Many researchers experience ‘squiggly’ career paths shaped by life events, yet the current culture of evaluation struggles to account for this. As a result, talented people may appear less competitive on paper despite having underlying talent.

Parenthood, caring responsibilities, and health challenges are common experiences across the workforce. However, research environments, particularly in fast-paced, competitive fields like biomedical sciences, often lack the flexibility needed to accommodate these circumstances. This mismatch can force researchers to step back from their careers, sometimes permanently. Cultural expectations of evaluation and structural barriers like parental leave combine to create a ‘leaky pipeline’ across the career trajectory, particularly affecting underrepresented groups.

Re-entry fellowships as a route back

Career returner schemes, such as the fellowships offered by the Daphne Jackson Trust, provide compelling evidence that provision for flexible working can be highly effective. With over 500 fellows supported and an estimated 2,400 years of training and expertise retained, these programmes show that many researchers do successfully return and remain in academia or teaching. This highlights the scale of talent at risk but also the opportunity to recapture it through targeted support.

Re-entering research is not just a funding challenge. Individuals often lack access to professional networks, institutional support, or confidence after time away. Funding systems that prioritise recent outputs further compound the problem, making it difficult to compete with continuously active peers. Addressing these barriers requires a more holistic approach to career support, something the fellowships offered by the Daphne Jackson Trust ensure as well. Peer networks and mentoring are vital mechanisms that ensure the salary support is complemented by genuine re-integration.

We’re really pleased to be sponsoring Daphne Jackson Trust fellowships at our CRUK Scotland Institute over the next three years.

Support during career disruption

Not all researchers need extended time away; many would benefit from short-term flexibility that allows them to remain engaged. For example, during early parenthood or periods of ill health, reduced capacity can lead to fewer grant applications and outputs, contributing to inequalities such as the ‘motherhood penalty’. Interventions that provide temporary support could prevent these setbacks from escalating into long-term career breaks, especially when available at key career pinch points like applying for an independent position.

The ‘roving researcher’ model offers a practical solution to maintaining research continuity. Roving researchers, employed typically at a postdoctoral level and managed by a departmental committee, provide skilled support to labs when staff are unavailable or working reduced hours. Their broad expertise allows them to sustain experiments and workflows that might otherwise stall. In some cases, they enable flexible, shared arrangements where responsibilities are distributed across team members who have moved to a part-time working pattern.

Outside academia, practices such as maternity cover, job sharing, and a re-distributed workload are commonplace. Organisations routinely ensure that work continues during absences rather than expecting roles to pause entirely. Adapting similar approaches within cancer research could normalise flexibility and reduce attrition, without compromising productivity.

A call for systemic and cultural change

While individual initiatives like returner fellowships and roving researchers are impactful, they are not sufficient alone.

Broader cultural and systemic changes are needed to embed flexibility into research careers. By adopting evidence-led approaches and valuing diverse career paths, the research sector can retain skilled individuals, enhance inclusivity, and ultimately strengthen research outputs – particularly in fields like cancer, where talent retention is critical to discovery science.