CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

The gender gap in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) widens as women climb the career ladder–and this effect is magnified for women of color and other minorities. The major bottleneck in the STEMM pipeline coincides with the time when women are starting a family, yet motherhood is rarely addressed in discussions and interventions to increase the representation of women in STEMM fields.

Mothers in STEMM have long been dealing with significant challenges. New mothers are nearly three times as likely to leave their STEM careers when compared to new fathers or their childless peers. Similarly, almost 40% of women physicians scale back their medical practice or leave employment for family reasons. The silent forces that are pushing mothers to the edge are complex and include workplace bias and discrimination (known as maternal wall), lack of childcare, uneven division of childcare and housework labor, unequal parental leave policies, and an inflexible, all-consuming work culture designed for the “ideal worker”.

COVID-19 has exposed and amplified these longstanding inequalities and action must be taken to retain women and minorities in STEMM careers. We should seize this opportunity to build a better system that is inclusive for everyone.

This conference brought together STEMM students and professionals, non-profit organizations, research institutions and science societies to discuss the structural barriers holding mothers back and to brainstorm long-term actionable solutions to close the gender gap in STEMM. Policies and interventions for supporting mothers in STEMM during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic were also discussed. In a session focused on promoting systemic change, leading experts highlighted current research on gender policy and the mechanisms of workforce inequality. Finally, all participants were invited to join an open webinar to discuss these issues and brainstorm ideas for building an inclusive system for everyone in STEMM.

SPEAKERS

To read the speakers’ bios click here.

PROGRAM

SPONSORS