Greetings!
The
America COMPETES Act reauthorization is working it's way through
Congress and AWIS has been actively supporting the inclusion of
initiatives to support women in academic science and engineering. We
are very pleased to report that the proposed amendment offered by
Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson to the America Competes
reauthorization, "Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science," was passed unanimously by the House Science Committee on April
28, 2010. The amendment includes support for workshops to enhance gender
equity and outlines guidance for the collection of data on demographics
of faculty for institutions receiving federal funding for science and
engineering.
Best,
Janet
_______________
Janet Bandows Koster
Executive Director
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| Education | Contributed by: Erin Rogers
2009 Census Data Show Women Equal Men in College Completion and Advanced Degrees
According to the 2009 Census, men and women are now equal in their rates of completing college and earning advanced degrees. The equalizing increase in the rate of women holding advanced degrees is primarily due to increases in the number of women earning medical and law degrees. Unfortunately, despite these impressive educational advancements, women still trail men in salary rates and the rates of earning STEM degrees.
Census data highlight advances in gender educational equality
Graduate Education Gets a New Look
A new report by the Council on Graduate Schools, "The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States," suggests the United States must make it a national priority to improve graduate education and attract more students to pursue-and complete-graduate degrees. It offers a number of recommendations, including a proposal that the federal government pay for doctoral traineeship programs and provide loan forgiveness and tax breaks for graduate students.
Who should pay
Future Math Teachers Don't Make the Grade
America's future math teachers, on average, earned a C on a new test comparing their skills with their counterparts in 15 other countries, significantly outscoring college students in the Philippines and Chile but placing far below those in educationally advanced nations like Singapore and Taiwan. The researchers who led the math study in this country judged the results acceptable if not encouraging for America's future elementary teachers.
Falling short
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| Government | Contributed by: Sarah Rhodes
Government Research Institutes Lead the Way in Encouraging Women into Science
The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory was the first national laboratory, and conducts research on a range of scientific disciplines including biology, chemistry, computer science and engineering. In parallel with a celebration for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day Argonne hosted 350 aspiring female scientists on April 22nd. Through panel discussions, one-to-one sessions, lab tours and other events, the Science Careers in Search of Women Conference, put students face-to-face with scientists from a wide variety of disciplines, providing the opportunity to interact and network with female role models. "It is important for the girls to see all of the science and engineering all around them and all of the different possibilities that exist," said Argonne physicist Kawtar Hafidi. More than 7,000 young women have participated in the program since it began at Argonne in 1987.
Earth Day: here today, Argonne tomorrow
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| International | Contributed by: Arianne Cease
Amidst Death Threats, an Afghan Teacher Strives to Educate Young Women and Girls
Instead of going to religious classes, more than 400 girls and women are actually going to school in hidden schoolrooms in Zabul. Teacher Ehsan Ehsanullah confronts the challenges of living in a conservative Pashtun culture that is not supportive of educating women. "The help we get [in getting women to these schools] is mainly from the mosque leader, the mullah," Ehsanullah said. Canadian instructor, Tom Kuzma, who lectures by teleconference once a week explains, "They [the women] see it as a golden opportunity; it increases their job opportunities a lot, so they're pretty keen." With his students in Calgary, the most common excuse he hears for tardiness is, "the line was too long at Tim Hortons [donuts]" at which point he tells them a story about coming to school and hiding books under a burqa.
A secret education
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| Careers | Contributed by: Christine DiRienzo
Is the Publish or Perish Mentality Good for Academia?
In an academic environment, the ability to publish directly correlates with career progression. Publications, on average, tend to show positive results. As a result of these incentives, there is a persistent bias to publish positive results. A recent study published by Daniele Fanelli examined the propensity of authors to publish papers that described negative results. Fanelli included over 1,000 journal publications in the analysis from across the United States. There was a tendency for researchers to publish more papers in states that reported the highest frequency of papers with positive results, across all disciplines. These data could not account for factors such as states with a higher concentration of competitive research centers, the ability of researchers to ask the right questions, the ability of researchers to generate hypotheses after data has been reported. Overall, these findings suggest a potential link between the effects of publication pressure on the quality of published papers.
Accentuating the positive
Organizational Segregation Lowest Among Most Educated
A report from the Institution for Women's Policy Research noted a trend for less organizational segregation in fields requiring more education. Male dominated occupations typically pay more than female dominated occupations at similar skill levels. Therefore, addressing occupational segregation between genders is an important aspect of narrowing the gender wage gap. Trends separated by level of education suggests that jobs requiring four years of college or more are less segregated than jobs requiring less education. Occupations that have seen a significant increase in the share of women workers include lawyers and accountants. Computing and related occupations had some of the lowest gender wage gaps. The female-to-male earnings ratio was lowest for physicians and surgeons, where women constitute one third of the workforce.
Education for better pay
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| Science and Health | Contributed by: Anahita Hamidi
Grand-parental Age and Autism
Parental age has been implicated in an increased risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but few studies have investigated the contribution of grand-parental age effects. A group of researchers at the University of Bristol conducted a study aimed at investigating the relationship between grand-parental age and ASD. The authors were surprised to find that while there were clear parental effects, these were secondary to grand-parental (and in particular grand-maternal) age effects. The authors acknowledge that further studies are needed in order to clarify the mechanism(s) behind this potential grand-parental effect. However, these findings improve our understanding of the various factors that contribute to the etiology of ASD.
Grandparents matter too!
Do Males or Females Have Better Immunity? It Depends on the Cost.
Several studies have shown that when it comes to resisting and fighting off viral infections, males fare worse than females. Then again, other studies have shown that in certain systems, females fare worse than males. Authors Olivier Restif and William Amos of the UK explain in their recent paper, "The Evolution of Sex-Specific Immune Defenses" that a wide range of ecological and genetic constraints must be taken into account; only then can the true cost of resistance and the benefit of immunity be assessed by the organism. The authors explained that a model effective at predicting which sex will mount a stronger immune response must account for numerous factors in addition to the environment. For example, the phenotypes of peers, as well as the pathogen dynamics and genotypes, must be included into a predictive model. Thus, this new model is unique in its ability to account for all of these variables.
Predicting the defense
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| Work-Life Satisfaction | Contributed by: Ana Dragovic
Package Offers Moms a Way to Pump and Work
One in three new mothers stop breastfeeding after returning to work because of the inability to pump breastmilk comfortably at the workplace. New legislation will require employers to provide a 'nursing lounge' for working mothers and "The Reasonable Break Time for Nursing Mothers" provision will not hinder their work performance. These new laws help mothers stay productive at work while still being able to provide breastmilk to their baby.
Better breastfeeding support at work
Meditation Everyday
In our busy lives, it is important to find some time for yourself. Between work, traffic, and family demands practicing meditation is a great way to get calm and relax. It has been shown that daily mediation can decrease blood pressure, increase immune system function, decrease stress and increase concentration. Consider these tips so that you can keep up with the pace of life.
Finding inner peace
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| AWIS News and Events | AWIS National
Event: Strategies and Tactics for Getting Research Grants
Date: May 3,
2010
Time: 3:00 PM-4:30 PM
AWIS San Diego Chapter
Event: Scholarship Gala
Date: May 6, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM-9:30 PM
AWIS Palo Alto Chapter
Event: Women's Leadership Seminar Series
Date: May 6, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM-8:00 PM
AWIS DC Metropolitan Chapter
Event: Dr. Bernice Sandler Talks About The Chilly Climate
Date: May 10, 2010
Time: 6:30 PM-8:00 PM
AWIS Palo Alto Chapter
Event: What is Science?
Date: May 20, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM-9:00 PM
AWIS East Bay Chapter
Event: Approaching Career Watersheds with Confidence
Date: May 27, 2010
Time: 6:30 PM-8:30 PM
AWIS National and Bethesda Chapter
Event: USA Science and Engineering Festival
Date: October 23 & 24, 2010
Time: 10:00 AM-5:30 PM each day
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Opportunities |
AIMBE 2011 College of Fellows Nominations Open
AIMBE has opened up nominations for its 2011 College of Fellows. Women are currently underrepresented in the College, so please nominate a woman to the College of Fellows by the deadline, May 14, 2010. Please click here, for instructions on how to nominate and to download the application.
For questions on the nomination process, please e-mail Katie Goodman or call 202-496-9660.
Institut Pasteur Offers Fellowship Grants
Postdoctoral Fellowship Grants to work at the Institut Pasteur Fellowship package is $70,000 per year for three years for a grand total of $210,000. Deadline September 17, 2010
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
This program offers one to three year postdoctoral fellowships designed to increase the involvement of scientists and engineers from academia and industry to scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Navy. This program has a rolling admission.
Go to: http://www.asee.org/resources/nrl/ for detailed program information.
The Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program (NREIP)NREIP is a ten week summer research opportunity for undergraduate Juniors & Seniors, and Graduate students, under the guidance of a mentor, at a participating Navy Laboratory. The stipend amounts for the program are $5,500 for undergraduate students and $6,500 for graduate students. U.S. citizenship required; Permanent residents accepted at certain labs.
Go to: http://www.asee.org/nreip for application deadlines and detailed program information.
Humboldt Research Fellowship
Fellowships for Postdoctoral Researchers are for postdoctoral scientists and scholars who have completed a doctoral degree within four years prior to the application submission date are eligible. This fellowship allows for a stay of 6-24 months in Germany and provides a monthly stipend of 2,250 EUR. Click here for application materials and detailed information.
Fellowships for Experienced Researchers are for scientists and scholars who have completed a doctoral degree within twelve years prior to the application submission date are eligible.
This fellowship allows for a stay of 6-18 months in Germany which may be divided into a maximum of three visits of at least three months each and provides a monthly stipend of 2,450 EUR. Click here for application materials and detailed information. |
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AWIS MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Mina J. Bissel, PhD
| Congratulations to Dr. Mina J. Bissel, long-time AWIS member, who has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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| NEW MENTORING RESOURCE |
 ALL NEW!
Getting the Most out of Your Mentoring Relationships: A Handbook for Women in STEM
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Provides a quick yet structured guide to mentoring
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Includes a handy resource guide for quick reference
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Is the most comprehensive handbook catered to women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
| WHO'S HIRING?
| Optics Technician
University
of Massachusetts Amherst
Electron Microscopy Scientist
National
Center for Electron Microscopy
Director, New
Business Development
Boehringer
Ingelheim
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SUPPORT AWIS
| Help other women in science! Donate to AWIS for its programs and awards.
Your tax-deductible donation to AWIS supports the wide-ranging advocacy
and career development activities of the National Office and the
Executive Board.
| Learn more
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AWIS Partners with USA Science & Engineering Festival
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More Info Here!
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