To Have And To Hold Recruitment And Retention

To Have And To Hold: Recruitment And Retention Of Women In Science And Engineering Laurie E. Mc. Neil 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

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

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. )

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

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

Undergraduate students • Recruiting: K-12 programs Ø Stereotypes appear at young ages Ø Families often provide no role models Ø What is research? What do engineers do? Ø In-school and on-campus programs Ø Coordinated program can be more efficient Ø Get students involved Ø Connect with real world (including industrial contacts)

Undergraduate students • Recruiting: K-12 programs • Pedagogy and curriculum Ø Good teaching matters! § Cultivate rather than weed § Interactive engagement and collaboration § Relevant examples and applications Ø Multiple entry portals § Are prerequisites really relevant? § Flexible programs

Undergraduate students • Recruiting: K-12 programs • Pedagogy and curriculum • Doing science and engineering Ø Early involvement in research/design Ø Early contact with faculty as people Ø Career information Ø Community of scholars

Undergraduate students • • Recruiting: K-12 programs Pedagogy and curriculum Doing science and engineering Mentoring and role models Ø Encourage good students in introductory classes Ø Bring students in contact with role models (especially alumnae) Ø Establish personal relationships

Undergraduate students • • • Recruiting: K-12 programs Pedagogy and curriculum Doing science and engineering Mentoring and role models Community Ø Bring female students together (across departments, if necessary) Ø Big/little sister programs Ø WISE dorm or floor Ø Seminars, pizzas, speakers Ø Connect with national organizations

Undergraduate students • • • Recruiting: K-12 programs Pedagogy and curriculum Doing science and engineering Mentoring and role models Community Climate and celebration Ø Establish a climate of cooperative learning Ø Be proactive about study groups, etc. Ø Do not tolerate disrespect of women Ø Celebrate and showcase women

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)

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

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

Graduate students • Recruiting • Critical mass and community • Mentoring and role models Ø Make sure all students get proactive mentoring Ø Bring students into contact with senior women (from outside, if necessary) All of your faculty share this responsibility!

Graduate students • • Recruiting Critical mass and community Mentoring and role models Work/life issues Ø Two-body problem (students have it too!) Ø Parental leave and child care Ø Health insurance Ø Personal safety

Graduate students • • • Recruiting Critical mass and community Mentoring and role models Work/life issues Climate and respect Ø Establish a climate of cooperative learning Ø Do not tolerate disrespect of women (from faculty or peers) Ø Treat all students as junior colleagues Ø Have the same expectations for male and female students Ø Graduate 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 Ø Ø 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 Ø Broaden search to assure ≥ 1 woman in the pool Ø Search committee, not envelope-opening committee (and pick the right people) Ø Don’t assume faculty know how to do this! Ø Ask specifically about female potential candidates when contacting sources Ø Transparent evaluation Ø Targeted hires and targets of opportunity

Faculty • Recruiting • Leadership and accountability Ø Diversity as a value, not an extra Ø Accountability for departments (and Chairs) Ø Results, not just effort Ø 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, ” Nature 387, 341 -343 (1997)

Faculty • Recruiting • Leadership and accountability • Two-body problem Ø Scientists often marry scientists Ø Opportunity, not liability Ø Don’t assume what people want Ø Establish procedures before interviews take place Ø Coordinate with neighboring institutions

Faculty • • Recruiting Leadership and accountability Two-body problem Mentoring and integration Ø Make sure young faculty get good mentoring Ø Keep teaching and service loads light Ø Involve in key decision-making processes Ø Provide leadership opportunities

Faculty • • • Recruiting Leadership and accountability Two-body problem Mentoring and integration Work/life issues Ø Know policies on maternity, child care, etc. Ø Stopping tenure clock—is it functional? Ø Flexible scheduling

Faculty • • • Recruiting Leadership and accountability Two-body problem Mentoring and integration Work/life issues Community Ø Bring women into contact with other women Ø Make sure women’s groups have access to administration

Faculty • • Recruiting Leadership and accountability Two-body problem Mentoring and integration Work/life issues Community Equity Ø Assure salary equity at hiring and in raises Ø Assess frequently

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

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%20 Report%20 Final. pdf