to show himself so vulnerable.” Weeks later, I thought how I would never do such a thing — have a Zoom call, let alone give a presentation, with my two daughters in the background. And then I realized that over the same time period, I had been on Zoom calls with several dads introducing their kids, but not a single mom doing so. It’s anecdotal for sure, but why dads and not moms?
I believe it’s one of many gender gaps that persist in everyday culture — something I take for granted and even joke about with my husband, like when he used to get “oohs and aahs” bringing our baby daughter to the grocery store with many offers of help. I got no such treatment! These gaps, while seemingly trivial, get to the heart of the reality many women have lived through, and one…
