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Attending conferences is a vital way to network and build, especially for early-career researchers. But not everyone who could benefit is able to attend. Many researchers have family responsibilities. The impact is particularly pronounced for women with children, who often struggle to juggle their professional and personal commitments—in large part because of persistent social expectations that they be the primary caregiver. In a 2019 study of oncologists, Miriam Knoll, a radiation oncologist at Northwell Health in New York City, and colleagues found that women attended conferences less than men and were more likely to cite childcare responsibilities as a reason (M. A. Knoll et al. JAMA Oncol. 51503-1504 ; 2019).
What’s needed is a culture change, says Laura Pallett, an immunologist at University College London and one of the authors of a careers column in Nature in May on the difficulties encountered by parents in attending conferences (L. Carter et al. Nature 630517-518; 2024). This change must include two things. First, more targeted support from institutions and funders for those with family responsibilities who would otherwise be unable to attend conferences. Second, conference organizers must redouble their efforts to deliver a high-quality hybrid experience.
On the first point, some progress has already been made, but it needs to be strengthened and standardised, which requires resources. In the UK, funders such as UK Research and Innovation and the country’s science academy, the Royal Society, offer reimbursements to cover childcare, family travel and other care costs incurred outside normal working hours.
For a limited period this year, the Nairobi-based African Academy of Sciences (AAS) offered funding to breastfeeding researchers so they could pay for someone to travel with them and help care for a child at conferences, says Peggy Oti-Boateng, AAS executive director. This type of support should be available for other events, and all funders should “step up gender-transformative actions,” she adds.
Some universities help cover child care costs for staff attending conferences. The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor does so through the Elizabeth Caroline Crosby Research Grant. Conference organizers can also play a role by offering funding and child care, or at least a list of vetted child care options available in the area. “These kinds of programs have an impact beyond the individuals they’re helping,” says Reshma Jagsi, an oncologist and member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. “It’s not just the early-career faculty member who brings her child to the meeting, but also the myriad of students who are trying to decide whether they can be happy and successful in a discipline.”
The other way to make conferences actually accessible is to increase virtual conferences, a practice that has become more widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic. This practice also has environmental benefits (M. Klöwer et al. Nature 583356-359; 2020). Nevertheless, some organizers are beginning to give up on virtual meetings.
One reason is that it is difficult to organize hybrid events in a way that satisfies both in-person and online delegates, and this increases costs. One of the main attractions of in-person conferences is the networking and collaboration opportunities, which are difficult to replicate in an online or hybrid format. This aspect must be taken into account so that virtual participants are not disadvantaged.
Another reason is that conference presenters are often reluctant to discuss unpublished research or work in progress in front of a virtual audience. This work is the lifeblood of conferences, and delegates attending in person can access and discuss it provided that any requests for confidentiality of data or results are respected.
But these challenges are there to be overcome. We encourage conference organizers to do more to find technology solutions and share best practices—and for attendees to highlight the solutions that have worked for them. Organizing committees should prioritize moving their events online, not only for parents with childcare obligations, but also for people who don’t have the financial means or visas, or who are otherwise unable to attend in person.
It will not always be possible to deliver hybrid events in real time, particularly for events held in locations with slow internet connections or for those that are volunteer-led and lack external funding. At a minimum, sessions should be recorded and available for viewing; funders could make this a condition of access to conference grants.
There are many potential solutions to the conference accessibility problem, but their success depends on context. Interventions need to be carefully monitored to determine what works best. “This has never been done before, which is why a learning agenda is essential,” says Amie Batson, president of WomenLift Health, a nonprofit in Seattle, Wash., that promotes gender equality in leadership. “If there are multiple options on the table, I expect that five years from now you’ll learn that three of them are very valuable, two of them were worthless, and two new ideas have emerged. What’s important is to make sure that you create the space to learn and respond to what works for women, families, and organizations.”
To improve the situation, the first step is to recognize some of the problems, according to researchers and institutions with which Nature spoke for this editorial. Conference organizers and funders need to acknowledge that the status quo on child care is disadvantaging many researchers and damaging science as a whole, and then start changing it.
