1 in 3 women, and 1 in 6 men, leave academia on becoming a parent
Research: Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandic, Anne Sophie Lassen & Valentina Tartari
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/06/08/the-lack-of-women-at-the-top-of-the-academic-ladder-is-driven-by-unequal-childcare-responsibilities/
Motherhood, and the unequal childcare responsibilities that follow, explain a large share of the observed gender gap in academic employment. Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandic, Anne Sophie Lassen and Valentina Tartari find that the demands of childcare and mobility constraints, reinforced by the nature of research work, are the key drivers for women’s differing career trajectories
