Entry and Retention of Women in the Sciences: A Cohort Comparison

描述(申请人提供)：队列比较女性在科学劳动力中的代表性不足一直是政策制定者和研究人员非常关注的问题：尽管在科学、数学、工程和行为(SMEB)领域的教育成就方面取得了令人印象深刻的进展，但女性在进入和留住这些领域的劳动力方面落后。这些趋势反映了数十亿美元的公共投资在教育这一劳动力以及女性对美国经济贡献方面的回报减少。此外，中小企业专业的工作与更高的工资、声望、有利条件和向上流动联系在一起，因此与妇女的福祉有关；因此，退出劳动力大军或过渡到地位较低的职业，也会对妇女的生活质量产生影响。因此，鉴于女性在美国经济中的潜在作用，了解女性在科学劳动力大军中的表现被视为至关重要。研究人员已经开始探索劳动力动态，以及女性在以科学为基础的工作场所最佳参与的挑战。然而，这项研究的大部分都集中在学术界的女性身上，评估促进女性进入教育机构的计划。只有少数研究人员关注过其他行业，如工业。此外，大多数学术研究都是回溯性的，而不是前瞻性地跟踪女性的整个生命周期。拟议项目的中心目标是确定随着时间的推移，态度、个人特征和家庭环境以及体制环境在妇女职业道路上的作用。我们研究的数据将来自1979年和1997年的全国青年纵向调查，对1979年14-22岁的12686名具有全国代表性的青年男女和1997年13-17岁的8984名男女进行的持续小组调查。我们的数据允许我们比较女性科学家、男性科学家和其他学科的女性在27年的年龄段和9年以上的年轻年龄段。老年群体的老龄化提供了一个前所未有的机会，可以研究婚姻和生育对职业道路的长期影响，并将其与年轻女性面临的机会和障碍进行比较。我们计划根据我们的结果，为科学工作者中女性的进入和保留提出具体的政策建议。公共卫生相关性：鉴于美国国立卫生研究院的使命是改善美国民众的健康和福祉，因此必须保留能够完成这项工作的训练有素的科学家和工程师的不同群体的科学创造力。通过了解充分利用科学劳动力的障碍或障碍，特别是接受过科学家和工程师培训的女性，我们寻求提高美国健康和与健康相关的研究的数量和质量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A Cohort Comparison Women's under-representation in the science labor force has been of great concern to policy makers and researchers: Despite making impressive strides in educational attainment in Science, Math, Engineering and Behavioral (SMEB) fields, women lag behind in entry into and retention in the labor force in these areas. These trends reflect diminished returns on the billion of dollars in public investments in educating this labor force, and for women's contribution to the US economy. Moreover, jobs in SMEB disciplines are linked to higher wages, prestige, favorable conditions and upward mobility, and consequently, to women's well-being; exiting the labor force or transitioning into lower status occupation, then, also has implications for women's quality of life. Understanding women's performance in the science labor force is therefore seen as crucial given their potential role in the US economy. Researchers have begun to explore the labor force dynamics, and the challenges to the optimal participation of women in the science-based workplace. The majority of this research, however, has focused on women in academia, evaluating programs to advance women in educational institutions. Only a handful of researchers have looked at other sectors, such as industry. Moreover, most scholarly research has been retrospective, rather than following women prospectively across their life cycles. The central goal of the proposed project is to identify the role of attitudes, personal characteristics and family circumstances, and institutional environments in women's career pathways over time. Data for our study will come from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth of 1979 and 1997, ongoing panel surveys of nationally representative samples of 12,686 young men and women who were aged 14-22 in 1979, and 8,984 men and women who were between 13 and 17 in 1997. Our data allow us to draw comparisons between women scientists, and men scientists, and women in other disciplines over a 27 year period for the older cohort and over 9 years for the younger cohort. The aging of the older cohort provides an unprecedented opportunity to examine the long-term consequences of marriage and childbearing on career pathways, as well as compare them to opportunities and barriers facing younger women. We plan to make specific policy recommendations for both entry and retention of women in the science workforce based on our results. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Given the mission of the NIH to improve the health and well being of the American population, it is essential to retain the scientific creativity of the diverse group of trained scientists and engineers who can do this work. By understanding the barriers or obstacles to the full utilization of the scientific workforce, particularly women trained as scientists and engineers, we seek to improve the quantity and quality of health and health-related research in the US.