Walking into a headwind: The barriers women face trying to build science careers

Australia’s parliament has a problem retaining experienced women. As a workplace, it’s not alone.

Women make up half of all science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) PhD candidates and early-career researchers in Australia — but only 20% of senior leaders.

In other words, we don’t have a problem with women entering the STEMM pipeline, but rather, what happens to them once they are there.

So why do women leave?

Our recent research suggests it’s because working in STEMM puts women in an ideological dilemma that is exhausting to confront and feels impossible to change.

Investigating the real problem

We surveyed 61 women and conducted follow-up interviews with 25. This was part of our broader sociological research on leadership in STEMM.

The women were from an international group working in STEMM fields, across both academia and industry, and were at a range of career points.

Our research shows the conflicting experiences that women confront in the STEMM sector: Read more

Robyn Moore and Meredith Nash - SmartCompany - 20 September 2018