The National Science Foundation (NSF) provided a grant asking this very question. Now Joan C. Williams and Kate Massinger of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law are posing a possible answer: harassment.
In their recent article in The Atlantic, How Women Are Harassed Out of Science, Williams and Massinger share the experiences that STEM students and professionals have encountered at all levels of their careers, ranging from sexual harassment to pregnancy harassment. Some of these instances were overt; others were more subtle threats to funding and snide remarks.
Although this study seems to offer a discouraging and depressing prognosis for women in STEM, it is actually one of several forums bringing this “open secret” into conversation. At the 2015 American Geophysical Union annual meeting, a town-hall session was held to discuss harassment. Other steps towards progress are occurring as well—of the 1,000 women postdocs surveyed by the authors, 59% belonged to institutions with maternity leave policies and 53% reported supportive supervisors. Some funding sources, such as NSF, provide supplemental funding to their supported projects for parental leave needs.
American Association of University Women and Know Your IX, both mentioned in the article, are two valuable resources available to support both women and parents experiencing difficulty in the workplace.