Collaborative Research: Career Enhancement of Academic Women in Earthquake Engineering Research (ENHANCE)

该合作项目建立在美国国家科学基金会（NSF）支持的以往成功工作的基础上，目标是通过指导、授权、支持、促进和建立网络（国内和国际）来提高女学者在地震工程研究方面的职业生涯。在联邦机构和专业协会的支持下，促进女性从事科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）职业的活动增加了女性的兴趣，提高了女性的保留率。然而，女性在stem相关领域的代表性仍然不足，因为获得科学和工程学位的女性以及受雇的女性科学家和工程师的比例低于她们在人口中的比例。在地震工程领域，尽管自20世纪80年代中期以来女性的参与明显增加，但该领域仍以男性为主。这里所说的“学术女性”包括终身教职和终身教职教职员工、研究教职员工、博士后学生和高级研究生。这一目标将实现(i)通过对美国的初级终身教职和研究教员进行一对一的指导，为成功的提案和论文准备提供讲习班，以及与工程领域妇女问题有关的讨论和见解；（ii）通过建立一个私人网站，利用小乔治·e·布朗地震工程模拟网络（NEES）独特的信息技术（IT）能力，为从事地震工程研究的女学者创建一个国家和国际社区；（iii）通过对参与者的调查来评估这项工作的结果，从而评估项目的有效性。该奖项汇集了来自六个不同机构（德雷克塞尔大学、东北大学、斯坦福大学、特拉华大学、明尼苏达大学和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校）的七位女教师的专业知识。他们的综合背景涵盖了地震工程领域学术界的各个方面。他们将得到一个四人顾问委员会的协助，该委员会包括初级教师指导和社区建设方面的专家。她们在指导美国各地的年轻女同事、创建一个地震工程研究领域的学术女性社区以及与国际女性同行接触方面的集体承诺和努力，将促进世界各地女教师的职业发展。这种职业提升将提供必要的滋养环境，使女教师在地震工程研究方面取得更重大的学术成就（提交提案、发表期刊论文和国际合作）。这项工作的重点是提高女性教师在地震工程研究方面的职业生涯，因此，它与NEES的一些教育，推广和培训（EOT）目标直接相关，包括建立社区和劳动力发展的愿望。提高女教师在地震工程方面的成就和知名度，将极大地影响下一代的招聘，在课堂上提供更多的榜样，并鼓励更多的本科生追求更高的学位，并最终在学术界从事职业。此外，它将创建一个地震工程研究领域的国际女性院士社区，这将提高她们的职业生涯并促进国际合作。该项目旨在充分发挥这一代表性不足群体的潜力，从而使他们在预防和减轻地震灾害方面的贡献造福世界。

This collaborative project builds upon previous successful efforts supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with the goal to enhance the career of academic women in earthquake engineering research through mentoring, empowering, supporting, promoting and networking (nationally and internationally). Activities supported by federal agencies and professional societies to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers to women have resulted in increased female interest and improved female retention rates. Yet, women are still underrepresented in STEM-related fields, as the percentage of female science and engineering degree recipients and of employed female scientists and engineers is smaller than their percentage of the population. In the field of earthquake engineering, even though female participation has definitely increased since the mid-1980's, the field is still predominantly male. The term "academic women" herein includes tenure and tenure-track faculty members, research faculty, postdoctoral students and senior graduate students. This goal will be achieved (i) by one-on-one mentoring of junior tenure-track and research faculty in the United States with workshops for successful proposal and paper preparation, as well as with discussions and insights related to issues of women in engineering; (ii) by creating a national and international community for academic women in earthquake engineering research through the establishment of a private website using the unique Information Technology (IT) capabilities of the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES); and (iii) by evaluating this effort's outcomes through surveys of participants that will assess the project's effectiveness. This award brings together the expertise of seven female faculty from six diverse institutions (Drexel University, Northeastern University, Stanford University, University of Delaware, University of Minnesota, and University of Texas at Austin). Their combined background encompasses all aspects of academia in the earthquake engineering field. They will be assisted by a four-member Advisory Board that includes experts in junior faculty mentoring and in building communities. Their collective commitment and effort in mentoring their junior female colleagues across the United States, in creating a community of academic women in earthquake engineering research, and in reaching out to their international female peers will enhance the career of female faculty around the world. This career enhancement will provide the necessary nourishing environment that will lead to more significant scholarly accomplishments (submission of proposals, publication of journal papers and international collaborations) by female faculty in earthquake engineering research.This effort focuses on the enhancement of the career of female faculty in earthquake engineering research, and as such, it is directly related with a number of the NEES education, outreach, and training (EOT) objectives including the desire to build a community and workforce development. An increase in the achievements and visibility of female faculty in earthquake engineering will greatly influence the recruitment of the next generation, provide more role models in the classroom, and encourage more undergraduate students to pursue advanced degrees and, eventually, a career in academia. In addition, it will create a community of international female academicians in earthquake engineering research that will enhance their professional life and foster international collaborations. This project aims at making the full potential of this underrepresented group flourish, thus benefiting the world with their contributions in seismic disaster prevention and mitigation.