Why the scientific pipeline is still leaking? Women scientists and their work–life balance in Poland

Abstract

In the contemporary scholarly discourse, the under-representation of women in science is often explained by the phenomenon of women ‘in the pipeline’. The pipeline carries a flow from one stage to another, and the flow of women diminishes between the stages. Based on the literature and qualitative studies, it can be inferred that one of the main causes of leaking in the pipeline is the difficulty in reconciling professional and family life by female scientists. Scientific work that requires mobility and competition forces numerous women to abandon their career or take a career break for the period of assuming different family roles. The results of a number of studies demonstrate that there are some differences between Polish women and their peers from other countries in achieving the work–family connection. It appears that after fulfilling a set of necessary conditions, the reconciliation of professional and family life is sometimes possible.

Keywords:

• women scientists
• work–family connection
• work–life balance
• leaking pipeline
• gender

Notes

1. Grade A: The single highest post at which research is normally conducted. Grade B: Researchers working in positions not as senior as top position (A) but more senior than newly qualified PhD holders (ISCED 6). Grade C: The first grade/post into which a newly qualified PhD graduate would normally be recruited. Grade D: Either postgraduate students not yet holding a PhD degree who are engaged as researchers, or researchers working in posts that do not normally require a PhD (She Figures, 2009).

2. Data for all employed.

3. http://www.arwu.org/.

4. The symbols represent individual respondents.