Public Awareness of STEM and Advancing the Role of Women in STEM

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This award supports a U.S.-Asia regional workshop on how best to enhance public awareness of science and technology and advance women's participation in STEM. The meeting will convene a group of approximately 30 invited scholars and experts from the fields of Science, Technology & Society (STS), Women in STEM, and Science Popularization from the U.S. and 9 South Asian and Southeast Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand). The meeting will utilize the wealth of data showing how STEM drives economic development and emphasize the growing appreciation that education in STEM must be targeted, not only to future STEM professionals in government and industry, but also to the general public. These developing Asian countries represent some of the most vibrant emerging economies in the world, and the U.S. can learn much from better understanding the opportunities and challenges these countries face in promoting STEM. Thus, this is a propitious time to gather information from them on how (and perhaps, whether), national STEM policies are affected by the public's awareness of STEM as a significant driver of economic growth. Also critical within these countries (and in the United States) are the challenges related to equity for women in STEM participation, employment, and leadership. This project will address the issue of advancement of women in the STEM education and workforce from a cross-national perspective. Through this interactive workshop, the project team will gather information on how the informal education and popularization of STEM may improve the participation of women in selected Asian countries as well as in the United States. It will address how to build a gender inclusive workforce that would lead to innovation much needed for both economic growth and social well-being. Drawing on lessons from data and experience, participants will craft suggested national and international strategies to promote public awareness and appreciation of STEM as important factors in economic development and societal well-being, with a particular focus on gender equity and inclusion. This Conference project will produce an up-to-date status report on issues of gender equity in STEM thorough a series of publications. Furthermore, this project will lead to establishment of partnerships within the STS and Science Popularization academic communities in Asian countries and the U.S. The proposed cross-national engagement will foster international research on gender in both the STEM workplace and marketplace. Finally, the hybrid approaches to professional conference facilitation explored at this meeting have the potential to significantly enhance how organizations across a variety of STEM disciplines might think about organizing and supporting professional collaboration and sharing in the future. Overall, this regional project is expected to trigger meaningful conversations and long term impacts on these issues among a large international group of scholars and practitioners. This project is jointly funded by the NSF programs in Science, Technology, and Society (STS), ADVANCE, and the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.