Carers In STEMM

the 3Lauras that make up Carers in STEMM standing outside 22 Whitehall, London. The 3 females are standing in front a large gate.

Yesterday we had the privilege of contributing to a RoundTable in Whitehall on "Women in Research" - the future, barriers & potential solutions to address many systemic issues. We're excited to see how these conversations continue @laurawolz.bsky.social @carterlj.bsky.social @pallettlab.bsky.social

'Our research has found that patchy implementation of family-friendly policies and unsympathetic managerial cultures push women to work as if nothing has changed. They are required to give birth to the “ideal academic baby”: a child who never disrupts grant deadlines, seminars or student emails.'

Less than 3 weeks until our final report launch event
9th Dec. (London) 10am

We will be welcoming a fantastic panel:
🌟Jo O'Leary (UKRI)
🌟Sara Mole (UCL)
🌟John Tregoning (Imperial)
🌟Katie Perry (Daphne Trust)
🌟Jennie Evans (BSI)
🌟Ilaria Meazzini (RSC)

Register here: www.carersinstemm.co.uk

So fantastic to have you with us, despite a few technical hitches. Encourage others to join our London event on 9th December 😉😉

Very insightful launch of @carersinstemm.bsky.social today at @manchester.ac.uk! Understanding the barriers associated with caring responsibilities is something I'm really passionate about and its amazing to see Carers in STEMM quantifying and advocating for carers in academia.

To hear more about the Carers in STEMM survey - the hidden barrier to parents and carers - there is still time to join us

Manchester: 13th November
London: 9th December
(Both hybrid)

Spread the word!

Congrats to @carersinstemm.bsky.social for a successful and insightful launch event in Edinburgh's grand Playfair library. They're calling for systemic changes to funding, policy & culture to support carers in STEM.
Read more 👉 carersinstemm.co.uk & join future events in London/Manchester/Online 👩‍🔬🧪

Or register to join another of our free (hybrid) events to hear the reports key findings, to meet other parents and carers/funders and learned societies and to quiz those able to influence policy

Manchester: 13th Nov
London: 9th Dec

Register: www.carersinstemm.co.uk

Also huge thank you to the Future Leaders Fellows Development Network for their continue support

If you haven’t read the report yet, please do and share widely

www.carersinstemm.co.uk

Today marked the 1st of our “Roadshow” events to formally launch our survey report in the stunning venue of the Playfair library - Edinburgh

A huge thank you to panellists @pallettlab.bsky.social @astroroyalscot.bsky.social
Wei-Yu Lu (father, MRC fellow)
Janette Wark (EPSRC)
Adrian Lu (GCU)

👏👏👏

How do you find navigating travel with all your “hats” (researcher/mother/etc)?

Love this, I met @michellemonje.bsky.social after my first child years ago. I was feeling anxious about my science future, Michelle was very encouraging. What an incredible role model @carersinstemm.bsky.social

Now I have 3 children and my first grant

I had the opportunity to travel to Australia as part of a Fellowship - as this was for 6 weeks my whole family came. This was my daughter waiting to make sure her suitcase had made it to the plane ✈️ 🥰

#stemm #muminscience

As fellow mothers, how were you functional?! 🤣

I'm impressed how people combine scientific careers and parenthood and I love seeing babies at conferences. However, what I would love even more if everyone had access to appropriate parental leave.

This is me accepting my first EiC job, couple hours old newborn in tow, starting 6mo mat leave.

LOVE this, and what a cute little helper they are :-)
...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY little one! 🎈

My husband and I are both in STEMM so to help us with the guilt of travelling for conferences we made it into a cute tradition of being walked to the bus/train by our cute lil helper (who is 4 TODAY 🥹🥹)

This was me with my mom going for an @EMBO young investigator award interview 2 weeks after my son was born. Thank goodness for moms and a quick turn around at the passport office 😆

Wow, gorgeous, but this must be a contender for our youngest dependant to date to travel for the love of science.

Hooray for supportive parents 👏

A third of the inspiration behind Carers in STEMM….❤️❤️

#STEMMCarers

Travel with the babies… I can’t say I cherish the memories of sleep deprived nights followed by exhausting and long conference days. I could only make it work, as we could afford my mum tagging along, a huge privilege as she had to come all the way from Germany!
🧪🔭

By way of a celebration of the juggle many carers & parents go through to make travel for research happen, why not share your “STEMM life with dependants” photos 😃 🧪

Let’s amplify, discuss, normalise the balancing act, & celebrate the superpowers often required ⚖️

We ❤️ seeing them!

#STEMMCarers

👏👏👏👏👏

A phot showing a pile of printed report with green cover page. The front title reads The Dual Demands of Academic Travel and Caregiving and shows a graphic of different caregiving situations as well as a wordcloud.

Oh hello there!!! The printed copies of our report have arrived - and I am the chosen Laura to lug them across the country!

So, come and join us in Edinburgh on the 22nd of October for our first @carersinstemm.bsky.social report launch and get your own copy!

forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

We LOVE seeing this!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏

Scientist, Wonder Woman, Carer ❤️

You can also join one of the three report launch events where the team will be sharing their actionable recommendations to improve support for all academic carers. Please come and say hello to me if you’re at the Edinburgh event! 9/end🧵

Register👉: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

A Carers Guide for Institutions 1 Ensure institutional expense policy allows for the reimbursement of care-related costs including dependant and co-carer travel expenses. 2 Update and align institutional financial reimbursement policy with funder T&C’s relating to care-giving costs. 3 Establish institutional policy and disseminate to line managers and expense approvers to avoid inconsistent implementation and support. 4 Provide flexible carers grants for all staff and students with minimal administrative burden to flexibly support ad-hoc care and do not mandate online attendance. 5 Consider the competing demands of meeting sustainability goals and the requirement to support carers (e.g. trains, flight times on weekends). 6 Decouple measures of research impact and esteem from travel opportunities with updated academic guidance. 7 Allow for family-friendly travel accommodation options including booking outside of approved institutional travel providers. 8 Provide a per-diem (a daily allowance) option for complex trips to reduce administrative burden on carers. 9 When hosting an event, ensure risk assessments and insurance policy align to allow access to those under the age of 18.

So today I celebrate the work of @carersinstemm.bsky.social who are calling for systemic changes to funding, policy & culture to support carers in STEM. Funders & employers must listen if they recognise and value the importance of a diverse workforce.👩‍🔬🧪

Read their report 👉 carersinstemm.co.uk 8/9🧵

From 2006. A younger and shell-shocked looking Catherine on a balcony holding a very tiny baby with the mountains of Vancouver in the background. The baby is so new, Catherine still has the pregnant bump.

Conventional wisdom says motherhood should wait for tenure as before you land a permanent post, #academia is just not that family friendly🙁

@carersinstemm.bsky.social are calling for change and to celebrate their new report, a Saturday🧵on parenting & academia! 1/9 👩‍🔬🧪🔭⚛️

ℹ️: carersinstemm.co.uk

Advertisement poster of our Carers in STEMM report launch event in Edinburgh, on the 22.10.2025 at Playfair from 10am. More details can be found via event registration https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=B8tSwU5hu0qBivA1z6kad4JPwQzjYCRIgeFJLWslxmNURE5QNENLOE1LN1lOMlZPUlZYT0RJTklQOC4u

Edinburgh and surrounding areas, please join us in 3 weeks for our first report launch event!

After presenting our survey findings, we have a great line-up of panelist, including the fantastic @astroroyalscot.bsky.social!

Register via forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Screenshot of the front page of the carers in STEMM survey report

We are pleased to announce the publication of our STEMM sector-wide survey

The report highlights our findings & suggests recommendations. Now available to download here carersinstemm.co.uk

Please share especially w/ institutions, funders & allies

@laurawolz.bsky.social @carterlj.bsky.social