Women stay in science far longer than thought, study of OECD countries suggests

In the past, studies have observed that women tend to leave science earlier, and in greater numbers, than men do, but a longitudinal study of 375,000 people has concluded the attrition rate may not be as great as once thought.

The phrase ‘leaky pipeline’ is used to illustrate the loss of female talent at every stage of the academic career pipeline due to systemic barriers that have historically prevented or discourage women from progressing in their careers. The researchers from Poland were keen to explore how researchers leave academic science and how attrition – defined as ceasing to publish – differs between men and women, academic disciplines and over time.