Assessing and Reducing Gender Bias in STEM Recruitment, Mentorship and Evaluation

描述(由申请者提供)：许多委员会、小组和研讨会都对科学领域缺乏女性表示遗憾，特别是在女性代表性最低的数学密集型领域(Ceci，Williams，&Barnett，2009；国家科学院，2005；国家科学委员会，2006)。将更多的妇女纳入学术队伍已被确定为一项关键的国家需求(Shalala等人，2006年)；有才华的妇女完成博士学位，但她们不能以其人数所要求的速度过渡到终身教职(例如，Ceci等人，2009年；Ginther，2001,2004；Shalala等人，2006)。拟议的项目《评估和减少STEM招聘、指导和评价中的性别偏见》探讨了博士前女性和男性如何被招募到研究生院并在研究生院接受非正式培训，以及在他们申请第一个终身教职跟踪职位时如何对他们进行评估。我们寻求更好地理解并最终改进行为规范，这些规范可能会有意无意地导致现任教授创造性别偏见的招聘、指导和评估环境。拟议的研究探讨了目前的做法是否会对未来的STEM女研究生造成身份威胁(从而减少了女性入学和留住)，以及STEM教授在提供建议和培训方面是否对男性和女性研究生有不同的对待。这些研究还审查了现任教授在评估助理教授职位申请者时使用性别和性别相关信息的情况。研究计划的一部分是，在全国范围内对院长进行调查，以确定研究报告1-3中提出的建议的可取性和可行性，并开展宣传研究结果的教育运动。拟议的研究(包括两项国家数据收集、一项实验室研究、一项关于挑衅者和院长的调查以及一项广泛的教育传播部分)横跨生物、物理和社会/行为科学，以扩大我们对与性别有关的招聘、指导、评估规范和行为以及它们在不同领域的变化的理解。这项研究将阐明女性与男性从大学到研究生院并最终进入学术界的成功或不足的原因。我们的结果将有助于磨练公正、有效的招聘、指导和评估实践，导致科学招聘、培训和就业安置过程中更大的性别公平。我们计划广泛传播我们的成果，目的是发起和加强对专业培训的关键方面的明确讨论，这些方面往往没有公开讨论，甚至没有得到承认。由于有偏见的招聘、教师指导和就业选择做法，这些经历可能会对男性和女性研究生的成功产生不同的影响，特别是由于女性和男性科学家不同的职业/生活轨迹。与公共健康相关：许多委员会、小组和研讨会都对科学领域缺乏妇女表示遗憾，特别是在妇女代表性最低的数学密集型领域--物理、化学、工程、计算机科学和数学(Ceci，Williams&Barnett，2009；国家科学院，2005；国家科学委员会，2006)。将更多的女性纳入学术队伍已被确定为国家的一项关键需求(见NAS报告，2006年)；“管道漏水”的比喻已被一种认识所取代，即许多有才华的女性在完成博士学位后仍在等待进入终身教职轨道，但她们并没有以其人数所要求的速度过渡到终身教职(例如，Ginther，2001,2004；Shalala等人)。2006)。这项拟议的研究将阐明女性与男性从本科生到研究生院并最终进入学术界的成功或不足的原因，并将展示如何通过磨练公正和有效的招聘、指导和评估做法来改善当前的做法，从而在科学培训和就业安置过程中实现性别公平，从而充分发挥美国在科学方面的潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Numerous commissions, panels, and symposia have lamented the dearth of women in science, especially in math-intensive fields where women's underrepresentation is greatest (Ceci, Williams, & Barnett, 2009; National Academy of Science, 2005; National Science Board, 2006). The inclusion of more women in the academic workforce has been identified as a critical national need (Shalala et al., 2006); talented women complete Ph.D.s, yet they do not transition into tenure track academic positions at the rate their numbers appear to warrant (e.g., Ceci et al., 2009; Ginther, 2001, 2004; Shalala et al., 2006). The proposed project, Assessing and Reducing Gender Bias in STEM Recruitment, Mentorship and Evaluation, explores how predoctoral women and men are recruited to and informally trained in graduate school, and how they are evaluated when they apply for their first tenure-track position. We seek to better understand, and ultimately improve, norms of behavior that may consciously or unconsciously lead current professors to create gender-biased recruitment, mentorship, and evaluation environments. The proposed studies explore whether current practices induce identity threat in prospective women STEM graduate students (thus reducing female enrollments and retention), and whether STEM professors treat their male and female graduate students differently in the advice and training they dispense. The studies also examine current professors' use of gender and gender-related information in evaluation of applicants for assistant professorships. A national canvass of deans and provosts to ascertain the desirability and feasibility of recommendations emerging from studies 1-3 and an educational campaign disseminating the findings are part of the research plan. The proposed research (consisting of two national data collections, one laboratory study, one canvass of provosts and deans, and one widescale educational dissemination component) spans the biological, physical, and social/behavioral sciences, to broaden our understanding of gender-related recruitment, mentorship, and evaluation norms and behaviors and how they vary across fields. This research will illuminate reasons for the success-or lack thereof-of women's versus men's transition from college to graduate school and ultimately to academia. Our results will help hone unbiased, effective recruitment, mentorship, and evaluation practices, leading to greater gender-fairness in the scientific recruitment, training, and job-placement processes. We plan to disseminate broadly our results with the goal of initiating and enhancing explicit discussions of key aspects of professional training often not discussed openly or even acknowledged. These experiences may differentially impact success of male versus female graduate students due to biased recruitment, faculty mentorship, and job-selection practices, particularly as a consequence of differential career/life trajectories of women and men scientists. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Numerous commissions, panels, and symposia have lamented the dearth of women in science, especially in math-intensive fields where women's underrepresentation is greatest--physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science, and mathematics (Ceci, Williams, & Barnett, 2009; National Academy of Science, 2005; National Science Board, 2006). The inclusion of more women in the academic workforce has been identified as a critical national need (see NAS report by Shalala et al., 2006); the metaphor of a "leaky pipeline" has been replaced with the realization that plenty of talented women are still in the pipeline through completion of the Ph.D., yet they do not transition into tenure track academic positions at the rate their numbers would appear to warrant (e.g., Ginther, 2001, 2004; Shalala et al. 2006). The proposed research will illuminate reasons for the success-or lack thereof-of women's versus men's transitions from undergraduate to graduate school and ultimately to academia, and it will show how to improve current practices by honing unbiased and effective recruitment, mentorship, and evaluation practices resulting in gender-fairness throughout the scientific training and job- placement processes, thus bringing to fruition the full U.S. potential in science.