Battling Biases and Barriers:
Necessary Steps our Academic
Institutions
Must Take to Assure a Strong
Science and Engineering
Workforce
Beyond Bias and Barriers:
Fulfilling the Potential of
Women in Academic Science and Engineering
The National Academies
September 18, 2006
• DONNA E. SHALALA [IOM] (Chair), President, University of Miami, Miami, Florida
• ALICE M. AGOGINO [NAE], Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering,
University of California, Berkeley, California
• LOTTE BAILYN, Professor of Management, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• ROBERT J. BIRGENEAU [NAS], Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley, California
• ANA MARI CAUCE, Executive Vice Provost and Earl R. Carlson Professor of Psychology,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• CATHERINE D. DEANGELIS [IOM], Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the American Medical
Association, Chicago, Illinois
• DENICE DENTON*, Chancellor, University of California, Santa Cruz, California
• BARBARA GROSZ, Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences, Division of Engineering and Applied
Sciences, and Dean of Science, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
• JO HANDELSMAN, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Department of Plant Pathology,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
• NAN KEOHANE, President Emerita, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
• SHIRLEY MALCOM [NAS], Head, Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs,
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC
• GERALDINE RICHMOND, Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor, Department of
Chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
• ALICE M. RIVLIN, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC
• RUTH SIMMONS President, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
• ELIZABETH SPELKE [NAS], Berkman Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts
• JOAN STEITZ [NAS, IOM], Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
• ELAINE WEYUKER [NAE], Fellow, AT&T Laboratories, Florham Park, New Jersey
• MARIA T. ZUBER [NAS], E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
More women are earning science and
engineering doctorates
60
50
Percent Women PhDs
40
Social Sciences
30 Life Sciences
Physical Sciences
20 Engineering
10
0
4 7 0 3 6 9 2 5 8 1 4
1 97 1 97 1 98 1 98 1 98 1 98 1 99 1 99 1 99 2 00 2 00
Year
But women are leaving
academic careers
Increasing the number of women earning science and engineering
doctorates will have little effect on the number of women in
academic positions, unless attention is paid to recruiting women to
these positions and retaining them once hired.
ISSUES EXAMINED
• Pipeline
• Differences in biology and aptitude
• Outright discrimination
• Unconscious bias
• Climate
• Rules, policies, and structures
Women have the drive and ability to
succeed in science and engineering.
Research on:
• brain structure and function
• hormonal modulation of performance
• cognitive development
• performance in math and science
no significant biological differences between men
and women that would explain representation
no significant differences in performance in science
and math that account for representation
representation of women has increased 30-fold in
some fields in the last two decades, which shows
that when opportunities in science are available
women, they take them and excel
The problem is not simply the pipeline --
(at least in the United States)
For more than 30 years, women have comprised
• more than 30% of doctorates in social and
behavioral sciences
• more than 20% in the life sciences
But, at top research institutions, women comprise
• 15% of full professors in social sciences
• 15% of full professors in the life sciences
• 90%have
mentored other women in negotiation
skills learned in the COACH
workshops.*
*From surveys conducted 2 years after the workshops.
Assessing the Impact: 2-3 years later
Did the skills learned lessen stress?
NR
4%
No
13%
YES
83%
COACh
A career in academia?
Why Bother?
Why NOT?
COACh
Website: http://coach.uoregon.edu
Assessing the Impact: 2-3 years later
How important to hear others discuss their
challenges?
Not
4%
Somewhat Extremely
23% 34%
Quite
41%
COACh
Working to level the playing field
for women scientists in academia.
For more information, and to join COACh
http://coach.uoregon.edu
www.coach.uoregon.edu
COACh Workshops
Coaching Strong Women in the Art of
Strategic Persuasion (Part A)
• Successful negotiation techniques and strategies
• Case studies
• Group problem solving
• Using the “Power of Partnerships”
Facilitators
•Barbara Butterfield, Chief Human Resource Officer for Academic and Staff
Human Resources and Affirmative Action, University of Michigan
•Jane Tucker, Senior Manager, Sap - Administration Systems Management Group,
Duke University
COACh Workshops
Coaching Strong Women in the Art of
Strategic Persuasion (Part B)
• Strategic rather than reactive behavior
• Effective speaking voices and self presentation
• Stress reduction and confidence building
• Leadership and team development skills
Facilitators
•Lee Warren, Associate Director, Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning,
Harvard University
•Nancy Houfek, Head of Voice and Speech, Institute for Advanced Theater Training,
Harvard University
COACh Workshops
The Chemistry of Leadership: A Women's
Leadership Development Program
• Concepts of leadership (including self evaluation).
• Explore what is known the role of gender in leadership
situations.
• Reflect on own leadership challenges.
• Identify/develop areas for skill enhancement.
Facilitator
Sandra L. Shullman, Executive Development Group - Columbus, OH
COACh Workshops
Professional Skills for Postdocs and Graduate
Students Considering Academic Careers
A. Training in professional negotiation skills including
• identifying negotiables.
• role playing negotiation situations.
• building confidence and networks.
B. Panel discussion with COACh senior women faculty
Assessing the Impact: 2-3 years later
Used negotiation skills learned at the
workshop to positively influence
60
Other faculty
50
40
Percent
Academic
30 Leadership
20 Students
10
0
Often Some Not
Assessing the Impact: 2-3 years later
Skills used most:
Preparation for negotiation 76%
Identifying & meeting mutual
interests 74%
Providing options for solution 76%
Clarification of purpose 74%
Avoidance of personalizing 65%
Using alies 61%
Research Support Data 59%
Understanding others position 46%
New COACh Activities
Academic Leadership Forums:
• Institutions
• Departments
• Research Institutes and Centers
For men and women!
Sponsored by the host institution.
COACh
Academic Leadership Forums
Schedule: Consists of 4 modules covering:
• Leadership dynamics; faculty meetings, anatomy of
power, reaching consensus and negotiation.
• Faculty recruitment, evaluation and retention.
• Rewards, risks and current challenges of academic
leadership.
• Academic planning, budgeting, policy and stewardship.
• Working as a team to reach consensus
Case studies, theatre and lively debate are central
to the design.
COACh Workshop Participants (240!)
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Full Professor Assistant Professor
Associate Professor Postdoctoral Associates
COACh Workshops
Impact Beyond Chemistry
Over 600 additional women scientists in
• Physics
• Mathematics
• Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Geology
• Computer science
• Biology
have attended these COACh developed workshops at
professional meetings or home institutions.
COACh Programs
1. Leadership Workshops for Women
• Leadership skills training
• Forum for mentoring and networking
• Research on climate and impact
….and teaching women how to play hard ball!