"You cannot educate a mother without educating her family."

Last night, four distinguished female BYU faculty gathered with graduate students for the Graduate Student Society’s Annual Women Faculty and Student Forum in the Hinckley Alumni Center to socialize, provide support, and discuss issues relevant to women in academia. I dragged my husband along, enjoyed some great refreshments, and was truly inspired by the stories these women had to tell, from the role models who motivated them and the trajectory of their career paths, to their thoughts on gender roles and how to navigate family life while pursuing a graduate degree and career.

I’ll briefly introduce them and provide a few of my favorite quotes from the night.

Jini Roby has a law degree, as well as degrees in social work and marriage and family therapy. She was born in South Korea and adopted as a teenager by an LDS family in Utah. You can read more of her fascinating story at the BYU Magazine archives. Her education and the development of her career in social work and international child protection law seemed to grow up alongside her three daughters.

Dr. Roby answered the question “What were some unexpected challenges you faced during your education and how did you deal with them?”

“A big challenge that I had was that I had to be superwoman. I had to do everything well. I had to prove to everybody that … even though I went to graduate school, my children weren’t suffering, I was a good church member doing all my callings really well, and you know, being a great wife. My yard was spotless--especially my yard, because everybody could see that. These kind of externally driven motivations were killing me. And I found myself sleeping 4 hours on average per night, and as you can imagine, my health was horrible when I graduated law school, and it took me about three years to recover. I wish that I could go back and give myself permission to not be superwoman.”

Susan Easton Black has been on the religion faculty since 1978, and her reputation for making church history come alive has caused her classes and her speaking schedule to fill quickly. You can read more details of her career in this article at the BYU Magazine archives.

Dr. Black discussed some of the difficulties she faced as she went through graduate school.

“I went back to graduate school as a single parent when my oldest was three, and I had three children. I went back to school on a scholarship for poverty. So I was pretty motivated to do pretty great. I’ve always thought, you cannot educate a mother without educating her family. And so I look at my three sons, and each one of them have a doctorate now too. The impact of [a mother] going to school sets an amazing example of priorities in the home. If you’re excited about what you’re learning, and it’s actually fun to learn, you’ll be amazed at how that can pass on to family members.”

I knew when I started [graduate school] that I would need to write. And so I put myself through the graduate program as a ghost writer for professors. It was pretty easy. There are a lot of professors who collect information, but never get their article or their book literally out the door. So how I made friends, and supported myself, I just knocked on their doors, and said, “I’m a writer, as well as your student. I’m wondering if you need some help.” And I would show them what I had written before. It made it pretty easy. A lot of people as they go through the programs, they typically stop at the thesis or dissertation. They can’t do it, it’s just too much. But if you’re writing from day one in, it doesn’t become a huge hurdle at the end.

Emily Bates teaches biochemistry and researches migraine, cancer and birth defects. She earned a BS in Biology from University of Utah and a PhD from Harvard Medical School in genetics.

Dr. Bates answered the question, “What was your most successful moment, when you realized it was all worth it?”

“Pretty much right now—starting three or four months ago! I’ve been working with some graduate students in my lab, studying the cause of some birth defects. I had a hunch that it had to do with a pathway that’s involved in cancer, and it looked like it was that, and I kept getting closer and closer. We got the results from some new experiments and it turns out we did have a connection to cancer. We found a protein channel, that if blocked, can block one of the pathways that’s most responsible for tumors growing and metastasizing, especially in lung cancer that moves really quickly. It is exciting just to see that I might make a big impact, that this could be a new drug target we could use. I’ve been on cloud nine for like four months! I’m dreaming about it at night, and I feel like I’m getting inspired! And that doesn’t always happen. A lot of grad school wasn’t that way. I felt like I was in the dark a lot of the time. But just feeling like you’re making a contribution and changing the world is awesome.”

Carol Ellertson teaches part-time in the Marriott School of Business. She has received graduate degrees in International Studies and Philosophy of Psychology. She has six children and ten grandchildren. You can read one of her fascinating articles on ritual worship here. Dr. Ellertson went back to school while her children were still at home, and spoke about her family’s unique implementation of principles from the Proclamation on the Family:

“If we go back to the very first marriage talked about in the Pear of Great Price, Adam and Eve, they worked side by side, doing the same thing almost, and they both contributed. In that situation it wasn’t just her with the children and him out in the fields, they were doing the same work together. It makes all the difference in the world to have a supportive husband. My husband was kind of the other way, he was like, “As soon as you finish and start teaching, I’m retiring! You can be the provider.” But he has been such a great support and help. So as you look for potential husbands, that is so key. Reaching your potential and developing your talents, makes you a more happy and better parent because you are fulfilling your dreams and the mission that you know God has in store for you, and I think it makes you a better, well-rounded, more even-tempered parent.”