Part #3 Beyond Bias and Barriers Chapter Highlights

Beyond Bias and Barriers Major American businesses have made clear that the skills needed in today’s increasingly global marketplace can only be developed through exposure to widely diverse people, culture, and viewpoints( Sandra Day O’ Connor). In the last 30 years, the numbers and proportion of women obtaining science and Engineering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees have increased dramatically.

Beyond Bias and Barriers In counterpoint to that dramatic educational progress, women , who constitute about half of the total workforce in the United State and half of the degree recipient in a number of scientific fields, still make up only one fifth of the nation’s scientific and technical workers. Women continue to face impediments to academic careers that do not confront men of comparable ability and training.

Examining persistence and Attrition Women who start out on the path toward a career in academic science and engineering leave it for other fields at higher rates than their male counterparts. There is substantial attrition of both men and women along the science and engineering educational pathway to first academic position. The major differences between the patterns of attrition are at the transition points : Fewer high school girls intend to major in science and engineering field.

Examining persistence and Attrition Fewer women science and engineering graduates continue on to graduate school. Fewer women science and engineering PHDs are recruited in to applicant pools for tenure-track faculty position. Productivity does not differ between men and women science and engineering faculty, but it does between men and women graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Differences in numbers of papers published, meetings attend, and grants written reflect the quality of faculty- student interactions.

Success and Its Evaluation in Science and Engineering Progress in academic careers depends on evaluations of one’s accomplishments by those more senior in a process widely believe to be objective. According to the research of The national Academy shows ,bias negatively affects the evaluations and judgments made about women scientist and engineers and their work. Women consequently are not only underrepresented in numerous science and engineering fields, but are also likely to work in less prestigious institutions than men.

Success and Its Evaluation in Science and Engineering More likely to hold lower rank, and to take longer to be promoted and tenured. More likely to win fewer awards and honors, and to be named less often to positions of leadership in their institutions and disciplines. Gender bias often unexamined , and held an acted on by people of both sexes who believe themselves unbiased- has affected many women scientists’ chances of career progress. Minority group women face the double bind of racial and gender bias.

Success and Its Evaluation in Science and Engineering Incidents of bias against individuals not in the majority group tend to have accumulate and effects. Small preferences for the majority group can accumulate and create large differences in prestige, power, and position. In academic science and engineering, the advantages have accrued to white men and have translated in to large salaries , faster promotions, and more publications and honors relative to women.

Success and Its Evaluation in Science and Engineering Women have the qualities needed to succeed in academic careers and do so more readily when given an equal opportunity to achieve. Career impediments based on gender or ethnic bias deprive the nation of an important source of talented and accomplished researchers. Women and minority groups make up an increasing proportion of the labor force. They are also an increasing proportion of the pool of students from which universities recruit faculty.

Success and Its Evaluation in Science and Engineering To capture and capitalize on this talent, policies adapted when the workplace was more homogeneous need to be changed to create organizational structure that manage diversity effectively. Equity efforts need to address the systemic changes required to build and sustain educational, research, and workplace environments that promote effective participation in increasingly pluralistic society.

Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering While the number and proportion of women earning science and engineering degrees has increased dramatically, the need for additional focused steps to increase the representation of women in science and engineering faculties is obvious and persistent. Universities and colleges play central roles both in the education of scientist and engineers and in the conduct of research and development.

Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Making full use of the nation’s scientific and technical talent ,regardless of the sex, social, and ethnic characteristic of the persons who possess it , will require both understanding of the causes of inequality and effective remedies. Studies of brain structure and function, of hormonal modulation of performance ,of human cognitive development, and of human evolution provide no significant evidence for biological differences between men and women in performing science and mathematics that can account for the lower representation of women in these fields.

Call to Action America’s competitiveness in today’s global economy depends on fully developing and using all the nation’s scientific and engineering talent However ,substantial barriers still exist to the full participation of women, not only in S&E ,but also in other academic fields through out higher education. Women are capable to contributing to the nation’s scientific and engineering enterprise ,but are impeded in doing so because of gender and racial or ethical bias and outmoded “ rules” governing academic success is a call to action.

Call to Action The National Academy analysis shows that policy changes are sustainable only if they create a “new normal,” a new way of doing things. The first step is to understand that women are 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 impeded women in realizing their potential. Finally, the community needs to work together, across departments ,through professional societies, and with funders and federal agencies to bring about gender equity.