Communications of the ACM
Colleges, Federal Agencies rged to Coordinate Efforts For Women in Science
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Women with Ph.D.'s in the sciences will keep "leaking out" of the tenure pipeline if colleges and the federal agencies that award grant money to researchers do not work together to stop the flow, according to a new report from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley. The report, which links American economic competitiveness to the ability of educational institutions to keep women in the talent pipeline, was prepared with the help of the Center for American Progress. The report lists a number of recommendations and examples for major research universities and federal granting agencies on how to attract and retain women.
As a way to retain women, the report recommends that universities adopt family benefits, such as paid maternity and parental leave, for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, not just faculty members. Deadlines and time caps related to careers in academia — such as requiring that a Ph.D. student begin a postdoctoral appointment a certain number of years after receiving a doctoral degree — should be removed. Another recommendation is that extra money should be provided to principal investigators when their researchers who are paid with grant money take time off for family-related absences. Currently, principal investigators must use money from their research awards to support such absences.
In the last few years, federal agencies have been more attentive to issues surrounding gender equity, making the current research findings particularly timely. Both universities and agencies have been moving in the general direction of the report's recommendations, but their efforts have not been coordinated as part of a broader strategy. Much of the report focuses on the reason why women have been turned away from careers as academic scientists. For example, research universities don't have a reputation for being family-friendly and paid maternity leave is hard to come by for graduate students and posdoctoral scholars. The report is based on data from four surveys, including the federal Survey of Doctorate Recipients.
From The Chronicle of Higher Education
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