to have and to hold: recruitment and retention of women in science and engineering laurie e. mcneil...

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

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


in (almost) all SMET fields• Women (and racial/ethnic minorities) make up an

increasing fraction of the pool of future scientists


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.)

75 years of change

Solvay conference

1927

Thanks to Ruth Howes for this comparison!

AIP Governing Board

2003

…or is it?

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!

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)


• 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


• Pedagogy and curriculum

• Doing science and engineering Early involvement in research/design Early contact with faculty as people Career information Community of scholars



• 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




• 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





• 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





• Community

• Climate and celebration

Talking About Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the SciencesE. Seymour and N.M. Hewitt (Westview Press, Boulder CO 1997)

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

Graduate students• Recruiting • Critical mass and community

Increase the numbers

Bring women together (multiple departments)

Seminars, pizzas, speakers

Connect with national organizations


• 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!




• Work/life issues Two-body problem (students have it too!) Parental leave and child care Health insurance Personal safety




• 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

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

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

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


• 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)



• 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



• 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




• Mentoring and integration

• Work/life issues Know policies on maternity, child care, etc.

Stopping tenure clock—is it functional?

Flexible scheduling






• Community Bring women into contact with other women

Make sure women’s groups have access to administration






• Community

• Equity Assure salary equity at hiring and in raises

Assess frequently






• 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

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

to have and to hold: recruitment and retention of women in science and engineering laurie e. mcneil...

Documents

programs pedagogy

programs stereotypes

campus programs

role modelscommunityclimate

good students

female students

retention of women

disrespect of women