Women in the Chemical Workforce A Workshop Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable (2000) / Chapter Skim
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Reports from the Breakout Sessions
Reports from the Breakout Sessions
Pages 100-109
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From page 100... ...
It has a focus on safety, and it is a peer mentoring program, but it is voluntary and seems to work fairly well. The structured formal programs with mentor assignments were not so successful; some programs worked and some didn't.
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From page 101... ...
The fact that corporations used HR department structures did seem to help the recruiting process, whereas academic institutions frequently must develop these structures every time they hire a professor. While HR departments aren't the solution, they provide a structure.
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From page 102... ...
Where formal diversity programs are in place, all aspects of managing diversity typically can be handled. We discussed some courses that have been organized, such as "Men and Women in the Work Environment." Programs at the graduate student level appear to be working well in the academic arena.
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From page 103... ...
Advertised positions require letters of recommendation or information on the candidate, so a portfolio can be made for the candidate; this provides the maximum amount of information. Employment practices may include some discussion of employee needs, but typically there is minimal consideration of spousal accommodation.
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From page 104... ...
It is not necessarily true that all industry is more progressive in the area of child care, but there are good examples of companies that have progressive policies toward child care and family more so than many academic institutions. There are also in industry examples of healthier workplace policies, particularly on the issue of pregnancy in the workplace.
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From page 105... ...
There is clearly a lot of hand-wringing and heart-wrenching and soul-searching going on about academia and the hostile environment, at least the perceived hostile environment in academia. I think the message that needs to be given to women who are going into academic positions, and frequently industrial positions as well, is the need to set priorities the need to set one's own personal priorities.
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From page 106... ...
We discussed the fact that one young woman decided to hold some diversity training for the technicians and graduate students in her group, and some of her faculty colleagues agreed to participate as well. That was both positive and negative.
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From page 107... ...
A more important problem is the feeling that "This is being dealt with over there," so the rest of the people in either the company or the department don't feel that it is their responsibility. If there is a formal program elsewhere in the organization, individuals may conclude, "I don't need to get involved in this; it has already been handled." Diversity programs work only if they are properly supervised.
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From page 108... ...
Early feedback particularly to young faculty members would help. Employees in industry get annual or semiannual reviews; you don't necessarily Ret those very in-depth , in, , ~ reviews in academic institutions.
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From page 109... ...
Universities basically are not held accountable for hiring, and they are not held accountable for the atmosphere; but very often industrial organizations are. Companies talk about the atmosphere; very seldom do people talk about atmosphere in an academic environment.
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