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

nature.com

11–20 of 165 posts

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

#11
My wife's experience:

PI: "You put your kid in front of the TV for 2 hours a day to get stuff done? That's terrible parenting."

PI: "You will be late 1 day for a meaningless group presentation to your own lab, because your child is sick and can't go to daycare? Get your priorities straight."

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

#13

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.

I think that is not clear. Many people want to leave their jobs, men rarely have the option to do so because everyone (usually first and foremost their wives) frowns upon it.

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

#14
post #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]?

Verifiable delay functions!

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

#15
post #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%.

[deleted]

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

#17

Life is short, few things are more meaningful and rewarding than raising human beings.

It's also a net gain averaged out over time if the couple produces more than 2 children. It's a very rare person that can individually contribute more to their society than 3 or more well-raised new individuals.

Obviously this is a decision for couples to make for themselves, not for bureaucrats, economists, or activists to make for them.

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

#18

I have yet to be told why it is important for there to be as many women in STEM as men apart from statements that I'm sexist for not knowing

Because men and women are equal (so there's no difference whether a scientist is a man or a woman)

/s

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

#20

I have yet to be told why it is important for there to be as many women in STEM as men apart from statements that I'm sexist for not knowing

For the same reason its important for there to be as many women in mining, oil rigging, heavy industry, and forestry.
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