Perceptions of Women in Academic Science

对学术科学领域女性的看法

• 批准号: 0920837
• 负责人: Elaine Howard Ecklund
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-06-30 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0920837&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Perceptions; Women; Academic; Science

Intellectual Merit: The findings from this study further knowledge of underlying reasons for the lack of gender diversity in academic science. Building on the nexus of existing research, this study examines women's and men's self-reported reasons for pursuing academic science careers as well as the perceptions both genders have of women's contributions to academic science. The research expands recent scholarly findings related to the role perceptions have in decisions related to pursuing careers in academic science. Expanding research on this topic provides new directions for understanding the origins of and remedies for the under-representation of women in academic science. The primary conceptual model used to understand science careers has been a rigid pipeline of ordered stages in which success is measured by early entry, consistent progress through consecutive educational steps, and subsequent employment in a science career. Under this model, failure is marked by an exit from the pipeline. Neither entry from another career track nor reentry is typically conceptualized as a success. Yet, research has shown that, unlike men, most women who earn bachelors degrees in science and engineering transition from non-science majors. Therefore, while the science pipeline metaphor accurately describes the experiences of many men, it fails to capture the experiences of many women. In contrast, this study develops the research metaphor of a freeway, with entry on-ramps and exits possible at multiple points along the way. Through a survey administered to 2,500 individuals coupled with 150 life history interviews, this research illuminates the recalled experiences of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows as well as assistant, associate, and full professors in two core academic science fields, biology and physics, from the twenty top U.S. graduate programs in these fields. Researchers show that recalled experiences shape current beliefs, actions and interactions. Understanding the recalled experiences of this population is particularly important because those in elite programs train future leaders who shape science policy related to industry, government, and academics. Broader impact: Findings practically illuminate effective approaches to encouraging the presence of women in science, make faculty more aware of their preconceptions about women in science, and have broad media appeal. In particular, understanding experiences and perceptions at the crucial turning point in the science career process--decisions made during undergraduate education--provides the necessary research underpinnings to build university policies and practices that encourage interest in science majors and careers among women.

智力价值：这项研究的发现进一步了解了学术科学中缺乏性别多样性的潜在原因。在现有研究的基础上，这项研究考察了女性和男性自我报告的追求学术科学事业的原因，以及两性对女性对学术科学贡献的看法。这项研究扩展了最近的学术发现，这些发现与认知在与追求学术科学职业相关的决策中所起的作用有关。扩大对这一专题的研究为理解妇女在学术科学中代表性不足的根源和补救办法提供了新的方向。用来理解科学职业的主要概念模型一直是一个僵化的有序阶段管道，其中成功的衡量标准是及早进入，通过连续的教育步骤取得一致的进步，以及随后在科学职业中的就业。在这种模式下，失败的标志是退出管道。无论是从另一个职业轨道进入，还是重新进入，通常都不会被视为成功。然而，研究表明，与男性不同，大多数获得理工科学士学位的女性都是从非理科专业过渡过来的。因此，尽管科学管道隐喻准确地描述了许多男性的经历，但它未能捕捉到许多女性的经历。相比之下，这项研究发展了高速公路的研究比喻，高速公路的入口和出口可能在沿途的多个点。通过对2500人的调查和150次人生史访谈，这项研究阐明了生物学和物理学这两个核心学术科学领域的研究生和博士后研究员以及助理、副教授和全职教授的回忆经历，他们来自美国在这两个领域的20个顶级研究生项目。研究人员表明，回忆的经历塑造了当前的信念、行动和互动。了解这些人回忆起的经历尤其重要，因为精英项目中的那些人培养的是未来的领导者，他们制定与工业、政府和学术相关的科学政策。更广泛的影响：这些发现实际上阐明了鼓励女性参与科学界的有效方法，使教职员工更多地意识到他们对科学界女性的先入为主的看法，并具有广泛的媒体吸引力。特别是，了解在科学职业过程的关键转折点--在本科教育期间做出的决定--的经验和看法，为制定鼓励女性对科学专业和职业感兴趣的大学政策和实践提供必要的研究基础。