Abstract. This paper reports very generally on changes in the situation of women in physics in Austria since 2008 and more specifically on a national web-based survey that was distributed among physicists in Austria. It was aimed at understanding why few women are motivated to study physics and to follow an academic path. Family responsibilitiesamong others-seem to have a deep impact on women's careers. In Austria, initiatives to support women in scientific careers are quite well known throughout the physics community, and a high percentage of women responding to the survey said they had participated in at least one of them.