TRI DUC ENGLISH - Why Are Women Leaving Science Careers? TRI DUC ENGLISH Reading Practice: Why Are Women Leaving Science Careers? Generations of women struggled for the right to pursue careers in science and technology, yet today nearly half the women scientists in Europe and the Americas leave their careers. The difference in numbers between men and women who advance and persist in their fields cannot be attributed to race, ethnic, or social group. The dire consequences of this loss may become more acute as the number of women entering science careers increases. Since the 1990s, more women than men have enrolled in college, earned higher grades, and majored in science or technology fields. If the trend continues and more than half these women leave their careers by their mid-forties, approximately one-third of all scientists will leave their careers in the next twenty years. So why are women leaving the science careers they worked so hard to attain? Studies by academic and professional associations show the causes for the loss of this valuable resource are threefold: time, family responsibilities, and lack of role models. High-level jobs in science, in both the corporate and the academic world, require inordinate amounts of time. With increased use of the Internet, cell phones, and other electronic forms of communication, scientists are not only required to be in the lab or office ten to twelve hours a day, but expected to be available the rest of the time, too. Professional time demands are the same for both men and women, but many more women opt out than men because of significant issues that men do not face. Although women are nearing equality in the professional world, the pressures of caring for family still rests largely with women. According to studies, professional women with children still bear the majority of the responsibilities at home. They spend more time with the children and on taking care of the home than men. Biology dictates that women require extended leaves of absence when they are pregnant and give birth, yet to advance in their careers, women cannot afford to take time off until their late thirties, when the optimal time for having healthy babies is ending. Women can devote the necessary attentio...