The situation is slowly improving, but there is still a lot of room for improvement, Calisi said. At a recent conference with over 30,000 attendees, she found just three small, curtained areas for nursing and child care.

“To argue that this is better than nothing is akin to arguing that, despite a hostile work environment, women should be grateful that they are allowed to work in the first place,” she said.

The article offers guidelines that organizers can use for conferences of all sizes and different types of venues.

“As academics who have cared for, adopted, birthed, primary parented, or breastfed a baby, while pursuing a career in science, we have compiled four concrete suggestions … for scientific societies and conference organizers willing to take a leadership role in creating solutions, either incrementally or on a large scale,” the authors write.

Their recommendations are set out under the acronym CARE: supporting Child care, either onsite or at home through financial support; Accommodating families, with family-friendly dates, venues and schedules; providing Resources, such as lactation, nursing and baby-changing areas; and Establishing a conference-specific social network where parents and caregivers can schedule activities, babysitting and child care swaps, share information and provide emotional support for each other.

Making scientific conferences more family-friendly would send a message that the organizers recognize the challenges parent-scientists face, that working parents (especially working mothers) are valued, and that they want to encourage a diverse and thriving scientific workforce, Calisi said. “We hope this change in our conference culture will serve as a model to inspire change in academic culture as a whole.”