Webinar: "Parenting and academia – managing the mental load"

Thursday 4 Dec 2025, 09:00 → 10:30 Europe/Berlin

zoom

Registration deadline: November 26

The Cologne Graduate School of Ageing Research and the MPI AGE Gender Equality Office offers the webinar

"Parenting and academia – managing the mental load" 

on December 4, 2025, 09:00-10:30 am
Zoom link to be provided to all registered participants

🎯 Target group: all academic staff members who are already parents (doctoral researchers, postdoctoral researchers, group leaders,...)

💡Content & Organization:
How do we juggle work life balance when “life” comes with such a huge mental load? When the family to-do list is three times as long as the work to-do list and it is you feel like you are always the one that has to remember. The thinking part of having children is permanent and it’s exhausting. It’s invisible, unmeasurable and often inescapable.

How do we thrive at work whilst navigating the worry and guilt of managing a family at home?

How do we learn to share the planning and management of our homes and not just the delegation of a never-ending task list in our minds?

It is possible.

We will:

• Explore what mental load is, how it manifests in our daily lives, and why it’s harmful.
• Learn to check in with our expectations.
• Learn to decontaminate our time so that we can be more effective in our work and more present at home.
• Identify worry and self-doubt loops and how to stop them.
• Learn to zoom out to fit everything in.
• Explore mindfulness and self-compassion as tools to help you be present with our kids when we are at home and present with our works when we need to be working.

 

The 90-minute presentation includes a Q&A period.

🗣️ Speaker:
Desiree Dickerson PhD (https://desireedickerson.com/) is a clinical psychologist who specializes in academic mental health and wellbeing. A former researcher herself, Desiree is now based in Europe, working with leading academic institutions, lab groups, and academics themselves to promote a healthier approach to research.

Register now!