Beyond Bias and Barriers Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering (2007) / Chapter Skim
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6 Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering
6 Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering
Pages 214-244
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The dramatic increase in the number of women science and engineering PhDs over the last 30 years clearly refutes long-standing myths that women innately or inher 214
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215 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E ently lack the qualities needed for success; obviously, no changes in innate abilities could occur in so short a time.1 Surveys of the definite postgraduate plans of science and engineering doctoral recipients show that similar proportions of women and men plan for a career in academe. As shown in Chapter 3, despite similar career aspirations, women have not been able to translate their success at earning science and engineering PhDs into academic careers equal to those attained by men.
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With a 5% bias, only 29% of those promoted to the very top level of the organization were women, whereas 58% of the bottom-level positions were filled by women. Even more dramatic is the finding that when sex differences explained only 1% of the variance, an estimate that might be dismissed as trivial, only 35% of the highest-level positions were filled by women.
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American Sociological Review 55:469-478; B Keith, JS Layne, N Babchuk, and K Johnson (2002)
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The Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act of 1980 made "equal opportunity [for men and women] in education, training and employment in scientific and technical fields" the official policy of the United States.
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Attaining gender equity is a deep cultural problem, one that most scientists would like to see overcome, but one that is likely to persist unless active steps are taken to change the culture in which we live. -- Richard Zare, Chair, Chemistry Department, Stanford University16 Change Institutional Processes to Combat Bias Faculty members and administrators at all levels need to correct or eliminate the policies and practices that lead to or permit gender bias.
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220 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS DEFINING THE ISSUES BOX 6-2 The Harvard University Task Force on Women in Science and Engineeringa "A diverse faculty is a strong faculty because it emerges from the broadest possible consideration of available talent." On February 3, 2005, Harvard University announced the formation of two Task Forces -- the Task Force on Women Faculty (WF-TF) and the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering (WISE-TF)
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221 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E Mentoring and advising • Require pedagogical training with a gender bias component for doctoral students. • Improve freshman advising.
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222 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS EXPERIMENTS AND STRATEGIES BOX 6-3 Improving the Retention of Junior Faculty Case Study: Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine Task Force The Task Force on Women's Academic Careers in Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine is a model for academic departments to reduce gender bias and foster career development for women faculty.a This case study begins in 1989 with a report from the Provost's Committee on the Status of Women that showed lower salaries for women faculty compared with men and substantially slower rates of promotion. In 1990, the chair of the Depart ment of Medicine appointed a Task Force on Women's Academic Careers in Med icine to evaluate and characterize career pathways for men and women medical faculty.
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223 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E 4. Faculty Development • Each faculty member's curriculum vita was reviewed annually by the pro motions committee.
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224 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS EXPERIMENTS AND STRATEGIES BOX 6-4 Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute: Climate Workshops for Department Chairs Climate (kli¯´mi˘t)
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225 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E • To identify various issues that can influence climate in a department. • To present research on unexamined assumptions and biases and how they may influence climate.
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. The economics of gender differences in employment outcomes in academia.
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For instance, attendees were more likely than before the conference to report that their department faculty were not committed to hiring women, that some were actually opposed to doing so, that they didn't have enough financing, and that they did not have enough employment for spouses or partners. In addition, they were more likely to say that women faced career barriers involving heavier teaching loads, an unwelcoming department cli mate, few mentoring opportunities, and subtle biases against women.
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228 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS EXPERIMENTS AND STRATEGIES BOX 6-6 Stanford University's Childbirth Policy for Female Graduate Students In acknowledgment of the conflict between the academic timeline and the prime childbearing years, and in an effort to increase the number of women pursu ing advanced degrees, Stanford University put into place in January 2006 a sub stantial new childbirth policy for female graduate students. Stanford's university-wide policy has four main features:a • All female graduate students are eligible for an academic accommodation period of up to two academic quarters before and after the birth of a child.
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229 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E wide childbirth policy is intended as a minimum standard; departments are encour aged to establish their own policies. Stanford's Chemistry Department established its own childbirth policy before the enactment of the university-wide policy.
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bCornell University Child Care Grant Subsidy Program, http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/ benefits/childcareGrant/index.html. cFred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
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• On-site child-care at a supplemented rate using a high-quality provid er. In this model professional societies contract with a child-care provider, such as KiddieCorp (as the American Sociological Association, American Economic Asso ciation, American Political Science Association, and others have done)
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232 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS BOX 6-7 Continued • The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health operates a pilot program, called Primary Caregiver Technical Assistance Supplements, which provide NIAID principal investigators with additional funds to be used to hire middle- to senior-level technicians to fill in for postdoctoral researchers who need to be away from the laboratory to take care of children or sick family members.
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-- James Monks, Department of Economics, University of Richmond26 24ACE has over 1,800 member institutions and organizations. Among the over 100 national member organizations that are members of ACE are the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, American Association of University Professors, American Chemical Society, Association of American Colleges and Universities, Association of American Medical Colleges, Association of American Universities, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, National Association of College and University Business Officers, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
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234 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS TRACKING AND EVALUATION BOX 6-8 Scorecard for Evaluating How Well Research Universities Serve Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering This scorecard should be used as a tool for continuous assessment of institu tional efforts to remove the barriers to participation in science and engineering by women. It can be used to identify and publicize institutions that recruit and nurture talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, to create a culture that welcomes and supports all scientists and engineers and helps them realize their potential, and to work to overcome barriers to talented scientists and engineers at all levels.
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235 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E continued
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236 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS BOX 6-8 Continued
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For faculty and employees the statutes bar discrimination based on sex, race, and national origin in all aspects of employment in educational institutions and programs, including recruitment; hiring; selection of graduate fellowships or teaching assistantships if these create an employer-employee 27There are distinct enforcement agencies for each statute. Title VI and Title VII are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which investigates and resolves discrimination complaints and can bring lawsuits on behalf of claimants.
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Brown University; Horner v. Kentucky High School Athletic Association; Kelley v.
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American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 94(2)
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241 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E exacerbating imbalances between men and women and should be carefully considered in the crafting of standards for evaluation and compliance in science and engineering. CALL TO ACTION "Institutions of higher education have an obligation, both for themselves and for the nation, to develop and utilize fully all the creative talent available." -- Nine-University Statement on Gender Equity, 200531 America's competitiveness in today's global economy depends on fully developing and using all the nation's scientific and engineering talent.
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242 BEYOND BIAS AND BARRIERS DEFINING THE ISSUES BOX 6-10 Elephants in the Rooma I'm going to offer you a set of recommendations that will cost you nothing but courage. They can also be used more broadly well beyond the hallowed halls, and thus impact the "cross-institutional interlock," or as I would say as an electrical engineer, "the system." • First of all, we should have zero tolerance for bullying behavior.
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243 FULFILLING THE POTENTIAL OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIC S&E as capable as men of contributing to the science and engineering enterprise. Second, the science and engineering community needs to come to terms with the biases and structures that impede women in realizing their potential.
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