Ryan Hernandez, a population and evolutionary geneticist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), who is not involved with the campaign, says that such resources would undoubtedly have eased his own parenthood journey. As an early-career scientist, Hernandez worked constantly and felt guilty taking breaks. It was his partner, Dara Torgerson — another scientist at UCSF — who helped him to establish a better work–life balance.

Hernandez and Torgerson, who co-direct their laboratory, now embrace the flexible schedule that academia allows by trading off leaving work early to pick their two daughters up from school and otherwise splitting their chores. “It’s not always equal, but we try to prioritize whichever of us is more busy, and try to communicate our needs,” he says.

A key part of that journey, Hernandez says, has been escaping the prevalent myth in academia that a scientist must always chase productivity and perfection. “Unlearning that has been really, really hard,” he says, adding that it has been helpful to think of his life as a juggling act in which the balls represent different priorities. “Because I know myself, I know it’s always going to be too many balls,” he says. “My goal now is to make sure that I’m not always dropping the same one.”