To the Editor:Re “An Act of Defiance Can Improve Things for Working Moms,” by Toby Kiers (Opinion guest essay, May 4):I am a woman nearing the completion of my B.A. in philosophy, and I have the absurd hopes of going on to get my Ph.D. and work in academia and also have a family. Dr. Kiers’s essay both shed light on the frustrating reality of the discrimination that mothers face in the world of academic research, and provided a shining beacon of hope to counteract it. Dr. Kiers has called this out; this is not actually a choice we have to make. Motherhood is not a detriment to our academic abilities and research contributions; it actually strengthens it in new and unexpected ways.

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Persons: Toby Kiers, Kiers’s, Kiers