In Autumn 2024, the three researchers behind Carers in STEMM – Prof Laura Carter, University of Leeds, Dr Laura Pallett, University College London, and Dr Laura Wolz, University of Manchester – conducted a sector wide survey of UK researchers with caregiving responsibilities to understand the lived experiences of those balancing an academic career and caring responsibilities. We spoke to Laura Carter and Laura Pallett to discuss the key findings of the report, their next steps and recommendations.
Please could you start by introducing Carers in STEMM?
Laura Carter: We met at a Future Leaders Fellows event in Cardiff in 2023 where we found ourselves comparing challenges, we’d each navigated just to attend the meeting. It turned out we all had very similar stories and were experiencing very similar challenges in our careers. After meeting at another event again at another meeting and decided to join forces and advocate for better support for those balancing caring and academic careers.
We started off by writing an article for Nature Careers where we highlighted these barriers and put forward some recommendations, but we were very aware that this was our thinking and it doesn't necessarily reflect the community or challenges that others are facing. And as scientists, we thought it was important to collect the data on this, so we applied for funding from the Future Leaders Fellow Development Network to run a sector wide survey to capture the lived experiences of other carers in in STEMM. We wanted to capture experiences from across disciplines and different forms of caring responsibilities, as the needs and challenges may look very different for different people.
Prior to this, how much data was out there around carers in STEMM?
Laura Pallett: Data on many protected characteristics gets collected on grants, on panels, even in terms of paper citations. But as far as we could tell, there was no systematic data that was capturing caregiving – whether that's of a younger child, an elderly parent, or an adult with additional needs. It was important to us to get a handle on just how many carers there are, how much of the share of caring they were responsible for and the implications that has for them and their career. Travel is embedded and integral to a STEMM career; 94% of our respondents had travelled at least once in a two-year period. This covers travelling for vivas, research collaborations, conferences and meetings to learn new techniques, etc. And all of this underpins your career. The original survey had a focus on travel, but now we're starting to widen this out to explore further issues.
For instance, we’ve had people reaching out to us to highlight the fact that tax-free childcare is not available for PhD students. The cost of childcare is phenomenal and
caring for an elderly individual costs even more. We are keen to build on our momentum and continue to advocate for carers tackling areas identified as barriers to those balancing caring and careers.
The profile of Carers in STEMM has grown since you published the results of the survey. You were recently invited to engage with government and policy makers on the barriers women are facing in research. How did that go? What were some of your key takeaways from that meeting?
Laura Carter: It was an excellent platform to discuss some of the findings from the report. While the survey was looking at carers more generally, the results revealed that 64% of carers who responded were women, so a lot of the findings were
relevant to discuss in this forum.
I found the conversation really focused on progressive approaches to addressing many of the barriers that we have known for quite a number of years, including longer-term solutions like shifts in cultural expectations, but also what can we do in
the short term to have easily identifiable solutions and implement those.
Laura Pallett: We came away thinking it was a productive and positive conversation. There was a willingness from everyone in the room to be quite open about the barriers. We put forward one of the barriers that we foresee, which is caregiving, but other barriers were extensively discussed too, and I really do hope that those conversations continue.
A key question that came out of our report and was discussed at the roundtable was what role do institutions and employers in STEMM play? And by extension what role do learned societies play? A striking finding from the report is the significant financial burden individuals face in order to meet their caregiving responsibilities while doing their jobs. Many people in academia are required to work outside standard hours and must arrange additional childcare to make this possible.
What we found is that that lots of funders and societies are quite progressive: many funders are allowing caregiving costs to be to be included, for example. But there's an institutional barrier. Institutional policies trump funder policy and T&Cs. The BSI is a great example, with flexible carer grants, but to be eligible you have to be a member. We're calling on institutions to look inward and update policies to align with funders, share best practices and make care grants fit for purpose.
Laura Carter: Some of the feedback we had from the survey respondents was the barriers to even apply to grants, and the administrative burden that went on top of it. Some forms are very lengthy, and there isn't a guarantee that you would get that reimbursement. And a lot of care is informal – you’re not going to get a receipt from the babysitter down the road. Allowing people to choose their care in a flexible way would help expand the coverage of these grants to be more useful.
You've mentioned that the majority of carers from your survey results were women. Are there any other groups of carers that are most affected in STEMM environments?
Laura Carter: One thing that's important to highlight is that carers can also have dual caring responsibilities - for example looking after young children while supporting elderly parents or relatives. The care demands are very different, and I think quite often we assume care to be related to parental care. Supporting adults or children with additional needs adds further complexity, as their care needs can often not be met away from home.
It’s also important to acknowledge the impact of caring responsibilities early in an academic career. A postdoc, PhD student, or early-stage lecturer, may be planning to start families or anticipating future caring roles at exactly the stage when their employment is most precarious. The combination of short-term contracts, uncertain career progression, and emerging care responsibilities can create significant barriers to remaining and progressing in academia.
Laura Pallett: We also realised quite quickly that some places have used some solutions as tick boxes. For example, crèches in conferences: our survey revealed that it's a minority of people who benefit from this. Once your children reach school age, it’s no longer feasible to take them out of school to attend a conference with you. And for those caring for elderly relatives, there are no equivalent care options like nurseries to rely on.
We therefore propose that the upfront costs typically allocated for event crèches be redirected into more flexible care funds.
Beyond travelling for conferences, are there any other structural features of STEM workplaces that make caring challenging?
Laura Carter: Contracts in early stages of the career can be really difficult. I had my first child when I was a postdoc and only came back to a contract with a few months remaining on it. That puts you in a very challenging situation to try and find the next position to progress your career, whilst also simultaneously adjusting to being a parent.
We also see many people go on maternity leave during short-term contracts, and in some cases, they are not eligible for full maternity leave provisions at all because their contracts are so brief. This can have a significant influence on whether someone feels able to start a family or continue a career in academia, simply because the systems in place don’t align with the realities of early‑career academia.
Laura Pallett: Another thing we need to think about is the short notice of out of hours activity that happens a lot in STEMM. Whether it's conferences, networking events or other more social events like inaugural lectures, so much networking activity in STEMM takes place outside of nine to five hours. For a carer, if you don't have enough notice, you just can't rearrange it.
I think one of our survey respondents hit the nail on the head when they said a one-day event is almost the same as a two-day event. You still need to organise drop offs beforehand, or deliver some medication to your elderly relative, or whatever it may be. It doesn't really matter what the length of the event is, you still often have to rearrange stuff.
What more can institutions and societies do to support carers?
Laura Pallett: One thing that came out of the survey is that carers want the additional load associated with caring to be acknowledged. Line managers in research are so often focused on research output and tend to miss some of the easy adaptations. Something as simple as conferences or meetings that start at 10am rather than 9am can make such a difference.
With learned societies, flexible care grants are an example of best practice. And some institutions have started to offer enhanced parental funds. So you could apply to have a technician (or postdoc) in your place when you're on maternity leave. UKRI have been very progressive in their wording for fellowships and for grants to allow for care giving costs to be to be covered. The issue is that no one knows about that. Our survey found that 75% of people had no idea what their funder or institutional policy was when it comes to caregiving.
Download the full Carers in STEMM Survey Report: The Dual Demands of Academic Travel and Caregiving here.
Interviewed by Laura Cox