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US National Academies report outlines barriers and solutions for scientist carers

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Many academics grapple with caregiving responsibilities, and yet they are not always given the support that they need — even when doing so could address long-standing gender, racial and ethnic biases in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM). Such are the conclusions of the report Supporting Family Caregivers in STEMM: A Call to Action, released last month by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report provides a road map for institutions and individuals aiming to better support academics who are looking after children, family members or friends.

An uneven burden

Elena Fuentes-Afflick, a perinatal epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who chaired the report committee, says that the group was motivated by high levels of attrition among carers in STEMM, particularly among women and especially women of colour, who have historically been more likely to assume caregiving roles. The report notes that Black, Asian and Hispanic carers are more likely to provide care for non-relatives or extended family members than are those in other groups.

Research has shown that parenthood disproportionately affects the careers of women in STEMM1. Nearly half of new mothers (and one-quarter of new fathers) in STEMM reported leaving full-time employment after the birth of their first child2. Much less research touches on other forms of caregiving, including that for older people, spouses, dependent adults, extended family or non-relatives, and language in policies is often geared towards heterosexual couples with young children and can alienate those with other types of responsibility.

“Caregiving is a universal experience, whether one is a recipient or a giver,” Fuentes-Afflick says. “But as a country, we haven’t created an environment where all caregivers can thrive.”

Addressing this spectrum of needs will require buy-in across the entire academic ecosystem, the report argues, from federal agencies and funders to institutions and individual department heads and peers. The United States, for example, is one of 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development — and is the only member without national, paid caregiving leave (the report suggests that a minimum of 12 weeks should be offered). Existing US federal and state policies that protect carers — such as the landmark federal civil-rights law Title IX, which bans sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational programmes, along with the Family Medical and Leave Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act — are inconsistently applied.

“There are many best practices that exist right now that are firmly grounded in the law, and yet are not always adhered to,” Fuentes-Afflick says. For example, pregnancy-related discrimination is a violation of three federal laws, yet universities do not always follow them when making hiring and promotion decisions. “The first step is fully implementing all of the current laws.”

The report also highlights ways in which funders can offer support, such as by providing flexibility in the timing of grant eligibility and application due dates. Institutions in turn should appoint dedicated leaders to highlight resources — including paid leave; stop-the-clock tenure policies, in which candidates are given extra time before tenure evaluation to compensate for lost productivity owing to caregiving responsibilities; and free or subsidized childcare — in a centralized online repository, and to ensure that successful policies are made permanent. The report authors note that such resources exist at many universities, but they’re often not adequately advertised or funded, resulting in programmes that either are underutilized or have prohibitively long waiting lists. Although many of the report’s suggestions require financial buy-in, others, such as not scheduling meetings during school pick-up or drop-off times, require only discussions.

Improving conditions

Having frank conversations is essential to maintaining a diverse and competitive workforce, says Leonard Pace, a science-programme senior manager at the Schmidt Ocean Institute headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Pace has organized several conference sessions on caregiving. “Obviously, there’s an ethical incentive to support each other, but it also benefits us financially to retain experienced people,” he says.

The institute offers flexible working arrangements, paid parental leave and caregiving supplements for those conducting fieldwork — policies that Pace has used as a father and while providing care remotely for a parent with lung cancer. As the culture at his workplace shifts away from stigmatizing people with caregiving roles, Pace says, more people are using these resources.

Indeed, creating an environment in which carers can do their best work will require a broader shift away from the stigma attached to deviating from what the report calls the “ideal worker norm” — the idea that scientists should focus on their careers to the exclusion of all other aspects of life (see ‘Stepping up for carers’).

Several scientists who spoke to Nature expressed feeling shame when caregiving responsibilities pull them away from work. Some say that stigma kept them from seeking support. Sarah Bacon, a reproductive physiologist at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, is both a parent and a carer for her mother, who has been hospitalized twice this year and now requires home care.

To fully support her, Bacon has pulled her work back to the bare minimum, teaching classes and holding virtual office hours — and has shared this with only a few key colleagues. “But in the afternoons, when I go to be with my mom, I know my office is dark, and I feel embarrassed,” she says. “Everybody works so hard, and it looks like I’m just slacking off.”

Bacon adds, however, that seeing her experience reflected in the testimonies of the 40 scientists interviewed in the report nearly brought her to tears. Similarly, Taghreed Al-Turki, a single mother and cell biologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says that after reading the report, “I wanted to print copies and go through, lab by lab by lab, and hand it to every single principal investigator”. Al-Turki now plans to organize a committee in her department to read through the report, and Bacon has pledged to ask her university’s Title IX officer what policies her university offers.

“As one person, it can feel risky to speak out, but seeing many people amplify how you feel — that’s hope, and I am so thankful,” Al-Turki says. “I love being a scientist, it’s been a dream since I was a kid, and my son is a piece of my heart. There’s no reason I can’t have both.”

Stepping up for carers

There are a number of steps that institutions and individuals can take to create a more supportive environment for scientists with caregiving responsibilities.

• Make caregiving policies easily accessible. Owing to the hodgepodge of federal, state and institutional regulations, people might not always be aware of existing resources. Make a single repository — such as this University of California, San Diego, website, which also includes links to local and national policies — and display it prominently on the university homepage.

• Promote good work–life balance. Scientists fear being ostracized by peers if they are perceived as undedicated because they have to devote time to caregiving tasks. Support flexible working arrangements, and make it clear that those on caregiving leave are not expected to work; this creates a culture in which science exists alongside, and not above, other responsibilities.

• Prioritize funding for innovative pilot programmes. In 2012, Stanford University’s School of Medicine in California piloted a time-banking system. Faculty members could exchange time spent on unpaid labour — such as mentoring, sitting on committees or covering a colleague’s shift — for assistance with grant writing or home activities, including childcare, housecleaning and preparing premade meals. Those who participated received, on average, 1.3 times more grant awards, totalling around US$1.1 million per person. (As of 2022, only one department, emergency medicine, retained the programme.)

• Include caregiving in union negotiations. If you are represented by a union, ask the bargaining committee to include caregiving in their negotiations with university administrators. Postdocs in the University of California system were able to secure eight weeks of paid caregiving leave, paid time off, annual childcare subsidies and lactation support at work.

• Don’t limit caregiving to childcare. Many scientists are children of people in the baby-boomer generation, who in the United States are now aged 60–78. As such, more researchers have caregiving responsibilities for ageing parents, often alongside childcare obligations. Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond met this need by establishing a family care centre on campus that provides both child and adult daycare.

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Galaxy AI: Break language barriers with One UI 6.1 Live Translate and Interpreter

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With the Galaxy S24, Samsung introduced Galaxy AI, a suite of AI-powered features useful in everyday tasks. Some of its features allow you to converse freely with people who don’t speak your language. It is handy when traveling outside your country or having international meetings.

This article will explain how you can use Galaxy AI’s Interpreter and Live Translate features to break language barriers and communicate without major issues.

How to use Interpreter and Live Translate on Galaxy phones

You can watch our in-depth video below to see how the Interpreter Mode and Live Translate features work on Galaxy phones running One UI 6.1.

However, not all languages are supported in these modes. Supported languages include Chinese, English (India, US, UK), French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Mexico, Spain, US), Thai, and Vietnamese.

Use Interpreter mode when talking to someone face-to-face who doesn’t understand your language

When you’re talking to someone face to face, and the other person doesn’t understand your language, you should use the Interpreter Mode on your Galaxy device. Here is how you can use it:

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen on your Galaxy phone. Now, swipe down again to reveal the full Quick Panel screen.

2. Now, find the Interpreter Mode toggle and click on it.

3. The Interpreter Mode will open in full-screen mode. Select your language by tapping the language drop-down menu beside the microphone icon. Now, select the other person’s language by tapping the drop-down menu beside the microphone icon at the top. You can tap the button on the left side of the three-dot menu at the top of the screen to make the phone’s UI face the other person.

4. You can now start talking with the other person, and the voices will be transcribed and translated in real time. You can view the recorded and translated text on the phone’s screen.

This is great when you travel to a different country or city where people don’t speak your language.

Use Live Translate during voice calls

You can use the Live Translate feature to talk on a voice call to someone who doesn’t speak your language. To use it, follow the steps listed below.

1. Open the Phone app on your Galaxy device. Tap the three-dot menu on the top-right part of the screen.

2. Click on Live Translate and turn on the toggle.

3. Scroll down, tap on Language in the Me section, and select your language. In this section, you must choose the language that best suits your preferences. In the Voice section, you can choose the voice option and the speed of the speech using the Speech Rate slider. You can enable the Mute My Voice option if you want the other person to hear your translated voice only.

4. Now, scroll down further. In the Other Person section, select the language of the other person. In the Voice section, you can choose the voice option and the speed of the speech using the Speech Rate slider. You can enable the Mute Other Person’s Voice option if you only want to hear the other person’s voice translated into your language.

5. You can even find the option to select a language for each person in your contact list.

Once you are done, you can make or receive calls from people who don’t speak your language. You can see live-translated text on your phone’s screen during the call.

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Communication barriers for a Deaf PhD student meant risking burnout

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Megan Majocha signing next to a microscope in the lab

Megan Majocha, a tumour-biology researcher in the laboratory at the US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, says Deaf researchers shouldn’t have to spend time developing sign language for their science.Credit: NIH

Sign language in science

The lack of scientific terms and vocabulary in many of the world’s sign languages can make science education and research careers inaccessible for deaf people and those with hearing loss. Meet the scientists, sign-language specialists and students working to add scientific terms and concepts to sign languages. In the third of four articles showcasing their efforts, Megan Majocha, a tumour-biology PhD student at Georgetown University in Washington DC, who is part of the Georgetown–National Institutes of Health Graduate Partnerships Program, describes how she worked with interpreters to develop the signed scientific lexicon necessary to conduct her research.

I am from a third-generation Deaf family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I went to a primary school for Deaf children and then to a mainstream secondary school at the age of 12. My parents thought it would be a good idea for me to learn how to work with interpreters in the mainstream, hearing world while I was at school, so that I had exposure to both worlds.

I worked with the same interpreter for six years from grade 7 (age 12) until the end of secondary school. We collaborated to develop signs for scientific terms — asking each other, “Would this sign make sense for this specific term,” and that kind of thing. It was a lot of work for me in my early teens, to try to develop these scientific signs as well as learning the subject content.

I started my PhD in August 2019 at Georgetown University in Washington DC. I am in my fifth year and I expect to defend my thesis in the next few months. Speaking to a few other Deaf scientists during my PhD, I learnt that we all have different signs for scientific terms: even though they have the same meaning in English, we all sign them differently because we have all developed our own separate ways of signing terms that aren’t in the American Sign Language (ASL) dictionary.

I had to develop my own team of interpreters for my first-year graduate school courses. They worked with me Monday to Friday for each course I took and in the laboratory. It is beneficial to have that consistency for both me and my interpreting team, because we can develop signs together and the interpreters can become familiar with my work and the content of the course for each class.

By law, US universities are required to provide and pay for interpreters, so both my institutions, Georgetown University and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, provide interpreters at no cost to me.

I have to be conscious of how an interpreter might voice my research and scientific ideas to my colleagues, collaborators and prospective mentors. I’d be hesitant to pick an interpreter whom I didn’t know to speak on my behalf, especially for a formal presentation — partly because some scientific terms share the same sign. For example, the signs for the words ‘dye’ and ‘stain’ are the same in ASL — on both hands the index finger and thumb are touching, the other fingers are extended with the palms facing down, and the hands move up and down to represent dipping a material into a dye. Although it’s the same sign, the English words have completely different meanings in the scientific field. If I’m doing a presentation and the interpreter uses the wrong word, that can make me look like I’m not knowledgeable and that I don’t know what I’m talking about.

Having an interpreter who’s motivated to learn these nuances is really important. For example, the interpreters here at the NIH watch the lab team do experiments and ask questions about our research, which is helpful. When I have to stop to explain things, I try not to think of it as wasting my time, when I could be doing my own work. Sometimes I have to take a few minutes to explain a process or concept while I do an experiment, but that can be beneficial in the long run.

Progress and burnout

I’ve focused on developing signs that work for me and my interpreters. But ASL has specific grammar rules for each sign, which a lot of the signs my interpreters and I have created probably don’t follow. That’s one of our many challenges: to develop signs for all Deaf scientists that follow the official ASL grammar rules.

Three other Deaf people work in my lab. One is a biologist who has worked here for more than 20 years. He’s developed a spreadsheet of scientific words and an explanation of how you sign each one. For example, the sign I use for metastasis starts with both hands facing each other with the fingers bent and moving in a zigzag motion, which indicates disorder, then both hands are extended forward simultaneously, moving apart to represent the cells spreading out.

But this is not necessarily the best way to preserve a visual, signed language. Therefore, we are trying to develop a way to film the signs so that interpreters watching the videos can learn them. That would be a much better resource.

All of this has been a lot of work. I would love to have the chance to focus solely on my research, but I’ve been juggling my time between research, creating signs, working with my network of interpreters and everything else. The COVID-19 pandemic added to the problem. Before COVID-19, interpreters worked on site all the time. But now many of them prefer to work remotely. However, interpreting through a video call is not as useful as having an interpreter in the lab. We need them on site for spontaneous conversations when we’re troubleshooting protocols. This has made it even harder to find interpreters who can work at this level of science.

I am feeling burnt out from all this legwork. My energy should be invested in my research and my coursework, not making sure each interpreter understands what’s going on. It’s so much to manage, sometimes I feel like I have earned a PhD in linguistics, too. Continuing research after my PhD is still one of my options, but I’m also looking into project management or consultant jobs that use the knowledge and skills that I have developed.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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