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Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

nature.com

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Re: Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

#2
While the title focuses on female scientists, males are also affected. From the article: "...23% of men and 43% of women who had become parents had left full-time STEM employment. ... This compared to 16% of child-free men and 24% of child-free women."

Re: Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

#3

While the title focuses on female scientists, males are also affected. From the article: "...23% of men and 43% of women who had become parents had left full-time STEM employment. ... This compared to 16% of child-free men and 24% of child-free women."

That’s even more stark when you put it that way. Men leave at a rate of 9% more than their background rate when they have children, women leave 19% more with kids, over a base rate that even without children exceeds the male rate by 8%.

Re: Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

#4

While the title focuses on female scientists, males are also affected. From the article: "...23% of men and 43% of women who had become parents had left full-time STEM employment. ... This compared to 16% of child-free men and 24% of child-free women."

Women left at a higher rate than men.

People who had children left at a higher rate than people who did not.

Women who had children left at a rate with a greater (additional or multiplier) increase over the rate of women without children than did men with children over men without children.

Re: Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

#6

While the title focuses on female scientists, males are also affected. From the article: "...23% of men and 43% of women who had become parents had left full-time STEM employment. ... This compared to 16% of child-free men and 24% of child-free women."

So basically, post-doctoral STEM employment punishes taking the hours to parent, like so many other professional positions these days.

Re: Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

#7

Members of a sexually reproducing species find that their instinctual genetic imperative is more fulfilling than current-epoch cultural fads.

what could be more fulfilling than [disruption|big data|reactive web|microservices|deep learning|tech evangelization|nosql]?

Re: Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

#8

While the title focuses on female scientists, males are also affected. From the article: "...23% of men and 43% of women who had become parents had left full-time STEM employment. ... This compared to 16% of child-free men and 24% of child-free women."

You cut the part that explained that some of them merely cut back on their hours rather than "leaving STEM," a point that is repeated at least twice in the article:

They either went part time, switched to non-STEM careers or left the workforce altogether.

Re: Nearly Half of US Female Scientists Leave Full-Time Science After First Child

#9

While the title focuses on female scientists, males are also affected. From the article: "...23% of men and 43% of women who had become parents had left full-time STEM employment. ... This compared to 16% of child-free men and 24% of child-free women."

Looks like offering childcare onsite could alleviate some of this at least in the early years —but may only postpone the inevitable departure.

As far as I understand it even at these high perk Santa Clara/Silicon Valley companies childcare isn’t a given. There are waiting lists and other limits. They want to attract women, but they fall short on this aspect.

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