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To Have And To Hold: Recruitment And Retention Of
Women In Science And Engineering
Laurie E. McNeil
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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The problem• Women are underrepresented at (almost) all levels
in (almost) all SMET fields
Percent of bachelor’s degrees earned by women, 1975-1997,
various fields
Percent of Ph.D.s earned by women, 1980-1998, various fields
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The problem• Women are underrepresented at (almost) all levels
in (almost) all SMET fields• Women (and racial/ethnic minorities) make up an
increasing fraction of the pool of future scientists
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The problem• Women are underrepresented at (almost) all levels
in (almost) all SMET fields• Women (and racial/ethnic minorities) make up an
increasing fraction of the pool of future scientists
Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga come è, bisogna che tutto cambi.
Guiseppe di Lampedusa, The Leopard
(If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.)
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75 years of change
Solvay conference
1927
Thanks to Ruth Howes for this comparison!
AIP Governing Board
2003
…or is it?
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So how do we change?
• Undergraduate students
• Graduate students
• Faculty
The leakiest parts of the pipeline occur before college.
This does not relieve colleges and universities of responsibility!
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Undergraduate students• Recruiting: K-12 programs
Stereotypes appear at young ages Families often provide no role models What is research? What do engineers do? In-school and on-campus programs Coordinated program can be more efficient Get students involved Connect with real world (including industrial contacts)
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Undergraduate students• Recruiting: K-12 programs
• Pedagogy and curriculum Good teaching matters!
Cultivate rather than weed Interactive engagement and collaboration Relevant examples and applications
Multiple entry portals Are prerequisites really relevant? Flexible programs
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Undergraduate students• Recruiting: K-12 programs
• Pedagogy and curriculum
• Doing science and engineering Early involvement in research/design Early contact with faculty as people Career information Community of scholars
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Undergraduate students• Recruiting: K-12 programs
• Pedagogy and curriculum
• Doing science and engineering
• Mentoring and role models Encourage good students in introductory
classes Bring students in contact with role models
(especially alumnae) Establish personal relationships
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Undergraduate students• Recruiting: K-12 programs
• Pedagogy and curriculum
• Doing science and engineering
• Mentoring and role models
• Community Bring female students together (across
departments, if necessary) Big/little sister programs WISE dorm or floor Seminars, pizzas, speakers Connect with national organizations
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Undergraduate students• Recruiting: K-12 programs
• Pedagogy and curriculum
• Doing science and engineering
• Mentoring and role models
• Community
• Climate and celebration Establish a climate of cooperative learning Be proactive about study groups, etc. Do not tolerate disrespect of women Celebrate and showcase women
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Undergraduate students• Recruiting: K-12 programs
• Pedagogy and curriculum
• Doing science and engineering
• Mentoring and role models
• Community
• Climate and celebration
Talking About Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the SciencesE. Seymour and N.M. Hewitt (Westview Press, Boulder CO 1997)
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Graduate students• Recruiting
Baylor Univ. Grambling State Univ.Belmont Univ. Hiram CollegeCatholic Univ. Jackson State UnivUniv. of Denver Lincoln Univ. (PA)Dickinson College U. Mich.- DearbornDillard Univ. U. Minn. - MorrisDrew Univ. Southern Univ.Fisk Univ. Tougaloo CollegeGordon College Xavier Univ. (LA)
Departments with > 40% women among physics bachelor’s
graduatesAgnes Scott Notre Dame (MD)Barnard Randolph-MaconBryn Mawr. Saint CatherineChatham ScrippsGeorgian Court SmithHollins Spelman Mary Baldwin Sweet Briar Mount Holyoke Wellesley
Women’s colleges that grant physics bachelor’s degrees
Be proactive: go where women are Highlight climate and community during visits
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Graduate students• Recruiting • Critical mass and community
Increase the numbers
Bring women together (multiple departments)
Seminars, pizzas, speakers
Connect with national organizations
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Graduate students• Recruiting
• Critical mass and community
• Mentoring and role models Make sure all students get proactive mentoring Bring students into contact with senior women
(from outside, if necessary)
All of your faculty share this responsibility!
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Graduate students• Recruiting
• Critical mass and community
• Mentoring and role models
• Work/life issues Two-body problem (students have it too!) Parental leave and child care Health insurance Personal safety
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Graduate students• Recruiting
• Critical mass and community
• Mentoring and role models
• Work/life issues
• Climate and respect Establish a climate of cooperative learningDo not tolerate disrespect of women (from faculty or peers)Treat all students as junior colleaguesHave the same expectations for male and female studentsGraduate school is not a rite of passage
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Graduate students• Recruiting • Critical mass and community• Mentoring and role models• Work/life issues• Climate and respect • Sexual harassment
Believe it exists (possibly even in your department) Know your institution’s procedures Understand the storage capacity of the “bush telegraph” Make sure that action taken is visible to the students
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Graduate students• Recruiting • Critical mass and community• Mentoring and role models• Work/life issues• Climate and respect • Sexual harassment
Good women always think it is their fault when someone else is being offensive.
Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac
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Faculty• Recruiting
Broaden search to assure ≥ 1 woman in the pool
Search committee, not envelope-opening committee (and pick the right people)
Don’t assume faculty know how to do this!
Ask specifically about female potential candidates when contacting sources
Transparent evaluation
Targeted hires and targets of opportunity
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Faculty• Recruiting
• Leadership and accountability
Diversity as a value, not an extra
Accountability for departments (and Chairs)
Results, not just effort
Insist on transparency in evaluations
“[A] female applicant had to be 2.5 times more productivethan the average male applicant to receive the same competence scores.”
--Christine Wenneras and Agnes Wold, “Nepotism and sexism in peer-review,” Nature 387, 341-343 (1997)
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Faculty• Recruiting
• Leadership and accountability
• Two-body problem Scientists often marry scientists
Opportunity, not liability
Don’t assume what people want
Establish procedures before interviews take place
Coordinate with neighboring institutions
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Faculty• Recruiting
• Leadership and accountability
• Two-body problem
• Mentoring and integration Make sure young faculty get good mentoring
Keep teaching and service loads light
Involve in key decision-making processes
Provide leadership opportunities
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Faculty• Recruiting
• Leadership and accountability
• Two-body problem
• Mentoring and integration
• Work/life issues Know policies on maternity, child care, etc.
Stopping tenure clock—is it functional?
Flexible scheduling
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Faculty• Recruiting
• Leadership and accountability
• Two-body problem
• Mentoring and integration
• Work/life issues
• Community Bring women into contact with other women
Make sure women’s groups have access to administration
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Faculty• Recruiting
• Leadership and accountability
• Two-body problem
• Mentoring and integration
• Work/life issues
• Community
• Equity Assure salary equity at hiring and in raises
Assess frequently
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Faculty• Recruiting
• Leadership and accountability
• Two-body problem
• Mentoring and integration
• Work/life issues
• Community
• EquityEvery man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and his wife smiles, and lets it go at that.
J.M. Barrie, What Every Woman Knows
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A good source for ideas, based on things that have succeeded at research universities:
To Recruit and Advance: Women Students and Faculty in U.S. Science and Engineering
Committee on Women in Science and EngineeringPolicy and Global Affairs DivisionNational Research Council of the National AcademiesTo be issued by National Academies Press, late February
See also A National Analysis of Diversity in Science and Engineering Faculties at Research Universities by Donna J. Nelson to compare your statistics with those of other top-ranked departments in your field. http://cheminfo.chem.ou.edu/~djn/diversity/briefings/Diversity%20Report%20Final.pdf