Mothers on fixed-term contracts in leading UK universities are much less likely to return to work after maternity leave than those on permanent contracts and there is “huge variation” in maternity provision offered, which “could be contributing to the loss of women from academia”, researchers say.
The odds of employees on fixed-term contracts returning to work after maternity leave were 59 per cent lower than those for colleagues on open-ended contracts, concluded the study, based on data gathered through Freedom of Information requests to the 24 Russell Group institutions.
There was widespread variation in maternity provision between universities, with most operating policies that limited access to enhanced maternity pay for staff on temporary contracts, according to the study led by King’s College London, published in Gender, Work & Organization.
