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(Martin, 2012).‘Women are driven out of research’, conclude O’Brien & Hapgood (2012). Despite the increasing popularity of biology, including ecology, among female undergraduates and graduates, the proportion of female scientists in top positions remains low (European Commission, 2009; Martin, 2012; O’Brien & Hapgood, 2012; Adamo, 2013). An increasing number of individuals, institutions and governmental organizations are starting to ask why so many female scientists do not end up being employed in the type of occupations in which they were trained (Rosser, 2008; Hill, Corbett & St. Rose, 2010; Royal Society of Edinburgh, 2012). There are several reasons to address this issue, especially at a time of economic austerity in many countries. Losing trained scientists can represent a sunk cost: conservative estimates put the economic cost of a PhD in the US at c. $500 000 (Rosser, 2008), while each PhD student in the UK receives c.£ 100 000 from the government to cover stipends and research and training expenses (UKRC, 2012). Moreover, gender diversity is associated with indirect benefits; for example, commercial businesses with gender-balanced staff and management tend to perform better financially (UKRC, 2010a). Many nonexclusive hypotheses have been put forth to account for this leaky pipe: lack of self-confidence, differences in family responsibilities, discrimination, and the nature of the academic culture are all factors that may drive women out of Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM; McGuire et al., 2012; Moss-Racusin et al., 2012; Pettorelli, Else & Sumner, 2012; Cameron, Gray & White, 2013). But …