Women in STEM & Academia
The representation of women in STEM fields and in academia has been growing for decades, but is still far from 50%. These resources offer perspectives on why this gender gap persists and what can be done about it.
The representation of women in STEM fields and in academia has been growing for decades, but is still far from 50%. These resources offer perspectives on why this gender gap persists and what can be done about it.
Explore presentations and resources from various Minority Faculty Development Workshops. Watch directly, or download available content below.
This presentation was given by Anne MacLachlan (UC Berkeley) at the the 2008 Cross-Disciplinary Initiative for Minority Women Faculty conference.
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The "On the Cutting Edge" course design tutorial is a "backwards design" tutorial that walks you through the process of designing an effective and innovative course, from setting learning goals to assessing student learning to developing assignments. While the tutorial was written for geoscience faculty, the tutorial provides examples from many disciplines, and offers an easy-to-apply strategy for designing courses in any discipline.
Interactive Lectures are a great way for instructors to intellectually engage and involve students as active participants in a lecture-based class of any size. Interactive lectures are classes in which the instructor interrupts the lecture at least once per class to have students participate in an activity that lets them work directly with the course content. This could be as simple as having students write for one minute, a think-pair-share activity, posing a multiple-choice conceptual question that every student answers, or predicting the results of a demonstration before you do it.
The Field-tested Learning Assessment Guide has a wealth of information on choosing classroom assessment techniques, including advice for choosing assessment techniques on the basis of your learning goals.
Integrating Research into Courses provides a list of methods for integrating research activities into the classroom, with examples as well as some information on motivating students. While the examples are from the geosciences, the information is pertinent across the STEM disciplines and beyond. This page is based on a session led by Rachel Beane, Bowdoin College and Steven Wojtal, Oberlin College at the 2005 On the Cutting Edge workshop on Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences.
Course-Based Research Projects describes one scientist's approach to engaging students in semester-long research activities in his upper-level undergraduate courses.
Undergraduate Research is a rich set of web pages describing the how and why of engaging undergraduate students in research experiences, in or out of the classroom.
Using Metacognition to Effect an Extreme Makeover in Students: a 17-minute video of a presentation by Saundra McGuire, from Louisiana State University
Learning to Learn: What Will They Remember in Five Years?: a 70-minute video of a webinar presentation by Karl Wirth, from Macalester College. While this presentation is nominally addressed to geoscience faculty, the ideas are broadly applicable across academia.
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Tenured Twice, by Amy Jones. One woman's story of recognizing that her first department/institution was not a good fit -- just as she received tenure there -- and her decision to pursue a position somewhere that would be a better fit.
Road Signs to Tenure, by Miguel Mantero. Compiled advice from six tenured professors. Also, Were the Road Signs Wrong? Miguel's retrospective article as he comes up for tenure, written two years after the previous article, analyzes and responds to the earlier advice.
Tenure Reconsidered (a Bit), from Tomorow's Professor, looks at the varying degrees of progress made in counting the scholarship of teaching and learning in research contribution considerations.
Life on the Tenure Track: Lessons from the First Year , by James Lang. In this book, the author chronicles his experiences, reactions, thoughts and feelings during his first year in a tenure-track position at Assumption College in central Massachusetts. He recounts struggling to make the best use of his unstructured time, trying to understand the expectations of the college administration, experimenting with new teaching methods in an attempt to reach the students in his classroom - all while finding time for his family. Devoting one chapter for each month of the academic year, the author studies what it will take to get tenure, and whether that is what he wants. Read an excerpt, published on Rick Reis' Tomorrow's Professor Mailing List.
Mentor in a Manual: Climbing the Academic Ladder to Tenure, by Clay Schoenfeld and Robert Magnan. Using a representative institution and a prototype assistant professor, this book provides counsel for those on the tenure track.Mentor in a Manual: Climbing the Academic Ladder to Tenure, by Clay Schoenfeld and Robert Magnan. Using a representative institution and a prototype assistant professor, this book provides counsel for those on the tenure track.
Tenure in the Sacred Grove: Issues and Strategies for Women and Minority Faculty, Joanne E. Cooper and Dannelle D. Stevens (Eds.), aims to help women and minority faculty navigate their tenure path by examining political, scholarly, personal and interpersonal issues associated with the tenure process.
Getting Tenure from the On the Cutting Edge project, offers pages with resources on topics such as preparing for the tenure process, your tenure package, and tenure FAQs.
Getting Tenure (Survival Skills for Scholars) , by Marcia Whicker, Jennie Kronenfeld, & Ruth Strickland. The authors demystify the tenure process, describing steps you can take to ensure your success. Read an excerpt, published on Rick Reis' Tomorrow's Professor Mailing List.
How to Succeed in the Academy: A Chair's Advice to Junior Faculty gives seven practical guidelines for junior faculty success.
Stalcup, Apryll, 2006. The Mechanics of Getting Tenure. (Acrobat (PDF) 96kB Jun1 06) Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, v. 385, p. 1-5. While this article is written primarily for an audience of chemists at large research universities, it is relevant for most scientists at such institutions, and includes some advice relevant for anyone in academia.
Advice for New Faculty Members: Nihil Nimus , by Robert Boice. Based on years of research, Boice describes the habits of new faculty members who quickly and efficiently set themselves up for success, and includes simple suggestions to learn those habits.
Preparing for Promotion, Tenure, and Annual Review: A Faculty Guide, by Robert M. Diamond. This book enumerates important questions to be asked and the issues that should be considered as faculty approach the review process. Concrete resources, examples, references, and a faculty checklist make this a practical tool for any instructor facing a professional evaluation.
"Promotion and Tenure," a chapter in Good Start: A Guidebook for New Faculty in Liberal Arts Colleges, includes a set of twenty questions designed to help you assess your own progress toward tenure.
Shameless Self-Promotion, by James Lang. "Given the unsupervised nature of much of what we do in this business, I am really in the best position both to describe and to evaluate my work most effectively," explains the author.
It's The Little Things That Make The Big Difference reminds the reader about how the seemingly little things you do in your interactions with people can make a big difference down the road.
Collegiality: the tenure track's Pandora's Box offers simple tips that can help you to develop collegial relationships with your colleagues -- an important, and perhaps underappreciated, aspect of getting tenure. After all, in deciding on your tenure case, your colleagues are voting on whether they want you around for the foreseeable future.
Stop Trying to Get Tenure and Start Trying to Enjoy Yourself offers a new approach to thinking about your tenure journey.
How do you handle rejection? On the road to tenure, doing research is usually not enough -- you must also publish your results. But the road to publication is often paved with rejection letters. How you deal with rejection affects your productivity; this article provides advice for dealing with rejection constructively.
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MentorNet is an e-mentoring network that addresses the retention and success of those in engineering, science and mathematics, particularly but not exclusively women and other underrepresented groups. Graduate students and untenured faculty members are eligible for one-on-one email-based mentoring by tenured faculty.
Mutual Mentoring Guide, by Mary Deane Sorcinelli and Jung H. Yun, offers information for mentors, proteges, and departments for setting up a 'mutual mentoring program' in order to enhance professional development.
Academic mentoring is central to professional development, an article by Janni Aragon published in The Guardian, explores the importance of mentoring in professional development and networking.
Every Other Thursday: Stories and Strategies From Successful Women Scientists, by Ellen Daniell, tells the story of a group of women faculty that empowered its members by providing practical and emotional support though group support, discussion, and application of common experience that brought to light practical solutions and broader perspectives.
What Mentors Do, by Lois J. Zachary, and part of Rick Reis' Tomorrow's Professor email list, looks at some of the ways by which mentors can facilitate student learning.
The Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (CoSEPuP) of the National Research Council has written a thorough, peer-reviewed report called Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering.
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STEMming the Tide: Why Women Leave Engineering is a report by Nadya Fouad and Romila Singh, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, that summarizes an NSF-funded study to examine reasons behind why women leave or never pursue careers in engineering and samples populations with varying educational backgrounds and career paths.
To Recruit and Advance: Women Students and Faculty in Science and Engineering is a publication from the National Academies Press that discusses best practices for recruiting and retaining women in STEM disciplines in academia. A free PDF version of the publication is available for download.
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty is a publication from the National Academies Press that explores the career differences between female and male full-time, tenure-treck, and tenured faculty in STEM field. A free PDF version of the publication is available for download.
Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering is a publication from the National Academies Press that provides a case for gender equality in engineering entrepreneurship and gives recommended actions for reform to promote gender equality in STEM and entrepreneurship. A free PDF version of the publication is available for download.
Impostoritis: A Lifelong, but Treatable, Condition is an article by Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College, from Slate.com that describes and provides tips for coping with 'the imposter syndrome,' a common feeling experience by early career faculty in which they feel like they don't belong.
Biological, Social, and Organizational Components of Success for Women in Academic Science and Engineering: Workshop Report is a publication from the National Academies Press that documents outcomes of a 2005 workshop that addressed "what sex-differences research tells us about capability, behavior, career decisions, and achievement; the role of organizational structures and institutional policy; cross-cutting issues of race and ethnicity; key research needs and experimental paradigms and tools; and the ramifications of their research for policy, particularly for evaluating current and potential academic faculty." The document consists of three elements: an introduction, summaries of panel discussions including public comment sessions, and poster abstracts and is available as a free downloadable PDF.
How to Judge Whether a Department Will be Supportive of Female Scientists - This article, from Inside Higher Ed, features tips and three personal experiences for determining if a STEM department will be supportive of a female colleague in their department.
Why Women Leave Academia and Why Universities Should be Worried, an article from The Guardian, looks at reasons why many females in the late stages of their PhD reconsider careers in academia and how this negatively affects universities.
Every Other Thursday: Stories and strategies from successful women scientists is a book by Ellen Daniell that describes a grassroots support group for women faculty and how they used bimonthly meetings to support one another through discussion and sharing experiences. The book also describes how others can start a similar group.
The Ivory Ceiling of Service Work looks at factors, particularly increased level of service work, that may be responsible for the difference in promotion rates between men and women from associate to full professor. The article is by Joya Misra, Jennifer Hickes Lundquist, Elissa Holmes, and Stephanie Agiomavritis and is from the January/February 2011 issue of Academe, Vol. 97, No. 1. Academe is a publication of the American Association of Higher Education (AAUP)
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Small Business Innovation Resarch and Small Business Technology Trasfer; Supplemental Funding for Diversity Collaborations (SBIR/STTR) is an NSF program that aims to to "increase the incentive and opportunity for small firms to undertake cutting-edge, high risk, high quality scientific, engineering, or science/engineering education research that would have a high potential economic payoff if the research is successful." Use this page to find solicitations for proposals from this program; solicitations are generally in the fields of: biotech and chemical technologies, education applications, information and communication technologies, and nanotechnology, advanced materials, and manufacturing.
From Science to Business: Preparing Female Scientists and Engineers for Successful Transitions into Entrepreneurship: Summary of a Workshop, from National Academies Press, reports a summary of a 2009 workshop focused on understanding and addressing the barriers women face in pursuing entrepreneurship in technical disciplines with an aim to increase future success of women in this area.
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Developing a Research Program, from the On the Cutting Edge project, offers pages with resources on topics such as planning your research program, getting funding, collaborating with students, setting up your lab and obtaining equipment, time management, and publishing your work. Although these pages are written for geoscientists, most of the information is applicable for faculty members in science or engineering.
Keeping Your Research Alive, by Rick Reis. How to make your research a priority, in the face of other, more urgent (but not necessarily more important) demands on your time.
How to Mentor Graduate Students, from the University of Michigan Graduate School, offers suggestions for being a mentor to your graduate students and provides links to addtional resources on the topic.
Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, a free publication from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, offers a collection of practical advice, experiences, and opinions from seasoned biomedical investigators and other professionals.
For a down-to-earth guide to setting up and managing your new lab, read At The Helm: Leading Your Laboratory, by Kathy Barker.
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Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) is part of the NSF Engineering Directorate (ENG). Use this page to find solicitations for proposals that "promote interdisciplinary initiatives at the emerging frontier of engineering research and education."Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) is part of the NSF Engineering Directorate (ENG). Use this page to find solicitations for proposals that "promote interdisciplinary initiatives at the emerging frontier of engineering research and education."
NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) - Find research positions or find out how to submit an unsolicited funding proposal.
NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship Project (JPFP) website - The JPFP aims to increase the U.S. talent pool of underrepresented groups, including women, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities who receive Master's and Doctoral degrees participating in the STEM workforce.
NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) website -Administered by UNCFSP, is an Agency-wide fellowship program for graduate study leading to masters or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering related to NASA research and development.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding Opportunities and Notices offers a search interface for current funding opportunities as well as information for applying to these opportunities.
Grants.gov provides a search engine for federal grant opportunities. Use this website to find federal grants, apply for them, and to check the status of your application.
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Publishing Your Work, from the On the Cutting Edge project, offers tips and advice for preparing, submitting, and addressing reviews for your manuscript. It also includes a section on strategies for handling common challenges. Although it is written for geoscience faculty, the advice is applicable for faculty members in any STEM discipline (or beyond).
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Finding your Balance, from the On the Cutting Edge project, offers pages with resources on time management, including worksheets to help you prioritize and organize your schedule, case studies from faculty from a variety of institution types, and tips on balancing your work and family commitments. Although these web pages are written primarily for geoscience faculty, the information is broadly applicable for any faculty member.
Establishing your Absence, an article by Rick Reis, acknowledges the importance of establishing your presence at work, but focuses on the importance on taking time out from work for your personal life.
The American Astronomical Society Committee on Status of Women Work-Life Balance Resources page contains an annotated list of articles (with hyperlinks to full-text, where available) that address successful case studies and solutions to challenges related to being a woman in the sciences, especially as it relates to having children.
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Why Are Associate Professors So Unhappy? - This article, from the Chronicle of Higher Education, explores why post-tenure life can feel less satisfying than life during the tenure process. Uncovering these reasons can help post-tenure faculty identify and know how to counteract these negative feelings.
I've Got Tenure. How Depressing is an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education that addresses the 'post-tenure depression' some early career faculty experience. The article aims to inform faculty that this is a relatively common feeling and how to use reflection to overcome that feeling.
Making Mid-Career Meaningful, by Roger Baldwin, uses a series of metaphors to describe life as a mid-career academic as a way to identify and address how to overcome challenges related to this career stage.
Now that I'm Tenured, Where do I go from Here?, by Nancy Mills, explores strategies such as faculty development programs as a way to aid newly tenured faculty in keeping up with the needs and demands of their department as well as to keep your career from becoming 'mundane.'
Building Strong STEM Departments highlights strategies and tools that any STEM department (and many other departments) can use to strengthen curricula and programs, to plan and conduct program assessments, to recruit students, or to become or remain a valued institutional partner. Working on these department-level tasks can be invigorating, for both you and your department.
Post-Tenure Review Resources from the American Association of University Professors offers a handful of links that may be useful for faculty at institutions that perform post-tenure review, including expectations, managing productivity, how to deal with post-review 'blues' and case law studies related to post-tenure review.
Energizing the Senior Professor, from Rick Reis' Tomorrow's Professor Mailing List. This posting looks at at the Hanover College approach to post-tenure review and its implications for other institutions.
The Fallout From Post-Tenure Review is an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education that takes a look at general outcomes of the post-tenure review process.
Post-Academic Profiles from the Escape the Ivory Tower website describe the paths of tenured professors who left their careers in academia because it was not a good fit. The profiles explore different reasons for leaving academia, give a few tips on how to proceed with a new career, and provide examples of famous people who left academia for careers beyond the "ivory tower."