A new study published in Higher Education has found that nearly half of scientists leave academia within ten years of publishing their first paper. Conducted by Professor Marek Kwiek and doctoral student Łukasz Szymula from Poland’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities, the research tracked the academic careers of scientists from 38 countries using data from the Scopus database.
The study followed two groups: one from 2000 (142,776 scientists) and another from 2010 (232,843 scientists), focusing on 16 STEMM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine). Researchers defined attrition as “ceasing to publish,” and found that one-third of the 2000 cohort had stopped publishing within five years, with nearly half leaving academia by the ten-year mark. After 20 years, two-thirds had exited.
Gender differences in attrition were noted in the 2000 cohort, where 34% of men and 29% of women continued to publish after two decades. However, in the 2010 cohort, the gender gap narrowed significantly, with 41% of women and 42% of men still publishing nine years after their first paper.
The study challenges traditional assumptions that women leave academia at higher rates than men. In the 2010 cohort, attrition was high for both genders (58.6% for women and 57.6% for men), suggesting that the issue may be less gendered than previously thought.
Interviews with former academics revealed common reasons for leaving academia, including pressures to publish, a lack of work-life balance, and dissatisfaction with the academic environment. Many former researchers found more rewarding careers in industry, highlighting the need for systemic changes to better support scientists.
For more information on this research, visit the Nature.