There is a confounding equation many women learn early in their careers: ambition minus motherhood equals success.
And if you dare to challenge that formula; if you want both a family and a future in a demanding field, there is a cost. Sometimes it is subtle: a missed promotion, a whispered comment, an invitation that never comes, other times, it is brutal: outright exclusion, gaslighting or reputational sabotage. In research and policy spaces, being a woman, young, brilliant and visibly a mother is especially steep. Because it is not just about output, it is about perception.
Do you look available enough? Can you stay late on a whim? Are you willing to drop everything for an emergency field trip? If your answer is anything short of a robotic “yes”, the room gets colder. You are marked as a risk.
Maymunah Oloruntosin did not just navigate this imbalance; she lived its consequences. With three children and a head full of ideas, she believed naively that her commitment to development work, her experience and her skills would speak for themselves. But in her previous workplace, none of that seemed to matter.
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