🌿 The Deeptech Dropout Myth: Why Women Leave — and How to Build Them Back In
Beyond the pipeline problem: burnout, motherhood bias, and the missing re‑entry pathways For years, the tech industry has obsessed over the “pipeline problem.” Not enough girls in STEM. Not enough women studying engineering. Not enough female founders in deeptech. But here’s the truth we rarely say out loud: The pipeline isn’t the problem. Retention is. Women enter deeptech. Women excel in deeptech. Women lead in deeptech. And then — quietly, steadily, predictably — women leave. Not because they lack talent. Not because they lack ambition. Not because they “don’t like technical work.” They leave because the system is built to exhaust them. This is the Deeptech Dropout Myth: the idea that women disappear because they weren’t meant to be here. The reality is far more structural — and far more fixable. In this essay, we’re going beyond the pipeline narrative to explore: • systemic burnout • motherhood bias • the “always on” culture of high‑barrier tech • the invisible labor ...