Why do so many mothers never fully return to work after having a child? In this episode of For Sociology, host Kevin Caners talks with Camille Portier about the quiet forces shaping women’s careers after childbirth — and why, in the US, something as simple as control over your own workday can matter as much as paid leave itself.

Camille’s research focuses on the US — the only wealthy country without guaranteed paid parental leave — where she traces how workplace autonomy can substitute for the benefits mothers don’t have. The conversation also covers her academic path from social anthropology to quantitative sociology, her PhD years at Cornell during a politically turbulent moment in America, and the growing threats to social science research funding and data access.

Camille Portier was a Kohli Fellow at the European University Institute from 2023 until 2025.

Tune in via: For Sociology