AWIS
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ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE

Washington Wire

 

May 2012
Issue I

Greetings!

  
Thank you to the many AWIS members and supporters who have posted reviews of the organization on the site Great Nonprofits.
 
Here's a sample of just some of the comments:

 

...AWIS is essential for the growth of women in the sciences and their ability to balance their lives in these fields. 

 
...AWIS has challenged professional organizations of scientists and engineers to open their doors and honors to more transparent and honest engagement of women.

 

...I have had the opportunity to meet women professionals in my field, learn from women scientists who are further along in their career paths than myself and have graciously been afforded opportunity after opportunity for my own self-growth and professional development within this organization.

 

Click here to read more.  If you would like to contribute your own comment, click here.

 

Best regards,
  
Erin
____________
Erin DiMenna
AWIS External Relations Manager 
In This Issue
Careers
Education
Health
Science and Technology
Work Life Satisfaction
Events
Careers

 

Women Receive Far Fewer Scientific Awards than Men
Research conducted by former AWIS Board President Phoebe Leboy, AWIS Executive Director and CEO Janet Bandows Koster, AWIS member Stephanie Pincus, and Anne Lincoln found that during the 1990s and 2000s men were more than eight times more likely than women to win a scholarly award and almost three times more likely to win a young investigator award.

 
And the winner is... 

 

Are Married Women Becoming the Primary Breadwinners in U.S.?
While it is true that more married women than ever before outearn their husbands, men still significantly outearn women.  Among dual-earner couples, wives outearned their husbands 28.9% of the time.  However, women start and stay behind men in many fields and men still hold the vast majority of positions of power in business and politics.

 

Partners, power, and paychecks 

 

Women Fear More and Less Qualified Peers
According to research conducted at the Washington University in St. Louis, women don't advocate for other women in high-status work groups.  Reseacher Michelle Duguid says that two types of threats prevent women from recommending qualified female candidates as potential high-prestige work group peers: competitive threat and collective threat.  Competitive threat occurs when a female work group member fears that another female candidate might be more qualified or accepted, and collective threat occurs when the female work group member is concerned that a female candidate might not perform as well and will reinforce negative stereotypes about the abilities of women.

 
Work group woes

Education

 

PhD Candidates Choose Careers Outside Academia
Even though most PhD trained scientists enter careers in industry, government or other areas, academic research continues to be viewed as the preferred career path and the route touted by advisors.   A national survey of PhD students at tier-one U.S. institutions reveals that the attractiveness of academic careers decreases significantly over the course of the PhD program.   

Exiting the ivory tower 

 

2012 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems
Universitas 21, a group of universities from around the world, has released a new international ranking of nations' higher education systems. Countries were evaluated on a series of measures related to resources, environment, connectivity and output.  Population was taken into account. The top five countries: United States, Sweden, Canada, Finland and Denmark. In all but eight countries at least 50 percent of students were female. The lowest percentages were in India and Korea. In only five countries women were at least 50 percent of staff. The lowest percentages were in Iran and Japan.

 

Around the world

 

Advancement or Hindrance: Technology in Early Education
The Kaiser Family Foundation reports kids 8 to 18 years old spend about 10.5 hours a day in front technology, up from 7.5 hours a decade ago. While educators advocate for using technology to personalize teaching plans and offer online tutoring, child development experts worry children will develop shorter attention spans and multi-tasking too much. In today's fast-paced world, parents and educators grapple with technology as a necessity or a nice-to-have in the learning environment.

 
Plug-in

Health

May 13-19 is National Women's Health Week

 

Quality of US Medical Research Questioned
An examination of the Clinicaltrials.gov database reveals that many of the registered U.S. clinical trials are small and of poor quality calling in to question the results used to determine if medical treatments and prevent strategies work.  Seven percent of the studies in the database didn't mention the purpose of the trial, and many of the studies of cancer treatments failed to follow the highest standards of medical research.

 

 

Simple Equation May Stem Obesity Epidemic
Mathematician and investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Carson Chow uses mathematical models to determine the causes of obesity, and ways to stem the epidemic. To help people understand this better, he has posted an interactive version of the model at bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov.

 

Crunching the numbers

 

Using Finance Theory to Decide What Research to Fund
Can applying financial management principals to the practice of medicine save lives?  A leading finance expert at MIT says that decisions about biomedical research should be made using "financial portfolio theory" which provides guidance on how to invest based on risks and expected rates of return.   Patient advocates, however, raised concerns that such a theory shortcuts research into chronic diseases, rare disorders, and illnesses with difficult to find cures.
Science and Technology

Humans Still Evolving
Research from a paper in the National Academy of Sciences journal Proceedings show that the human species continues to evolve.    Some researchers have questioned whether the forces of evolution continued to shape humanity or whether the changes were a result of humans' ability to radically alter their environments.


Cube Grants Designed to Let Research Move Quickly
University of Michigan unveiled a $15 million program to encourage faculty research innovation called MCubed.  Faculty members will receive a token for $20,000. When three faculty members decide to "cube" their tokens and work together on a project, they will receive -- on a first-come, first-served basis -- $60,000 to hire one graduate student, undergraduate student, or postdoctoral researcher to begin work on the idea. Thirty faculty members could cube together and get funds for 10 such positions. The idea is to let researchers quickly move toward testing their projects, rather than going through the long peer review process to receive an initial planning grant.

 
Research cubed

 

Women, the New Superstars of Mobile Gaming
Women are yet again dominated another industry, the gaming world. With the increase of mobile games, the female audience is now a primary target with more than a quarter of women age 30 and over playing mobile games for more than three hours a day.  As social gaming trends and mobile technology continue to grow, expect increasing participation from the female audience.

 
Let's play

Work Life Satisfaction
  
3 Questions to Determine if You Will Fit in at Work
When looking for a new job, it's important to research the culture of an organization to determine as best as possible whether you will thrive or walk away a stressed-out mess.  Too often, people accept an offer with little understanding how the institution operates and whether the organization will stimulate your success and growth or stifle your aspirations.  Read these three questions to help you determine what you need to discover before it's too late.

 

9 Ways to Think More Positively
Nearly every management model has embraced the power of positive thinking and touts the success of looking on the bright side.  Harness these 9 ways to bring positivity to your life and opportunities at work.


Lead with optimism

AWIS News and Events
AWIS STEMiNARS

 

STEMiNARs� are online educational opportunities designed with your interest and comfort in mind. Using a webinar platform, AWIS hosts STEMiNARs� where members can hear live presentations and interact with the presenters from the comfort of their computer or mobile devices. Can't participate at the designated time? No problem. The STEMiNARs� are recorded and posted online

 

Other Events

AWIS Massachusetts Chapter
Event: Influence Without Authority
Date: May 16
Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm

AWIS Seattle Chapter
Event: Panel Discussion: Work/Life Balance: Which Career is Right for You?
Date: May 16
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

AWIS Palo Alto Chapter
Event: Discover Your Superpowers
Date: May 22
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm

AWIS National
Event: AWIS Chapter Leaders Work-Life Satisfaction Workshop Tips Webinar
Date: May 23
Time: 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Register Now

AWIS and SWE Joint Webinar
Event: Part 2: Making Risk a Winning Strategy
Date: May 23
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm

AWIS Philadelphia Chapter
Event: Annual Awards Dinner
Date: May 23
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm

AWIS Massachusetts Chapter
Event: Mentoring Matters! Mentoring Program Celebration
Date: May 23
Time: 6:30pm - 9:00pm

AWIS and SWE Joint Webinar
Event: Part 3: Don't Take it Personally: How to Recover from Mistakes and Stay in the Game
Date: May 30
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm


Opportunities

The BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program is designed to accommodate scholars who would like to spend a relatively short period of time in residence, ranging from one month to six months. The BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program is open to senior and junior faculty (tenured and untenured), visiting scholars, postdoctoral scholars and independent scholars, from the U.S. and abroad, whose work is centrally on women and gender. Applicants must have the Ph.D. in hand one year prior to the beginning of the appointment. The BBRG accepts applications for the BBRG Affiliated Visiting Scholars Program throughout the academic year.

Have you ever wanted to do research in Europe? Apply for a Marie Curie Fellowship. The goal of the Marie Curie Fellowship is to strengthen the human potential in research and technology by stimulating people to enter into the profession of research and attracting researchers from the entire world to Europe. This Fellowship addresses researchers at all stages of their careers, in the public and private sectors, from initial research training, specifically intended for young people, to life long learning and career development. Proposals are welcomed from all areas of scientific and technological research and the fellowship covers your salary plus your research expenses. To apply, you must have either a doctoral degree or at least 4 years' full-time equivalent research experience, after obtaining a degree permitting you to embark on a doctorate.  

The Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship program aims to encourage creative and highly-trained recipients of doctoral degrees in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematical disciplines to engage in hands-on research projects in their areas of expertise at the kind of small innovative businesses that historically have fueled the nation's economic regime. This fellowship program offers small businesses the opportunity to attract top scientific and technological talent at a fraction of the usual cost, while recruiting postdoctoral fellows to work for at least a year outside an academic setting on cutting-edge research aimed at promoting scientific excellence and strengthening our nation's technological prowess. Each research fellow will receive a stipend of at least $75,000 plus health insurance benefits.   

National Research Council Committee Recommendations
The NRC is preparing to form a committee to undertake a new study, "Understanding and Monitoring Abrupt Climate Change and its Impacts," under the guidance of the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate.  To submit a nomination, send the person's name, affiliation, contact information, area of expertise, and a brief statement to Amanda Purcell. The deadline is May 16, 2012.

 

The National Science Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2013 PAESMEM Awards. This program seeks to identify outstanding individual mentoring efforts or organizational programs designed to enhance the participation and retention of individuals who might not otherwise have considered or had access to opportunities in STEM fields. The awardees serve as exemplars to their colleagues and are leaders in the national effort to develop more fully the nation's human resources in STEM. Nominations are due June 6, 2012.
 
Women@NASA has created a virtual mentoring project that offers a one-of-a-kind experience to middle school girls across the country. Once accepted into the G.I.R.L.S. (Giving Initiative and Relevance to Learning Science) 5-week program, participants will be mentored by Women@NASA using Skype or Google Chat, and complete online lessons to learn what it takes to change the world through STEM fields. Applications are due June 15, 2012.

The Elsevier Foundation is seeking new grant proposals for the 2012 New Scholars and Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries programs. Grants will be awarded in December 2012 and provide one-three year awards between $5,000-$50,000 per year for a total of $100,000. The Innovative Libraries in Developing Countries program provides grants to libraries in the developing world helping to improve access to scientific, technical, and medical information. The New Scholars Program supports projects to help early- to mid-career women scientists balance family responsibilities with demanding academic careers and addresses the the attrition rate of talented women scientists. The application process has two rounds--the deadline for the first is June 24, 2012.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards seek to recognize and encourage world-class research and artistic creation, prizing contributions of lasting impact for their originality, theoretical significance and ability to push back the frontiers of the known world. These international awards span eight categories including Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics), Biomedicine, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Climate Change and more. The award includes a €400.000 prize. The closing date for submissions is June 30, 2012.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is seeking nominations for its 2012 Mentor Awards: the Lifetime Mentor Award and the Mentor Award. The awards honor individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the science and engineering PhD workforce. Questions can be directed to Gerard Boulin, and the deadline is July 31, 2012.

 

The SCN, a new Research Coordination Network for Undergraduate Biology Education, is hosting a networking meeting to help strategize how case study and problem based learning approaches could be used to address perceived gaps in undergraduate biology education. The meeting, called "Networking Strategies to Bridge Perceived Gaps in Biology Education: Content, Reaching Diverse Students, Faculty and Future Faculty Development, and the Biology Curriculum Continuum," is hosted by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science and will be in Buffalo, NY on August 6-7, 2012.

 

Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology will offer a limited number of travel awards to early career investigators at the Assistant Professor or equivalent industry scientist level. The travel awards are to attend Keystone Symposia meetings. The purpose of these travel awards is specifically for early career investigators at the Assistant Professor or industry scientist equivalent level. At times researchers find that attending a Keystone Symposia meeting might substantially further a current research project or assist in problem solving around a particular experimental issue. These travel awards are specifically designed to address this situation. The emphasis is on URM scientists who are pursuing research careers.The application process opened March 1, 2012 for all of meetings between now and February 28, 2013. However, the awards will be made upon review, on a first come basis.


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AWIS Sustaining Member Spotlight

 

Lee-Ann C. Hayek, PhD


Dr. Hayek is Chief Mathematical Statistician, Senior Research Scientist for the Smithsonian Institution and co-author of Surveying Natural Populations: Quantitative Tools for Assessing Biodiversity.

 

Dr. Hayek was introduced to AWIS at the USA Science and Engineering Festival.

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