Why Are Women Disappearing From Research Careers?

The 8th of March was the celebration of the International Women's Day, a date that in some shape of form has been noted in many calendars since the beginning of the 20th century and was finally made an official day by the UN in 1977. The goal of the day is to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women, but especially to highlight the existing gender inequalities and propose ways to erase them. Despite many advances, there's still a lot of work to do until women are given the same rights, opportunities, respect, and rewards as men, even in countries that are considered more progressive.

I teach different biological sciences subjects at a British university. One thing that is evident from the moment you step into a classroom is that more than half of the students of these degrees are women. Biology doesn't have the problems that are obvious in other STEM areas, in which the presence of women is often testimonial (why this happens would be a separate topic to discuss).

Biological sciences have no issue in attracting the interest of women. The percentages remain the same until graduation, and many of them decide then to go onto the next step in the ladder and start a PhD. Out of the 20 former members of my research lab, 14 have been women, many of them PhD students who successfully defended their theses and went on to add a "Dr" in front of their names. This is just an example, but the pattern repeats in many labs all over the world. Most of these PhDs will go on to a postdoctoral position to further their training and buff up their CVs while waiting for the right job offer to show up.

Things start to change, though, when they enter the academic ranks and the job pyramid starts to narrow. Lab-head positions are scarce, and the competition is fierce, leading to many postdocs of both genders abandoning the race for greener pastures. Nevertheless, women still represent a good fraction of entry-level academics in biomedical research. But as they move from assistant to associate professorships, the numbers start to dwindle; if you look among department chairs, women have all but disappeared.

How do women go from being practically a majority in the training ranks to losing their place in the decision-making positions? The fact that we lose many of these promising scientists is a very worrying trend. Humanity cannot afford to waste half of our brilliant minds this way, particularly when the lost half is as capable as the one that remains.

It could be argued that full professors are older scientists from a generation in which women would often not be able to choose an academic career. That probably plays a role in the final figures, but the trend should be reverting. We Gen Xers are now old enough to enter the senior ranks, and the classroom gender gap was already closed when we hit the university halls. However, the representation of women in high academic posts doesn't seem to be changing yet, which shows that the glass ceiling remains pretty much in place. But why is it still there?

Scientific research is a tough job, for both men and women — there's no two ways about that. It's a very competitive world where, often, whoever puts more time into a project gets the prize. We work crazy hours (I have many entries on Christmas and Thanksgiving days in my postdoc lab books) for average to low pays and, owing to the fast pace of science nowadays, it's not the kind of job you can take a couple of years off and come back to continue exactly where you were.

Also, the crucial years that determine whether you are going to get an independent position or not coincide with the times that you have to decide whether to start a family. When faced with the high demands of a career in research, women are still the ones that decide more often to make the sacrifice and commit to family care in a way that could be detrimental for their academic progression. This is likely to be the crux of the matter.

We need to understand better why this still happens and find the right solutions. For starters, there are many steps that can be taken to make sure that family life and a demanding job are more compatible. Some universities and research institutes have childcare facilities, for instance, and many funders have special grants for women that have taken time off and are returning to the arena. Making everyone aware of unconscious bias and foster positive action will also have a strong impact.

It's crucial that we find a way to ensure that in the next generation of female professors are represented in the way they deserve. It's not only a matter of justice, but also the most intelligent thing to do to ensure that science advances as fast as possible.

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About Dr Salvador Macip

Salvador Macip, MD, PhD is a doctor, researcher and writer. He obtained his MD/PhD at the University of Barcelona (Spain) in 1998, then moved to do oncological research at the Mount Sinai Hospital (New York). Since 2008, he has led the Mechanisms of Ageing and Cancer Lab at the University of Leicester (UK). Macip has published over 30 books, including Where Science and Ethics Meet (2016) and Modern Epidemics (2021). Connect with him on Twitter: @DrMacip

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