The aim of the study is to identify structural barriers that prevent women from pursuing academic careers in STEM fields and to develop measures to eliminate these barriers at the University of Innsbruck. The two participating faculties, Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics and the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, are working with the Center for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies to determine where their “leaky pipeline” lies and what causes it, in order to develop targeted measures to promote women based on these findings.

Leaky pipeline is a well-researched phenomenon in the social sciences (see, e.g., Berryman 1983; Mergaert & Forest 2015; Eberle 2022; Osterloh & Rost 2025). The concept, coined by Sue Berryman (1983), refers to the gradual withdrawal of women from the academic system as they progress through the various staDDges of their academic careers. In this study, we will conduct qualitative interviews to identify relevant issues related to the leaky pipeline and the gender gap at the two participating faculties.