Transcript Advancing Women Students and Faculty in Science and

The Elsevier Foundation: Ideas for Scholars with
Family Responsibilities
David Ruth, Executive Director – Elsevier Foundation
Advancing Women Students and Faculty in Science
and Engineering: New strategies and old ones that
work
November 7, 2008
Elsevier Foundation
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The Elsevier Foundation provides support for institutions in the
global health and science communities working to advance
scholarship and improve lives through scientific, technical and
medical knowledge.
◦ Libraries addressing key issues of global health and development\
◦ Programs for scholars in STM in the early stages their careers.
The Foundation has awarded more than 50 grants worth over a
million dollars to non-profit organizations working in these fields since
its inception.
• Established by Elsevier, a leading global publisher of scientific,
technical and medical information products and services, committed
to making genuine contributions to science and health communities.
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Choosing a focus for a Corporate Foundation
The role of a Corporate Foundations
• Integral part of a corporate responsibility initiative
• Focus on compelling areas of need and concern to stakeholders
• Leverage unique opportunities for risk, experimentation and model-building
Elsevier has a long-term stake in the developing and attracting talent in science,
technology and medicine
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7,000 journal editors, 70,000 editorial board members,
300,000 reviewers, and
600,000 authors publishing 2,000 journals, 19,000 books; with 2,000 new books
each year
Why focus on STEM scholars with family
responsibilities?
Since the 1970s, women across the globe have entered science and engineering classes in larger and larger
numbers. In the U.S. half of today’s medical students are women, and the numbers have been rising similarly
in biology and mathematics.
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Yet, globally, female professional scientists represent 25%-35% of the research workforce.
This figure is much lower in EU countries and in Australia, as well as Korea (14.5%). Women also make up less
than 20% of senior academic staff in the majority of EU countries.
The proportion of women "on track" to potentially becoming top scientists falls off at every step of the way
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Women in the United States have been getting Master's degrees in the same numbers as men for two decades,
yet fewer women get Ph.D.s; and the numbers of women P.I.s (principal investigator) have not risen.
For 30 years, women have earned at least 30 percent of the U.S.’ doctorates in social and behavioral sciences,
and at least 20 percent of the doctorates in life sciences. Yet they appear among full professors in those fields at
less than half those levels.
Women in science still routinely receive less research support than their male colleagues, and they have not
reached the top academic ranks like their growing presence would suggest.
Parenthood has been identified as the factor most likely to determine whether a woman with science or engineering training
from pursues or advances an academic career.
What we’ve learned from our grantees
Common professional challenges
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The challenge of balancing career and family responsibility and cost where household responsibilities are not equally shared
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Relocation decisions
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Difficulty in re-entering an interrupted career
Particular challenges associated with STEM scholarship
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Intense and often protracted laboratory or experimental activity together with regular communication with colleagues in the field.
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Pre-tenure expectation to establish an international profile - involves sustained productivity, success in grant funding, evidence
of research impact; often coincident with a peak period of family responsibility.
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Participation fin conferences and meetings is critical to career advancement : an audience for sharing findings, establishing a
professional identity among
senior scientists, and building a peer network for future collaboration.
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Limitations of family-friendly policies, e.g. explicit limits on funding for childcare for conferences or meeting
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Differential rates of tenure between men and women with family responsibilities and discrimination avoidance behaviors
Grant priorities
Focused on doctoral candidates and scholars in the first five years of
their post-doctoral careers.
Programs that:
◦ Enable scientists to attend conferences, meetings, workshops and symposia
that are critical to the development of a career in science by helping them with
childcare and other family responsibilities when attending scientific gatherings.
◦ Encourage networking and mentorship within the institutions and disciplines in
ways that support the challenges of faculty and staff with family responsibilities.
◦ Demonstrate an institutional commitment to advancing women in STEM,
including policies, programs and leadership.
◦ Have the potential serve as models and will encourage continued efforts to
advance women in science.
◦ Promote partnerships and knowledge sharing among institutions.
Professional Development Grant for Parents of Infants and
Toddlers -- University of California - Irvine
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Program to address the challenges of attending conferences and research
meetings necessary to advance careers and contribute to scientific discovery and
innovation.
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Provides dependent care assistance to faculty in science, technology, engineering
and math who are at least 50% responsible for childcare
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Administered through an established competition with formal guidelines and backed
up by a survey to evaluate its impact.
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The formal framework and evaluation report that will result will be the basis for
developing future sources of funds to sustain the program.
Transitional Support Program -- University of Rhode
Island
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Create and disseminate a series of programs to help new scholars in science,
technology, engineering and math to meet their academic and parental obligations
while on the job.
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Development of a lactation model program -- a prototype onsite lactation room and
advisory resources for lactating faculty mothers.
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Sustained and will be replicated elsewhere at the university and in the region based
on a formal assessment of its effectiveness.
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Builds directly on initiatives developed under an National Science Foundation grant.
SettleNet -- Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute
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Address barriers to relocation that affect the recruitment and retention of new
women scholars.
Focuses on wide set of new scholars – notably women with working spouses and
partners whose careers present an obstacle to relocation
Establishes resources to help new faculty settle in a new location, relocation
counseling, a regional career network for faculty spouses, and career coaching for
both the scholar and the spouse.
Takes a regional approach that extends not only to other universities, but also to all
PhD-hiring institutions.
Would become self-sustainable through membership fees and will create incentives
for institutions to participate in the network by offering credits to institutions that
actively participate.
ASCB Child Care Award Program
American Society for Cell Biology
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American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) to provide stipends to
cover childcare expenses for selected traveling scholars who attend
the ASCB Annual Meeting.
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Women scholars make up nearly half of post-doctoral researchers in
biology, but there is a sharp fall off of women in the ranks of assistant
professors, associate professors and full professors.
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Society conferences offer attendees opportunities to highlight their
research, hear from leaders in the field, and network with peers. This
participation is an important venue for career development in the
field.
From Graduate Student to Assistant Professor: Helping Postdoctoral scientists and engineers meet the demands of career
and family life -- Princeton University
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Distinct work-family issues of the post-doctoral period, when disproportionate
number of women scholars in science and engineering make the decision not to
apply for assistant professor positions in research universities.
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Post-doctoral training occurs in a fairly brief time period and often does not take
place either at the university where the researcher has earned her degree or at the
university where she will ultimate become a faculty member.
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Challenges of this dislocation include separation from spouses or domestic
partners and difficulty in finding childcare while traveling to conferences.
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Supports extension of funding for a dependent care travel program for post-doctoral
fellows and support for travel for fellows whose spouses are graduate students or
post-doctoral fellows in science and engineering at another institution.
Encouraging Diversity and Work/Life Balance in Engineering
Faculty -- University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, College
of Engineering
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Develop and test new approaches to enhance to its existing programs to address
the under-representation of women faculty in technical fields.
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Establish a monthly forum for faculty and post-doctoral students and their families
to provide social reinforcement, advice and peer-counseling.
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Establish small groups of scientists and engineers, not including families, which
would consist of both new and senior faculty to discuss work and work-life issues.
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The program also includes diversity workshops for faculty, department heads and
search committee members, to enhance awareness among the engineering faculty
of how gender issues can unfairly limit the opportunities available to women.