Women were expected to be the sole carers of their children and this was hampering their job mobility, Anna Borg, from the University's Centre for Labour Studies, said.
In fact, she added, it was estimated that two thirds of the almost 1,500 people who migrated from Malta in 2008 were men.
Speaking during a business breakfast organised by the Malta-EU Steering Action Committee to mark the sixth anniversary from EU accession, Ms Borg said mothers were rarely mobile. Parenthood and mobility was only compatible for men. Moreover, it was uncommon for the male partners of women who moved to another country to take over an equal share of childcare and housework.
Ms Borg said countries that invested in families were doing better because having more women in the workplace meant more people contributing to the welfare state.
She said the fact that women were still expected to take care of children hampered their ability to work and also their prospects for mobility.
Addressing the business breakfast, themed Workers On The Move, Public Dialogue Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said noted that people who spent years working abroad brought back invaluable experience to the country.
He said the benefits of working abroad included the acquisition of professional and personal skills, increased self-confidence and communication abilities as well as an expansion of linguistic strengths and cultural background.
Dr Said described mobility as an investment into better workers: "Free movement of workers is one of the fundamental rights of the EU." Mobility helped the countries of origin because returning workers were able to share their insights and help in intercultural dialogue.
He encouraged employers to explore the possibility of applying for EU funding to send their workers for internships abroad.
The director general of the Malta Employers' Association, Joe Farrugia said job mobility could be beneficial for employers because more flexible workers were likely to be more productive. Speaking about maternity leave, Mr Farrugia said employers were not against its extension but this should be introduced in a way that did not overly burden employers, who fully paid maternity leave.
European employment
• 221 million of the 497 million people in Europe are unemployed.
• 18.8 per cent of employment in Europe is part-time.
• 18 per cent of workers have changed jobs in the past 12 months.
• Two per cent of Europeans live and work in another member state.
• 10 per cent of European companies disappear every year and another 10 per cent are set up.