To Have And To Hold: Recruitment And Retention Of Women In Science And Engineering

1. 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

2. Percent of bachelor’s degrees earned by women, 1975-1997, various fields Percent of Ph.D.s earned by women, 1980-1998, various fields The problem • Women are underrepresented at (almost) all levels in (almost) all SMET fields

3. 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

4. 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.)

5. …or is it? Solvay conference 1927 AIP Governing Board 2003 75 years of change Thanks to Ruth Howes for this comparison!

6. So how do we change? The leakiest parts of the pipeline occur before college. This does not relieve colleges and universities of responsibility! • Undergraduate students • Graduate students • Faculty

7. Undergraduate students • 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) • Recruiting: K-12 programs

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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 Sciences E. Seymour and N.M. Hewitt (Westview Press, Boulder CO 1997)

14. Women’s colleges that grant physics bachelor’s degrees Agnes Scott Notre Dame (MD) Barnard Randolph-Macon Bryn Mawr. Saint Catherine Chatham Scripps Georgian Court Smith Hollins Spelman Mary Baldwin Sweet Briar Mount Holyoke Wellesley Departments with > 40% women among physics bachelor’s graduates Baylor Univ. Grambling State Univ. Belmont Univ. Hiram College Catholic Univ. Jackson State Univ Univ. of Denver Lincoln Univ. (PA) Dickinson College U. Mich.- Dearborn Dillard Univ. U. Minn. - Morris Drew Univ. Southern Univ. Fisk Univ. Tougaloo College Gordon College Xavier Univ. (LA) Graduate students • Recruiting • Be proactive: go where women are • Highlight climate and community during visits

15. Graduate students • Recruiting • Critical mass and community • Increase the numbers • Bring women together (multiple departments) • Seminars, pizzas, speakers • Connect with national organizations

16. 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!

17. 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

18. Graduate students • Recruiting • Critical mass and community • Mentoring and role models • Work/life issues • Climate and respect • Establish a climate of cooperative learning • Do not tolerate disrespect of women (from faculty or peers) • Treat all students as junior colleagues • Have the same expectations for male and female students • Graduate school is not a rite of passage

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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 productive than the average male applicant to receive the same competence scores.” --Christine Wenneras and Agnes Wold, “Nepotism and sexism in peer-review,” Nature387, 341-343 (1997)

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. Faculty • Recruiting • Leadership and accountability • Two-body problem • Mentoring and integration • Work/life issues • Community • Equity Every 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

29. 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 Engineering Policy and Global Affairs Division National Research Council of the National Academies To 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