A normal working day for Liu Yan (pseudonym), a post-doctoral AI researcher at a top Chinese university, involves balancing cutting-edge science and domestic drudgery.
The scientist wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to prepare breakfast for her child, and gets to work at 8 a.m. After finishing her nine-hour work day, she usually spends three hours on domestic work when she gets home, then works from home until midnight.
Liu has been pushing herself to be a good mother and a top scientist for over five years. "I think family is important, so sometimes it is really difficult for me to balance all my research and family time," Liu told the Global Times.
According to recent research conducted by the China Youth Daily, around 73 percent of the young scientists interviewed do not think that female scientists are able to effectively balance work and family.
This phenomenon is reflected in the fact that only around 3 percent of China's female scientists have received national awards compared to 8 percent of male scientists.
Among the 1,066 scientists interviewed, female scientists only accounted for 28 percent, China Youth Daily reported.
Facing a problem
"On the one hand, female scientists face heavy pressure in scientific research, which requires a lot of time, especially at top scientific institutes," a researcher at a national research institute surnamed Song, who is also a mother, told the Global Times.
"On the other hand, it is a fact that female scientists who have children usually spend more time with their family than male scientists, which makes it harder for them to spend as much time on science," said Song.
The China Youth Daily survey found that while around 70 percent of male scientists interviewed said they spend over 60 hours a week on research, just 50 percent of their female counterparts were able to make the same time commitment.
"Scientific research needs one to be totally up to date with the latest findings and it is difficult to catch up after maternity leave," said Liu.
Liu explained that the process of moving up the scientific career ladder in China requires five to six year of uninterrupted work, however this usually needs to be done at the same time most people are looking to start a family. Therefore, Liu said, men have advantages over women because they do not need to take time off to give birth.
"Under such heavy academic pressure, young female scientists have to face problems that all working women encounter and we work a lot more than 8 hours every day,"said Liu.
"Female scientists are facing a real dilemma. Either family or science, one of the two has to be sacrificed in the end."
"Actually the country has been creating incentives for women to contribute more to science, but how to play two roles still remains an issue for women," Liu added.
China specifically set up an award for young female scientists in 2004 in a bid to encourage more young women to work in science.
"Even if gender equality is being promoted everywhere, it is still a fact that women contribute more to taking care of the family and children," a male researcher surnamed Yin, who worked overseas as a scientist for eight years and now works at a top national scientific research institute, told the Global Times.
"A female scientist's maternity leave may affect the whole team's research schedule, so it cannot be denied that some institutes prefer male scientists though they do not mention this in the recruitment notice," Yin added.
Microscopic pay
Besides from the specific problems of female scientists, the China Youth Daily survey found that the top problem of most interviewees was their relatively low salaries.
"Not only female scientists, but most domestic scientists, find their main challenge is searching for money," Yin said.
"Unlike foreign countries which use half of their scientific funds for human resources, domestic funds are mainly used on scientific research rather than on researchers, which forces scientists to spend more time looking for money," Yin added.
Yin said he works more than 12 hours a day, six days a week. "The money we are paid does not match the labor and energy contributed by scientists," said Yin.
Domestic scientists and researchers' living conditions have already sparked a heated debate on Chinese social media.
Recently, a senior professor at Shanghai's prestigious Fudan University posted their monthly paycheck online, showing they are paid just 8,000 yuan ($1,175), arousing controversy.
"Some scientists who have been working hard for ages receive a similar salary as a fresh undergraduate," said Song.
