Women for Science:Actions for Science Academies

Johanna Levelt Sengers, USA

Scientist Emeritus, National Institute of Science and

Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8320

Member, NAS, NAE

Co-author, InterAcademy Council Advisory Report: “Women for Science” 2006

www.interacademycouncil.net

IANAS Symposium, Mexico, April 19, 2009

Academia Mexicana

• One of the very few science academies that has a female president

• Can be a very effective voice on behalf of women scientists and engineers– in Mexico– in IANAS– in IAP

Thank you, Professor Rosaura Ruiz, for inviting me to participate and give the introductory talk

OUTLINE

• Slow progress of women scientists and engineers

• IAC, IAP - IANAS• The IAC report • The IANAS Round Tables• A great opportunity! Action items for

Academies, IANAS, IAP

Slow progress of women scientists

• Influx of women into the sciences has greatly increased

• Women scientists are slow to advance

• Few women at the top of the hierarchy

Women’s PhD degrees, USA

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2003*

Decade

Per

cen

tag

e

Biological sciences

Chemistry

Mathematics

Physics

All engineering

Women scientists are slow to advance

• “Leaking pipeline” - more women than men drop out after the PhD

• Few women become tenured professors on science, engineering and medical faculties

• Science academies: 5% women members

Implicit message: women not welcome as science, engineering and industry leaders

Women in academies, US

IOM: Institute of Medicine 21.3%

NAS: National Academy of Sciences 10.0%o Physics 3.1%o Chemistry 4.0%o Astronomy 12.4%o Genetics 22.5%o Psychology 21.9%

NAE: National Academy of Engineering 4.9%

US Academies keep statistics. Many others don’t

IAC, IAP - IANAS IAC – InterAcademy CouncilPresidents of 15 science academies

Performs studies and writes reports on global issuesSET capacity building, African agriculture, WfS, energy

IAP – InterAcademy PanelPresidents of all 95 science academies

Furthers coordination and collaboration of academies on issues related to global development and sustainability

IANAS – subset of IAPInterAmerican Network of Science Academies

IAC report – first of its kind to target academies

• Academies represent the top of scientific achievement in their countries

• Academies act as expert advisers to governments

Their example can initiate global change from the top of the science and

engineering establishment

Three core subjects:Ch.3 Enabling women’s access, participation, and

careers - inclusive culture: best practice

Ch.4 Empowering women at the grass roots- essential to sustainable development

Ch.5,6 Actions for academies - Set an example of inclusiveness; advocacy

The IAC Report - Action for Academies

Ch.3 Inclusive culture: best practice

• All members of an organization, men and women, perform to the best of their ability

• Leadership commits to diversity

• Committee sets goals, benchmarks; keeps track of progress; works with leadership

• Transparency in hiring, salary, promotions

• Women included at all leadership levels

• Mentoring, leadership training offered to all

• Healthy work-family balance for all

Ch.3 Best practice vs. gender equity

• “Gender Equity” o But men are physically strongero But women get pregnant and nurse infants

• “Best Practice”o Benefits all employees and the organizationo Does not imply that women need extra helpo Allows for variation in capabilities and abilitieso Considers work-family balance essential to optimum

performance of all employees

Towards Inclusive Culture(some hard truths – snide slide 1)

• Women talking to women: necessary, but not sufficient

• 90% of tenured faculty at research universities are men

• 95% of academy members are men• Men will have to be on board if the

climate for women is to be improved• Academies have to learn to listen to

gender experts

Ch.4 Women: essential to development

A billion women in rural areas and in the slums of megacities the developing world

• are responsible for health care, water, food, shelter, education, marketing……..

• for development, it is essential that they receive education, have access to information, and get training in modern technology

• women engineers and scientists are needed to transfer technology to their sisters at the “grass roots”

sustainable development is possible only if women “at the grass roots” are included

IAC Ch.4

Women civil

engineering

students,

U. Maryland,

work with

tribal women

in Thailand on

a sustainable

wastewater

system

for the Samli

Clinic

A Mexican example of including “grass-roots” women in IT

I have been told that many “grass roots” Mexican women have learned to operate sophisticated machinery in factories in N. Mexico that manufacture and assemble electronic computer products

IAC report - actions for academies

• Commit to including women fully• Increase female membership:

– collect data on women membership - RTIV– keep track of progress and report yearly to membership, IAP – prepare lists of eligible women scientists -

• Increase visibility of women scientists - RTIII• Remove barriers: establish best practice - RTII• Advocate with government for inclusiveness RTI• IAP (and IANAS!) to enable exchange between

academies re best practice, successful actions

IANAS – Round Tables

• RT I. Gender and Public Policy in Education, Science and Technology

• RT II. Removing obstacles to careers in SET

• RT III Increasing visibility of women scientists in Latin America

• RT IV Sex-disaggregated statistics for policy making

RT I. Gender and Public Policy in Education, Science and Technology

• IAC report: Ch.2 Numerous examples of government action:

o UN, UNESCO, US, Canada, UK, India, China, Japan

US: accent on accommodating a diverse workforce. o NSF addresses: diversity, mentoring, institutional climate

US Academies - (talk by Lilian Wu, RT II) o reports and workshops – flyers and sampleso education and textbooks – flyers and sampleso biographies of women scientists for teens - sampleo women NAS members evaluate, on request,

institutional climate of science departments

o measures to increase nominations of women

RT I Encouraging women researchers

• Science Academies to invite proposals form female researchers, and work with Government Funding Agencies to give special consideration to proposals from women principal investigators.

RT II Removing obstacles to careers in SET

IAC Ch. 3• Mentoring, networking, leadership training:

o happen naturally among male scientists - women scientists need access to the same support system

o academy members to make themselves available for mentoring women scientists

• Evaluate institutional climate for womeno on request, women academy members

evaluate and advise scientific institutes

RT III Increase visibility of women

What academies can do:• Invite women speakers at symposia • Academy Council, Boards, Committees to

include women members• Academy books, pamphlets, websites show

women scientists at work• Nominate women for prizes• Elect more women !!!

RTIII Visibility – Latin American L’Oréal Laureates

• 2002 Ana-Maria Lopez-Colomé, retina disease, UNAM, Mexico City

• 2003 Mariana Weissmann, statistical physicist, Argentina

• 2004 Lucia Medonça Previato, parasitic disease, Brazil• 2005 Belitta Koiler, solid-state physicist, Brazil • 2006 Esther Orozo, pathologist, National Polytech. Inst.,

Mexico City• 2007 Ligia Gargallo, polymer scientist, Chile• 2008 Ana Belén Elgoyen (Argentina), hearing specialist• 2009 Beatriz Barbuy, astronomer, Brazil

(Barbosa talk, RT II)

Visibility – L’Oréal 10 years

Arriving at

Charles de Gaulle Airport

Paris

March 2008

Visibility - – L’Oréal 10 years

UNESCO

displays

pictures

of fifty

women

scientists

on its

perimeter

March 2008

Mariana Weissman

Argentina

Biographies of Latina scientists?

Example of an IANAS project?• Collaborate with L’Oréal to collect the material

on their Latin-American Laureates• Include Latina scientists working in US and

Canada• Collaborate with NAS CWSEM to fashion this

material into readable biographies (English and Spanish!) geared towards teenagers

Visibility – The Internet

Academy websites must have a page on• Women’s science education, science careers and academy

membership• Links to resources, international efforts on behalf of women

scientists

IANAS, IAP websites must have a page on• Women’s science education, science careers • Female membership of all science academies• Examples of successful efforts to empower women scientists• Links to resources, international efforts to support women

scientists

Visibility – The Internet(snide slide 2)

• The IAP web site presents no evidence that “Women for Science” was selected as IAP 3-year top priority in 2006. WfS is not among the topics that proposals are called for (No link to any IAC report!)

• The very lean IANAS web site does present an announcement of the Symposium

RT IV - Statistics

Action items for academies• Keep record of female membership

o by discipline; also for Council, Boards, Committeeso present female membership data at annual meetingo make data available by a link on their website

Action items for IANAS, IAP• Request academies for sex-disaggregated membership data

for the annual report• Make data available on the website

A Great Opportunity!Engage Science Academies

Round Tables to formulate action items • for participants’ science academies• for IANAS • for the InterAcademy Panel

Plenary Session to include these action items• under strategies for the future• for participants to take home• to submit them to academies, IANAS, IAP

Thank you for your attention!