Nobel Prize Winner Elizabeth Blackburn on Math-Science Gender Gap and Work-Life Balance

History was made yesterday as the Nobel prize in medicine was awarded to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szotack for their work on telomeres, a portion of the chromosome which is linked to aging and cells.

According to the Associated Press:

It's the first time two women have shared in a single Nobel science prize. Over the years, a total of 10 women have won the prize in medicine.

Blackburn, 60, who holds U.S. and Australian citizenship, is a professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Greider, 48, is a professor in the department of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

When we hear news of successful women like this we may celebrate their achievements, but deep down inside we may think, "That could never be me. What do these women know about the everyday grind and work-life balance? You can't win a Nobel prize if you're busy worrying about whether or not you have time to bake cookies with your kids."

Actually, you can.

Look at Elizabeth Blackburn, one of yesterday's Nobel prize winners. In raising a family, she encountered the same issues every working mother faces. In an interview in July 2008, here's what she told me about her struggles to achieve work-life balance as a mother and college professor, the sacrifices she and her family made, and her own guilt about working vs. staying at home:

I bumbled though it like everybody does. I don't think we went to a movie or traveled on vacations. I spent minimal time at conferences and hurried home to be with my family. Of course it's going to be work, and you do find yourself wishing you were in two places at once. Of course the kids do fine; the evidence doesn't bear out that they won't.

You aren't a terrible parent if you aren't there after work every day baking cookies. I baked cookies - not such good ones but I baked. I was helped by the fact that I was a full professor so I attended those child related events that I wanted to be at. People will respect you if you take the time to make time for your children.

We'll always have guilt and stay-at-home moms have it too, although it's a different kind of guilt. We just have to realize we're not doing our children a disservice when we're engaged in our jobs if we are also engaged in them . The media does tend to stereotype women with a one size fits all model , while real examples aren't well represented in the media.

In an interview exclusive to About.com, Blackburn talks extensively about the math-science gender gap, the reasons why many girls lose interest in science as they grow older, the difficulties of advancing one's career while raising a child, and other issues facing women . You'll see how she encountered the same problems we all do, and what she did to overcome those obstacles. And she has advice for young women just starting out:

• Nobel Prize Winner Elizabeth H. Blackburn