Parents Are Being Shut Out of Science Conferences, and a New Survey Shows How to Fix It

Scientific conferences are the beating heart of an academic career. They are where early-career researchers meet future employers, launch collaborations, present their first results, and begin to feel like scientists at all. Yet a new study of the geoscience community reveals that for researchers with children, these essential events are often simply out of reach. A survey of 245 geoscientists, published in the journal Geoscience Communication, has documented in unprecedented detail how the logistics of parenthood collide with the demands of conference attendance, and it arrives with a striking twist: the majority of scientists without children want things to change, too.

The study, led by Elena Päffgen of the University of Bonn together with Lisa Schielicke and Leonie Esters, was conducted in 2023 and distributed primarily through European academic networks and German institutions. Of the 245 participants, 58 percent were caregivers, and 56 percent identified as female. Most respondents were between 25 and 44 years old, the very stage of life when academic careers accelerate and families are formed. Participants answered 22 questions covering their conference habits, the barriers they face, and the support they would like to see, with separate question sets for parents and non-parents. The team combined quantitative analysis, including Pearson chi-squared tests of independence, with a qualitative content analysis of free-text answers, in which parents described in their own words what would make conferences workable for them.

The headline numbers are sobering. Nearly 80 percent of mothers and 57 percent of fathers reported that they had been unable to attend a conference because of family obligations, with the difference between mothers and fathers statistically significant. Around 77 percent of all participants agreed or strongly agreed that having children is a disadvantage for a scientific career, a view held by 87 percent of women and 81 percent of men without children. The researchers situate these findings within a well-documented timing conflict sometimes called the rush hour of life: in Europe, the average age of earning a doctorate ranges from 30 to 38 depending on the country, while women give birth to their first child at an average age of just under 30. The two schedules are almost perfectly misaligned.

The consequences ripple far beyond individual missed talks. Previous research cited by the authors shows that doctoral recipients with children are 3.5 times as likely to leave academia as those without, and that women with dependent children are significantly less likely to present at conferences. In Germany, female early-career researchers name the incompatibility of work and family life as the main reason for considering abandoning their doctorates. Because mothers still shoulder most caregiving, the burden falls disproportionately on them, feeding the so-called leaky pipeline through which women drain out of academic science at every career stage. The survey data reinforce what sociologists have called the motherhood penalty, though the authors are careful to note that fathers suffer too; one father in the survey simply wrote that he stopped going to conferences when he had his kid.

What would actually help? From the free-text responses, the team distilled five categories of support: family-friendly infrastructure, hybrid events, financial support, awareness of the challenges parents face, and clear communication from organizers. Childcare topped the list of concrete measures, rated helpful by 71 percent of caregivers. But the researchers stress that childcare is not a simple checkbox. At international conferences, children speak different languages, so multilingual staff matter. Drop-off and pick-up must be flexible to match both the conference schedule and the unpredictable rhythms of children. Rooms must be close to the lecture halls, welcoming, and open to parents at all times. Family activities and playrooms were rated helpful by 67 and 65 percent of parents respectively, and breastfeeding rooms by 28 percent.

Networking emerged as a hidden casualty. When asked about their main concern, 39 percent of caregivers named networking, which typically happens at evening receptions and conference dinners, often over alcohol, precisely the events that parents with children cannot attend. Many parents reported that they would rather leave the children at home entirely than bring them and miss the social fabric of the meeting. The authors suggest low-cost fixes: daytime networking events where children are explicitly welcome, parent forums where attendees can connect before the conference, and even a simple sticker on name badges identifying parents to each other. One respondent noted that if more colleagues used childcare offers, children could travel in groups and form a kind of replacement circle of friends.

Money is the other great barrier. Twenty-nine of the 66 free-text responses from parents included requests for financial assistance. When available, support is often too low and buried in complex application procedures. Parents described paying for extra childcare hours at home, larger hotel rooms, conference fees for children and accompanying caregivers, and travel costs for a partner who must take leave to help. The survey found that 92 percent of fathers and 87 percent of mothers rely on their partner for childcare while attending conferences, and parents who attend three or more meetings a year are far more likely to draw on a wider circle of relatives and friends. For single parents or those without strong support networks, the authors note, the barriers must be considerably higher still.

Perhaps the most surprising finding concerns scientists without children. Fully 84 percent of non-parents agreed or strongly agreed that family-friendly offers at conferences should be expanded, and about 80 percent said they would actively participate in efforts such as showcasing their research to children in dedicated sessions. Seventy-one percent said they do not feel disturbed by children at conferences, though some objected, with comments like children do not belong at work events, which the authors say argues for clearly designating where children are welcome and where they are not. This broad support matters practically, because funding for family measures may come from shared conference budgets, and it suggests, the authors write, a growing recognition across the academic community of the structural difficulties faced by caregivers.

The study distills its findings into a practical checklist for organizers, arranged before, during, and after an event, and graded roughly by cost. Low-effort measures include waiving fees for accompanying caregivers, publishing maps of stroller-accessible routes and changing tables, listing family-friendly hotels and nearby playgrounds, stating clearly when and where children are allowed, and confirming childcare availability before registration opens so parents can decide whether to attend in person. Higher-cost options, such as on-site childcare, travel subsidies, and hybrid formats, were rated most important by parents, and the authors urge organizers to seek sponsorship or reallocate resources to provide them. The paper also assesses the European Geoscience Union General Assembly, which with roughly 20,000 attendees offers free childcare, waived fees for children, nursing rooms, and a fully hybrid program, demonstrating what is possible at scale, though the authors acknowledge such resources are out of reach for smaller volunteer-run meetings.

The authors are candid about the limitations: the survey was not statistically representative, skewed toward European and German respondents, and the sample was too small for fine-grained statistical subdivision. Yet as a qualitative portrait, it fills a conspicuous gap, since data on the prevalence and effectiveness of family-friendly conference policies remain scarce. The authors hope their guidelines will spark dialogue between parents and organizers and extend to other disciplines, noting that their recommendations echo those developed in radiology, psychology, and beyond. They also caution that conferences are only one front in a larger struggle; as one respondent put it, the problem is everyday life. Still, if implemented well, the authors conclude, family-friendly conferences could meaningfully diversify the scientific community, keeping parents, and especially mothers, in the pipeline that science cannot afford to keep leaking.

Subject of Research: Barriers to conference participation for parents in the geosciences and measures for family-friendly academic conferences

Article Title: Towards family-friendly conferences: results from a first survey in the geosciences

Article References: Päffgen, E., Schielicke, L., & Esters, L. (2026). Towards family-friendly conferences: results from a first survey in the geosciences. Geoscience Communication, 9(3), 345-370. https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-9-345-2026

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.5194/gc-9-345-2026

Keywords: family-friendly conferences, geosciences, academic careers, parenthood, childcare, work-life balance, gender equity, leaky pipeline, early-career researchers, survey research, conference organization, diversity and inclusion