The National Academies Press

Currently Skimming:

Pages 25-40

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.

From page 25... ... Finding: The Agency Science Workforce Study provides an excellent resource for career planning within NASA. Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate should implement the recommendations from the agency Science Workforce Study. Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... Sample surveys of the key constituent populations beyond scientists should also be considered as part of assessing the health of the overall community. ACTIONS: ENCOURAGING REPRESENTATION This study recognizes that while diversity can be a driver of innovation, the science enterprise can be at its most innovative only when it finds the means to maximize and fully utilize the broadest range of human talent (Hewlett et al. Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... One reason, as the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business dean David Thomas discovered in his research on mentoring, is that white male executives do not feel comfortable reaching out informally to young women and minority men. Yet, they are eager to mentor assigned protégés, and women and minorities are often first to sign up for mentors (Dobbin and Kalev 2016) Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... The results of SMD's pilot implementation of dual anonymous peer review in ROSES 2020 is consistent with improvements, both in terms of the overall quality of the review process, as well as in the demographics of awardees. For instance, in the ADAP program, prior to dual anonymous review, women constituted 26 percent of the applicant pool, but only finished in the top two places in the panels' rankings 16 percent of the time. Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... 7 proposal submittals, increased nontraditional team members, increased nontraditional PIs, etc.; • Identify relevant data that would inform the goal -- for example, trend data on submissions from MSIs; • Prepare cause/effect matrix to measure desirable changes and progress; • Measure progress and adjust as needed. 4 NASA, 2021, "Request for Information on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities in NASA Programs, Contracts, and Grants, Process," Federal Register 86(113) Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... The way the current system is set up, it can be hard to "succeed" in a truly interdisciplinary way. Even the space science decadal surveys are largely set by discipline, although Earth science has sought to be more interdisciplinary. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate should continue support of interdisciplinary efforts and collaborative science by incentivizing implementation of programs similar to the SmallSats/ CubeSats programs. DIVERSITY OUTREACH Achieving uniform recognition and acceptance of equity and inclusion can be achieved through enterprisewide investments in effective pre-degree and post-degree professional development. Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... 10 American Astronomical Society, 2019, "Performance Metrics for NASA's SMD EPO Programs," https://aas.org/advocacy/how-aasadvocates/performance-metrics-for-nasas-smd-epo-programs; NASA, "Welcome," NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Activation, smdepo.org. 11 Recommendation 5 in NASEM (2020b) Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... This has always been the case but, given the likely rapid expansion in Earth observing and space studies, the needs that can be anticipated from decadal surveys and congressional directives should inform current hiring and be communicated to colleges and universities who are educating the workforce of tomorrow. The larger question of improving the inflow of students and postdocs, among the best and the brightest of young people, including those from abroad, so that it is well matched to the opportunities within and beyond NASA is of central importance but beyond the purview of this committee. Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... To name a few, ethnography, organizational psychology, team science, ethics, communications, education -- all present potential opportunities to understand the existing cultural elements. A high-level discussion of SMD culture starts with acknowledging the role of NASA's agency-wide culture, originating through the actions of the NASA Office of the Administrator. Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... Many of these challenges were met with the engagement and guidance of social scientists. SMD plays a significant role in driving the future health and vitality of the broader space and Earth sciences community beyond its researchers. Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... , and white papers submitted to planetary science decadal survey 2023-203213) • SMD key data to include demographics, funding, proposal success rates, employment type, university programs, K-12 programs (Astro2010, Astro2020, Earth sciences [NRC 2007b] Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... • SMD to implement a code of conduct: Reassessing discrimination and harassment and inclusive professional practices, including issues concerning quality of life that impact work -- for example, access, childrearing, service work, awareness of bias, workplace culture, etc. (Astro2020, and white papers submitted to planetary science decadal survey 2023, Diniega [2021] Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... While this is a large number, the estimated space, Earth, and biological and physical sciences science research community is much larger.2 The committee did not develop specific conclusions concerning the allocation of research funds between hard and soft funding, but visibility between directed funding and competed funding would be of interest to the communities of scientists assessing the state of the profession in the decadal surveys. For FY2020, 92 percent of NASA's budget came from congressional appropriations, either for the current year or from prior years.3 External funding for NASA comes from revenue agreements. Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... The committee noted the relative dominance of specific NASA centers in support of various science and research scope. As captured in SMD's recent study funded in 2020, "Agency Science Workforce Study," to develop workforce strategies targeted toward the broad science community, 47 percent of SMD's total budget was allocated to Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC; 2020 data) Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... SMD solicits basic and applied research through AOs for specific spaceflight missions, and the annual omnibus NASA Research Announcement (NRA) , Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) Read the entire page →

From page 25...

... Finding: The Agency Science Workforce Study provides an excellent resource for career planning within NASA. Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate should implement the recommendations from the agency Science Workforce Study.