Sir

Amanda Goh writes soberly in Naturejobs of her expectation that, as a postdoc, having a baby will almost certainly undermine her career prospects ('The coming challenge' Nature 455, 704; 2008). She also acknowledges that being a mother while continuing to pursue a scientific career “may come at the cost of one's marriage”.

Goh hits the nail on the head. In our experience, the predominant reason why women drop out of scientific careers is that it is virtually impossible to combine climbing the postdoctoral ladder with having children. Provision of better childcare facilities is helpful. But it is by no means sufficient, as most women who want children also want to play some part in bringing them up.

The career structure for young scientists must be made more family-friendly. This means, for example, making part-time work a real possibility, emphasizing quality rather than quantity of output, and taking career breaks properly into account when judging candidates for appointments and promotions.

These changes would benefit male as well as female postdocs. Many young male scientists would like to have stable relationships and families, see their partners from time to time and help bring up their children.

If these quality-of-life issues are not addressed, then initiatives aimed at bringing more women into science are to a large extent pointless, and brave words about equal opportunities are mere window dressing. Indeed, it could be regarded as unethical to encourage young women to embark on a career that they are unlikely to wish to continue beyond the age of 30.