Perceptions of Women in Academic Science

智力优势：这项研究的结果进一步了解了学术科学中缺乏性别多样性的根本原因。 在现有研究的基础上，本研究探讨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的贡献的看法。这项研究扩展了最近的学术研究结果，这些研究结果与角色感知在与追求学术科学事业相关的决策中的作用有关。扩大对这一主题的研究为理解学术科学中妇女代表性不足的根源和补救措施提供了新的方向。用于理解科学职业的主要概念模型是一个严格的有序阶段的管道，其中成功是通过早期进入，通过连续的教育步骤持续进步，以及随后在科学职业中的就业来衡量的。在这种模式下，失败的标志是从管道中退出。无论是从另一个职业轨道进入还是重新进入通常都不被概念化为成功。然而，研究表明，与男子不同，大多数获得科学和工程学士学位的妇女是从非科学专业过渡过来的。因此，尽管科学管道的比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。与此相反，本研究发展了高速公路的研究隐喻，在沿着的多个点可能有入口匝道和出口。通过对2，500人进行的调查，加上150次生活史访谈，这项研究阐明了研究生和博士后研究员以及助理，副教授和全职教授在两个核心学术科学领域，生物学和物理学中的回忆经历，来自这些领域的20个美国顶级研究生课程。研究人员表明，回忆的经历塑造了当前的信念，行动和互动。了解这一人群的回忆经历尤为重要，因为精英计划培养未来的领导者，他们塑造与工业，政府和学术相关的科学政策。更广泛的影响：调查结果实际上照亮了有效的方法，鼓励妇女在科学的存在，使教师更清楚地了解他们对妇女在科学的偏见，并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-本科教育期间作出的决定-的经验和看法，为制定鼓励妇女对科学专业和职业感兴趣的大学政策和做法提供了必要的研究基础。

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.