The inept recommendations of the Leopoldina can hardly be surprising given its membership. The panel that issued the report consisted of 24 men and two women. The average age of its members was over 60. One wonders how the institution arrived at the conclusion that it was more important to include a physicist specialising in the “mechanics of materials” than experts on the experiences of immigrants, people of colour, or women. Professor Jutta Allmendinger, a member of the Leopoldina (though not a signatory of its report), had no trouble in assembling a more diverse group of signatories to an open letter criticising the report – more than 40 female professors from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds have signed the letter calling for daycare centres to be opened more quickly.