WOMEN IN BIOMEDICAL CAREERS: THE MANDATE OF THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH ON WOMENS HEALTH

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WOMEN IN BIOMEDICAL CAREERSTHE MANDATE OF
THEOFFICE OF RESEARCH ON WOMENS HEALTH

• Vivian W. Pinn, M.D.
• Associate Director for Research on Womens Health
• Director, Office of Research on Womens Health
• National Institutes of Health
• American Society for Investigative Pathology
• April 2002

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MISSION OF THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH ON WOMENS
HEALTHTHE FOCAL POINT FOR WOMENS HEALTH
RESEARCH AT NIH

• Strengthen, develop, and increase research about
  diseases, disorders, and conditions that affect
  women, and related sex/gender factors
• Establish an agenda for future directions in
  womens health research ( Agenda for Research on
  Womens Health for the 21st Century)
• Ensure that women are appropriately represented
  in biomedical and behavioral research studies
  and
• Develop opportunities for the recruitment,
  retention, re-entry and advancement of women in
  biomedical careers.

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CONCEPTS OFWOMENS HEALTHIN THE21ST
CENTURY

• Progress, Principles
• Priorities
• For
• Research Health Care

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Biological Sciences BS Degrees
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Biological Sciences PhDs
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Distribution of Female Biological Scientists
Across Employment Sectors
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Women Biological Scientists in Academic
Positions as a Percentage of Total (Male
Female)
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Assistant Professors Percent Female
50
45
40
35
30
1973 1979 1989 1995
25
20
15
10
5
0
Physical Science
Mathematical Sciences
Biological Sciences
Social Sciences
All SE
Engineering
12
Full Professors Percent Female
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WOMEN ON MEDICAL SCHOOL FACULTIES, 1999

• 37 of total faculty
• 85 of instructors
• 53 of assistant professors
• 30 of associate professors
• 13 of full professors
• 7.5 of departments chairs (in 1998)
• as of 9/1/99, only 6 of the 125 medical school
  deans were women.
• Source AAMC Data Book,2000 AAMC, Women in
  U.S. Academic Medicine Statistics 1998-1999

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WHY WOMEN LEAVE SCIENCEWomen in Cell Biology,
ASCB Newsletter, 8/97

• What contributes to contrast between almost 50
  representation of women at undergraduate and
  graduate levels of science engineering vs. 26
  representation in life sciences workforce?
• (based on NSF data)
• Why do more women than men begin leaving science
  even as undergraduates?
• (based on NSF data)
• Kane Williams

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WHY WOMEN LEAVE SCIENCEWomen in Cell Biology,
ASCB Newsletter, 8/97

• Different expectations and requirements of women
  often not understood, ignored, or belittled,
  including
• self-confidence
• networking and mentoring with faculty
• Need of women for guides, advisors, older peers
  and faculty who validate their concerns and
  assist in determining essential learning and
  surviving strategies
• Kane Williams

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WHY WOMEN LEAVE SCIENCEWomen in Cell Biology,
ASCB Newsletter, 8/97

• Many women choose alternative careers
• more compatible with having a family
• more intellectually and financially rewarding
• Aggressive persistent behavior in women may be
  viewed as negative by colleagues
• Very feminine women scientist may not be taken
  seriously regardless of research productivity
• Disconnect between reward system and competitive
  vs. collaborative environment in science
• Kane Williams

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WHY WOMEN LEAVE SCIENCEWomen in Cell Biology,
ASCB Newsletter, 8/97Caroline Kane Laura
Williams

• Networking mentoring that help in determining
  career in science also needed for young and
  senior professionals, e.g.
• introductions at national meetings
• appointments to institutional committees
• Networking mentoring needed related to ability
  to successfully pursue the discipline

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WOMENS SALARIES IN LIFE SCIENCES ONE-THIRD
LESS Martha Downs, Womens Enews, 2001

• From AAAS survey, salary differences build
  throughout careers
• Post-doc, Assist. Prof 6,000-8,000
• Univ Admin, CEO 40,000
• ??Women not in senior positions long enough?
• Shirley Malcom accumulated inequity

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WOMENS SALARIES IN LIFE SCIENCES ONE-THIRD
LESS Martha Downs, Womens Enews, 2001

• Catherine Didion (AWIS) earning gap due to
  complex issues, including
• different approaches to publication
• lack of clearly articulated expectations for
  raises and promotions
• captive spouse syndrome
• Sonnert women tend to write fewer papers, BUT
  attempt more substantial synthesis, publish more
  book chapters and symposia

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ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS IN SCIENCESonnert, 1975

• Choice of institution (college, graduate,
  postdoctoral study)
• Choice of research topic and field (specialized,
  highly focused)
• Publication of research results (publication
  rate is a predictor of peers judgments)
• Mentors (among the most crucial career
  advantages)
• Political game (forge relationships with
  departmental colleagues)
• Networking (achieve visibility among a wide
  group of colleagues)
• Hard work (described as more important than
  intelligence)

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ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Sonnert, 1975

• Solving the two-body problem of marriage
  (spouses career, esp. if he is in science)
• Affirmative action (merit vs. women doing
  things as women in science)
• Persistence (identified as more important for
  women than for men)
• How to react to gender discrimination (ignore
  incidents, humor, compliance)
• De-emphasize femininity (particularly difficult
  for pregnant women)
• Avoidance (detect potentially discriminatory
  situations and try to avoid them - choose your
  battles)

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TRAVERSING CAREER CHANGES GRACEFULLY Page
Morahan, Academic Physician Scientist, 2002

• Recognize youre ready for a career change
• Identify your professional personal passions
• Investigate career ideas generated by these
  passions
• Understand career transition involves an
  emotional roller coaster
• ltltltltgtgtgtgt
• Research shows its particularly important
• for women to obtain significant line experience
  to be competitive for major leadership roles.

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LEADERSHIP IN RESEARCH CAREERS AND PRACTICE

• Not just recruitment and entry,
• but providing, supporting, and encouraging
• opportunities for retention and advancement
• in biomedical research careers with
• appropriate knowledge and ethical
• tools and principles...

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RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, REENTRY ADVANCEMENT
OF WOMEN IN BIOMEDICAL CAREERS andHEALTH CARE
PROFESSIONS The ORWH
Mandate
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Nurturing Women
Minorities forSuccessful Careers andLeadership
Positionsin Biomedical ResearchandHealth Care
Professions
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ORWH PROGRAMS TO ENHANCE WOMEN IN BIOMEDICAL
CAREERS

• Public Hearing Workshop
• WOMEN IN BIOMEDICAL CAREERS
• DYNAMICS OF CHANGE
• STRATEGIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

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BARRIERS TO/FACTORS FOR BIOMEDICAL CAREERS FOR
WOMEN

• Recruiting women girls into scientific careers
• Lack of female role models mentors
• Career paths/rewards (salaries, promotions, etc.)
• Family responsibilities/duel roles
• Need for reentry into biomedical careers
• Sex discrimination and sexual harassment
• Gender sensitivity
• Racial bias/special needs of minority women
• Research initiatives on womens health

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DIVERSITY OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
30
Percentage of Underrepresented Minorities
Enrolled in Health Professions Schools
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
Nursing Enrollees
Allopathic Med. Matrics
6
Veterinary Enrollees
Public Health Enrollees
Dental Matrics
4
Osteopathic Med. Matrics
Pharmacy Enrollees
2
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
Source Institute of Medicine Symposium Summary
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RESEARCH ON WOMENS HEALTH FOR THE 21ST
CENTURYCAREER ISSUES FOR WOMEN SCIENTISTS
WORKING GROUP

• Co-Chairs
• Catherine Didion (AWIS)
• Joan Y. Reede, M.D. (Harvard Medical School)
• Joan P. Schwartz, Ph.D. (NIH)
• Eleanor G. Shore, M.D., MPH (Harvard Medical
  School)

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CCRWH/NIH CAREER DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE

• Estella Parrott, M.D., MPH, NICHD, Joyce
  Rudick, ORWH,
• Co-Chairs
• Julia Freeman, Ph.D., NIAMS
• Miriam Kelty, Ph.D., NIA
• Anne Sassaman, Ph.D., NIEHS
• Jim Alexander, OE
• Wally Schaefer, Ph.D., OER
• Gloria Seelman, OSE
• Bonnie Kalberer, OSE
• Ellen Liberman, Ph.D., NEI
• Sharon Hrynkrow, Ph.D., FIC
• Eleanor Hanna, Ph.D., NIAAA

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ORWH CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS2002

• ltltltgtgtgt
• Current trends focus on
• Interdisciplinary Research Development
• Mentoring
• Reentry and Bridging
• Collaboration with Professional Societies

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2001 ORWH CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

• ORWH Reentry Program
• Womens Reproductive Health Research Career
  Development Centers with NICHD
• Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in
  Womens Health (BIRCWH)
• Professional Opportunities for Women in Research
  and Education (POWRE) with NSF
• WISH-net Mentoring Women http//wish-net.org
• Achieving XXcellence in Science (AXXS)
  http//www4.od.nih.gov/axxs/
• WHI Minority Investigator Career Development
  Award

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Recommendations from the ORWH Philadelphia Meeting

• Define, Facilitate, and Reward Mentoring
• Train individuals to be mentors. While some
  people may be natural mentors, others would be
  good mentors if provided effective training.
• Reward mentoring institutionally.
• Counteract institutional attitudes that penalize
  mentors for their efforts. In academia and
  industry, individuals in the highest leadership
  roles should assume the responsibility of
  counteracting the negative influences on mentors.

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ORWH MandateWomen in Biomedical Careers

• Grappling with Perpetual Problems
• and Finding Responsible Solutions
• Mentorship

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FUTURE PRIORITIES FOR WOMENS HEALTH RESEARCH
HEALTH CARE

• Need to decrease fragmentation of health care for
  women
• Need to encourage interdisciplinary research as
  foundation for integrated care
• Need to provide support for development of
  interdisciplinary collaborations
• Need to fund mechanisms for development of
  womens health researchers in a mentored
  environment

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ORWH Sponsored RFA with NIH ICs AHCPR
Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in
Womens Health

• To promote the performance of research and
  transfer of findings that will benefit the health
  of women through institutional career development
  awards...

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ORWH Sponsored RFA with NIH ICs AHRQ

• BUILDING INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CAREERS IN
  WOMENS HEALTH
• ltltltgtgtgt
• Institutional, interdisciplinary, career
  development and mentoring award for junior
  faculty members recently completing clinical
  training or postdoctoral fellowships and
  commencing basic, translational, clinical or
  health services research relevant to womens
  health

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BUILDING INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CAREERS IN
WOMENS HEALTH (BIRCWH)

• ltltltgtgtgt
• Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
• University of Alabama, Birmingham
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, San Francisco
• University of Connecticut Health Center
• University of Kentucky, Lexington
• University of Medicine and Dentistry of New
  Jersey
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• Washington University, St. Louis
• Yale University, New Haven

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PROVIDING A FEDERAL EMPHASIS ON WOMENS HEALTH
AND RESEARCH

• Increasing Legislative Initiatives
• And Attention
• To Address
• Womens Health and Family Issues
• at the
• Federal State levels

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From House Appropriations CommitteeReport
Language, October 2001

• The additional funding provided in fiscal year
  2002 will permit the Office to continue to
  enhance, stimulate, and co-fund meritorious
  research on sex and gender factors in basic and
  clinical studies

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From House Appropriations Committee Report
Language, October 2001

• These funds should also be used for new research
  activities in a variety of health issues and new
  and expanded career development programs for
  women scientists, such as BIRCWH

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From House Appropriations Report Language,
October 2001

• The Committee also urges ORWH to enhance
  research on multi-systemic diseases in women
  through all available mechanisms, as appropriate,
  including the establishment of interdisciplinary
  research centers

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ORWH Sponsored RFA with NIH ICs AHRQ

• BUILDING INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CAREERS IN
  WOMENS HEALTH
• ltltltgtgtgt
• REISSUED
• RFA OD-02-001
• Letters of intent February 14, 2002
• Application due date March 14, 2002

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ORWH Sponsored RFA with NIH ICs

• SCOR
• SPECIALIZED CENTERS OF RESEARCH on SEX and GENDER
  FACTORS AFFECTING WOMENS HEALTH
• ltltltgtgtgt
• RFA OD-02-002
• Letters of intent February 14, 2002
• Application due date March 14, 2002

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AXXS 99 and beyond

• Initiative of NIH women scientists, ORWH, and
• the American Society for Cell Biology,
• Designed to allow scientific societies to
  encourage women to
• Enter scientific fields
• Develop effective programs to build careers
• Facilitate mentoring
• Identify ways to overcome barriers
• Share strategies for promoting careers, and
• Develop products that can be utilized with each
  scientific discipline

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AXXS 99 into AXXS 2002!

• Mentoring and Networking
• Career Development Mid- and Senior Levels
• Representation in Scientific Societies
• Model Systems that Work
• Outreach and Collaboration within and between
  Societies and Organizations

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2001 ORWH CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMSwith The
Office of Science Education

• Health Science Curriculum Online
• Snapshots of Science and Medicine
• NIH Speakers Bureau
• HHMI Second Summer
• Women are Scientists Video and Poster Series
• Women in Science Poster Series
• NIH Virtual Mentor

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2001 ORWH CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMSwith The
Office of Education

• Postbaccalaurate Trainees
• Premed Advising Workshop
• Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE)
• NIH Academy Curriculum
• Postdoctoral Fellows-Survival Skills Workshop
• Speaking Writing About Science
• Advanced Courses Speaking Writing About
  Science
• Job Fair 2001
• Employment Opportunities on the Web
• Special Lecture Maximizing Opportunities for
  Women

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2001-2002 ORWH CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMSOther
Initiatives Supported

• Undergraduate Loan Repayment Scholarship Program
  (OIR)
• The TAU/Sackler Medical Faculty-NIH Program
  (OIR/NIDDK)

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Pearls of WisdomSucceeding in Biomedical Careers

• Have a mentor
• Be a mentor

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Pearls of WisdomSucceeding in Biomedical Careers

• Overcome barriers
• Exceed expectations
• By having confidence, and being academically and
  strategically prepared

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GENDER DIVERSITYWomen in Science Research
Careers

• As women increase in general population, and in
  entry into science and research careers,
  potential for contributions to advancements in
  science becomes an even more valuable resource
  for our nation
• Overcoming perceived and real inequities of
  opportunity for women to advance in scientific
  careers must be an imperative for our efforts

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ORWH BIOMEDICAL CAREERS PROGRAMS FOR 2002
BEYONDIdeas? Suggestions? Volunteers?
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