Women are deterred from following a career in sciences due to the obligations of family responsibility, a new study has revealed.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), women often leave the scientific career path during the transition to tenured or faculty positions despite previously committing themselves to ten to 15 years of academic training.
Orna Cohen-Fix, one of the authors of the research, commented that changes are needed in the industry.
"The loss of talented women from the research track can be reduced by mentoring and a change in the scientific culture to accommodate the needs of both women and men who wish to combine family and scientific careers," she said.
NIH director Elias A Zerhouni MD added that the reasons are often "deep-seated and numerous".
The possibility for women to work more flexible hours has been suggested by the researchers as a possible solution to the problem.
This echoes recent calls by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation for bosses to help lone parents back into the work by providing flexible hours.
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