I think you are reading stuff into my comment that I simply did not say or imply; worse, the things you think I said you describe as "toxic"! I don't think sid

I think you are reading stuff into my comment that I simply did not say or imply; worse, the things you think I said you describe as "toxic"! I don't think side projects are necessary to further your career, and it's been 20 years since I worked on one myself. You do make good points that an individual may not have the opportunity to engage in a side project for reasons not related to competence. Your hypothesis that the hardship faced by many women once they have children may contribute to the statistic is well-worth further investigation -- like I said, there's many possible hypotheses to investigate, and more than one factor may contribute to the overall outcome. As an interviewer, I've only once seen an outside project on a resume and I considered it a plus; that may have been a mistake on my part.