Neoliberalism, driven by market principles, has influenced various sectors. This includes science and higher education—particularly STEM fields—in Central and Eastern Europe. These trends disadvantage those who have nonlinear career paths and care duties, often women and younger researchers. While recent Polish reforms have focused on early-career researchers, gender equality remains unaddressed in legal acts. This chapter aims to explore how the evolving academic landscape impacts older female STEM researchers, who are often overlooked in reforms due to their gender and ages. By conducting a secondary qualitative analysis of autobiographical narratives from four female professors over the age of seventy, the study described in this chapter seeks to understand the professors’ experiences across different life phases, focusing on science transformations. I conducted interviews in 2017 and 2018, soon before the new law on science and higher education was implemented. From analysing the interviews, three main issues around science transformation emerged: stability vs. precarity, maturity vs. youth, and slow science vs. fast science. Gender inequality was also highly relevant. Senior female professors contrast the pre-reform era’s less frenetic academic environment with the intense pressure of the present day to publish and secure grants. Despite recognising the challenges of neoliberal reforms, several of the participants continue to believe in meritocracy, attributing their success to determination, and frequently overlooking the systemic barriers that can disadvantage women.