Women for Science: Actions for Science Academies

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Women’s PhD degrees, USA

6. 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

7. Women in academies, US IOM: Institute of Medicine 21.3% NAS: National Academy of Sciences 10.0% • Physics 3.1% • Chemistry 4.0% • Astronomy 12.4% • Genetics 22.5% • Psychology 21.9% NAE: National Academy of Engineering 4.9% US Academies keep statistics. Many others don’t

8. IAC, IAP - IANAS IAC – InterAcademy Council Presidents of 15 science academies Performs studies and writes reports on global issues SET capacity building, African agriculture, WfS, energy IAP – InterAcademy Panel Presidents of all 95 science academies Furthers coordination and collaboration of academies on issues related to global development and sustainability IANAS – subset of IAP InterAmerican Network of Science Academies

9. 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

10. The IAC Report - Action for Academies 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

11. 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

12. Ch.3 Best practice vs. gender equity • “Gender Equity” • But men are physically stronger • But women get pregnant and nurse infants • “Best Practice” • Benefits all employees and the organization • Does not imply that women need extra help • Allows for variation in capabilities and abilities • Considers work-family balance essential to optimum performance of all employees

13. 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

14. 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

15. IAC Ch.4 Women civil engineering students, U. Maryland, work with tribal women in Thailand on a sustainable wastewater system for the Samli Clinic

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. RT I. Gender and Public Policy in Education, Science and Technology • IAC report: Ch.2 Numerous examples of government action: • UN, UNESCO, US, Canada, UK, India, China, Japan US: accent on accommodating a diverse workforce. • NSF addresses: diversity, mentoring, institutional climate US Academies - (talk by Lilian Wu, RT II) • reports and workshops – flyers and samples • education and textbooks – flyers and samples • biographies of women scientists for teens - sample • women NAS members evaluate, on request, institutional climate of science departments • measures to increase nominations of women

20. 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.

21. RT II Removing obstacles to careers in SET IAC Ch. 3 • Mentoring, networking, leadership training: • happen naturally among male scientists - women scientists need access to the same support system • academy members to make themselves available for mentoring women scientists • Evaluate institutional climate for women • on request, women academy members evaluate and advise scientific institutes

22. 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 !!!

23. 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)

24. Visibility – L’Oréal 10 years Arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris March 2008

25. Visibility - – L’Oréal 10 years UNESCO displays pictures of fifty women scientists on its perimeter March 2008 Mariana Weissman Argentina

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. RT IV - Statistics Action items for academies • Keep record of female membership • by discipline; also for Council, Boards, Committees • present female membership data at annual meeting • 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

30. 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!