AWIS
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ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Washington Wire
March 2009
Issue I
Greetings!  
 
The month of March is National Women's History Month and allows us to tell the tremendous stories of women who made contributions that have helped shape and strengthen America's scientific enterprise.

At AWIS, we continue to honor women who are at the forefront of science and advocacy for while great strides have been made by pioneers like Estelle Ramey, much remains to be done to achieve equity and full participation for all women in science. 

And that's why your membership is so important.
 
Your membership is not only a tribute to AWIS trailblazers but helps us to continue to spearhead change initiatives.
 
So, go out and celebrate your achievements!
 
Thanks for your continued support! 

Janet
___________________
Janet Bandows Koster
Executive Director
In This Issue
Education
Government
International
Careers
Science and Health
Lifestyle
Chapter News & Events
Opportunities
Education

The 'Black Box' of Peer Review
In How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment, Harvard Professor Mich�le Lamont set out to examine excellence by analyzing scholarly peer reviews. She found many peer reviewers took their responsibilities seriously, although there were flaws including deal-making and uneven and somewhat unpredictable efforts by panelists to reward personal drive. The most common flaw she documents is a pattern of professors applying very personal interests to evaluating the work before them. On diversity issues, Lamont finds most reviewers believe diversity in higher education is a good thing and should be encouraged but more attention is paid to diversity of topics and research areas rather than race or gender. Lamont also discusses the luck of timing, the power of personal interests, and morality and character. As far as excellence, her examination of the process of scholarly peer reviews suggests there is no way to measure it.

Measuring Academic Excellence


Scientists Fear Visa Trouble Will Drive Foreign Students Away
It is getting harder, and taking longer, for foreign students to secure visas to work and study in the United States. What had once been a two-week process to obtain or renew a visa, now takes months. The delays have been blamed on "an unfortunate staffing shortage." Reports of problems have begun to have an impact on students' and researchers' decisions to work in the US, or travel outside of the US to participate in meetings. Researchers are reluctant to schedule meetings in the US, even two years in advance, due to the time delay, and there are stories of students and researchers being stranded in other countries while awaiting permission to re-enter the US. A recent report issued by the National Academy of the Sciences explains that changes in global politics and economic competition require that the US restructure how it entices foreign scientists to study and work in the US or it may lose its innovative edge if it cannot continue to draw top talent. 

Visa Issues May Cost US Top Science Talent


Government

Obama Links Scientific Research to 'Free Thinking'
In a December ABC News/Washington Post poll, 52% of respondents said Obama should lift the Bush restrictions on funding for stem cell research, with 42% opposed. And on Monday, March 9, Obama did just that, exclaiming "Promoting science isn't just about providing resources - it is also about protecting free and open inquiry." The president signed an executive order lifting federal funding limits on human embryonic stem cell research and a presidential memorandum seeking to insulate scientific advisors from political interference. "I've never seen the scientific community so pleased by a presidential action," says Alan Leshner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Besides stem cells, science wrangles over endangered species, climate change, pollution, national security cropped up throughout the Bush administration. Obama has given the National Institutes of Health 120 days to provide guidelines to stem cell scientists for applying for research grants to research the hundreds of human embryonic stem cell line.
 
Funding Restrictions on Stem Cell Research Eliminated
 

NSF Releases Updated Report on Women, Minorities, and People with Disabilities 
This report continues a series of Congressionally-mandated biennial reports and can be used to track progress, inform the development of policies to increase participation in science and engineering, and evaluate the effectiveness of such policies. 

New Data and Analyses
International

Women Lacking in Top EU Positions
European Commission Vice-President Margot Wallstrom recently discussed the lack of women in senior EU positions. Women represent only 24% of EU governments and most of them are in charge of cultural or social issues. Top positions are even less representative. Of the 12 European Parliament Presidents, only two have been women. The female perspective is important because it is different from men, Wallstrom states. For example, "security" may mean missile defense systems to a man, and access to education and clean drinking water for children for a woman. Gender discrimination of all kinds is banned in the EU treaties, yet there is still a 16% wage gap in Europe. At the speed at which the wage gap between men and women is closing, it will take another 70 years before equality is reached. The gender dynamic is changing slowly and there is a concrete opportunity for women to increase their representation when European Parliament elections take place at the beginning of June.

Campaigning for More Women in Senior EU Positions

Careers
 
Women in Service
In the US Air Force, men in technical roles related to math and science outnumber women by as much as 11 to 1, a disparity similar to that observed in the civilian US workforce. Only 17% of women enrolled in the Community College of the Air Force are in technical specialties, compared to 49% of men.  Scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Score (ASVAB) determine the programs available to new airmen. One reason given for the disparity is that female recruits score lower on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) exam, which includes weighted ASVAB scores and requires skills in math and science to score well.  Only 40% of new female airmen scored in the 65th percentile or higher on the exam, compared to 51% of male airmen.  However, even well-qualified women choose technical educations and careers less often than men.
 
STEM Inequality in the Military



Stimulating the Science Economy - Boom or Bust?
The $790 billion stimulus package signed in February includes $21.5 billion for federal research and discovery, leaving some to wonder if this is an indicator of things to come in the new administration.  Of the total budgeted for R&D, $10 billion will be awarded to the National Institutes of Health, $3 billion to the National Science Foundation, and $1.5 billion to the Department of Energy.  Approximately $3.5 billion will be invested in R&D facilities and equipment, with the remaining $18 billion to go to research.  This could translate into a boom in the science labor market with the creation of post-doctoral, graduate student, and research assistant positions.  However, recipient organizations of stimulus package awards must spend their largesse within the next two years.  If research appropriations return to pre-stimulus levels, any hiring boom today could end up as a bust.

Taken for Granted: Shovel-Ready Science


Stopping the Clock...On Grants
For several years, college and university tenure committees have allowed for "stopping the clock" on tenure review for academics who need time for family responsibilities.  This same philosophy is behind legislation being proposed by Texas democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson.  Among other things, the proposed bill would require federal agencies like the NSF and the NIH to "extend" grant support for cases where a researcher is also a care-giver and to provide specific ways for researchers to hire "interim technical support" to keep laboratories running while an investigator is on a family leave.  The bill would also require federal agencies to organize workshops around the issue of promoting gender equity in science by examining the hiring process by science departments and the peer review and grants processes.  While many university officials are ambivalent about some of the changes that are called for in the bill, experts on women and academic careers see the legislation as a important step in achieving gender equity in the sciences.



Why is Her Paycheck Smaller?
Click here to view this interactive map indicating nearly every occupation has a pay gap.

Science and Health
 
Unhappy Wives, Unhappy Hearts
New findings from psychology researchers indicate that marital stress adversely affects both the physical and mental status of married women. This study, being presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, shows that women dealing with conflict and anger from their spouse are at an elevated risk of high blood pressure, obesity and other factors contributing to heart disease. Surprisingly, these physical effects were not apparent in their male counterparts, although both men and women were equally at risk for depression. These results lend further evidence to the powerful effects that emotional and mental health have on one's overall health.

Strained Relationships Strain the Heart


Moldy Season Linked With Wheezing
A recently published study in the journal Thorax correlates fall and winter births with an increased incidence of wheezing in children, and a major cause of this respiratory problem may be elevated mold and pollen levels. Medical records from over 500 children were analyzed for incidences of wheezing, and local concentrations of mold spores and pollen were tracked for these time periods. Increased occurrences of wheezing were linked with births during fall and winter months when mold and pollen levels peaked. In spite of the significance of this finding in this relatively small study, many genetic and environmental elements are also known to contribute to chronic conditions, like asthma.

Wheezing With the Season
Lifestyle

Five Beginners' Steps to a Greener Home
There are literally thousands of books out there on greening one's home. So where do you start if you just want a few simple steps to take? HGTV's The Green Home asked author and green architect Eric Corey Freed to condense all this "green advice" into five must-do steps. His suggestions range from installing the latest low-flow shower-heads and unplugging power-wasting electronic devices in our homes to more ambitious projects like installing water saving technologies in our toilets. While Freed's suggestions are not particularly glamorous, they are projects that everyone can do.

A Greener Home
 
AWIS News and Events

AWIS Massachusetts Chapter

Event:      "Broads, Bullies & Building Relationships: How to Navigate
                 Office Politics Strategically, Successfully and Politely!"
Date:         Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time:        6:00-9:00 pm
Location:  MGH/ Simches Research Building,
                 185 Cambridge Street, Boston
Cost:         $15 members/$40 non-members (limit of 65 participants)
Register:   http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=178460


AWIS Seattle Chapter

Event:     Come hear analytical chemist-turned-patent lawyer Lydia Olson explain the basics of:
-What is a patent (and what is patentable)?
-What are the logistics of getting a patent
AND
Heather Felise, PhD, will discuss her recent experiences in applying for a patent while working at the University of Washington.
Date:          Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time:          6:00-6:15 pm Networking & Refreshments
                   6:15-6:30 pm Introductions
                   6:30-7:30 pm Presentation
Location:    UW South Lake Union Bldg,
                   815 Mercer St in the Blue Flame Auditorium (First Floor)
Cost:           Free and open to members and non-members alike.



AWIS Philadelphia and Central New Jersey Chapters

Event:     "Chance Favors the (Scientifically) Prepared Mind - Serendipity at Work" - Annette M. Tobia, Ph.D., J.D., Founder and CEO, Dynamis Therapeutics, Inc. will address how science did and didn't prepare her to be a CEO.
Date:        Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
Time:        6:00-7:00 pm dinner
                7:00-8:00 pm presentation
Location: Janssen, Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals
                1125 Trenton-Harbourton Road
                Titusville, New Jersey
Cost:         $ 25 for AWIS member
                 $ 30 for non-members of AWIS/guests*
                 $ 20 for students and postdocs
Register:   By 12:00 noon, Friday, March 20, 2009 with payment: www.awisphl.org/meetingregistration.htm



AWIS San Diego Chapter

Event:       2009 Women in Science and Technology
                 (WIST) Conference   
The biennial AWIS conference formerly known as, "Women in bioScience," (WIB) is expanding its focus this year, encompassing topics relevant to all women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This one-day symposium includes two keynote speakers and a series of workshops, round-tables, and seminars focusing on career and personal development and hot topics in science.                   
Date:         Saturday, May 9, 2009
Time:        7:30am to 6:00pm
Location:  The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Register:   All are welcome and can register at: www.awis.sdsc.edu
Registration closes on May 6. Early Bird rates end March 15!

Opportunities

 
National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Each year, the President of the United States bestows our Nation's highest honor for technological achievement upon those women and men whose innovative use of technology has made possible the economic well-being and quality of life we enjoy today. The recognition those laureates received also provides inspiration for America's innovators of tomorrow. Individuals, teams, companies or organizations are eligible for this prestigious award.
The 2009 nomination period is open until May 29, 2009
Click here for the nomination form, guidelines, and more information.
 

Enhancing Diversity at the Graduate and Postdoctoral Levels
A symposium at the American Chemical Society National Meeting
in Washington, D.C. Aug. 16-20, 2009.
While the pipeline to careers in chemistry for women and underrepresented minorities is known to leak at all educational and professional stages, statistics indicate that it hemorrhages before, during, and after Ph.D. study. The goal of this symposium is to catalyze an open, constructive conversation between students, educators, and other chemical professionals regarding diversity at the graduate and postdoctoral levels. The organizers welcome submissions from researchers, administrators, and program leaders who are studying, interested in, or working towards enhancing diversity at the graduate and postdoctoral levels.
Proposals are due on March 16, 2009.
Click here for more information.


Anita Borg and Denice Denton Awards
The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology is now accepting nominations for three awards: the Anita Borg Social Impact, Anita Borg Technical Leadership and the Denise Denton Emerging Leader Awards. The awards are valued at $5000, $10000, and $10000, respectively. The awards will be presented on October 1, 2009 at the Grace Hopper Celebration in Tucson, Arizona.
Nominations will be accepted until April 30, 2009.
Click here for more information.

Quick Links
AWIS TRAILBLAZERS 
Dr. Estelle Ramey

  Winter 2009 Cover

 "Women's chains have been forged by men, not by anatomy." 
 
To read a retrospective on Dr. Ramey, visit our AWIS Magazine Archives.
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