Zakya H. Kafafi Director, Division of Materials Research (DMR) National Science Foundation

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Women in Science and Engineering Research
Education Looking Back, Racing Forward

• Zakya H. KafafiDirector, Division of Materials
  Research (DMR)National Science Foundation
• zkafafi_at_nsf.gov
• 2010 WISE Career Development Conference, AM
  University, College Station, TX

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• Women in Science and Engineering Research
  Education Looking Back, Racing Forward

Outline of My Talk
Shirley Ann Jackson Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute 1999

• Status of Women in Science Engineering
• Past Looking Back at the last decade
• Present
• Future Racing Forward to the next decade
• The MIT Report (1999) A Case Study
• The Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT
• Its major findings
• Its impact
• Their Career Paths
• Are they similar or different than the career
  paths of men
• presidents? What are the characteristics of
  these leaders?
• What are the efforts at NSF and DMR in this
  regard?

Maria Klawe Harvey Mudd College 2006
Drew Gilpin Faust Harvard University 2007
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The First Woman President of an Ivy League
University

• Judith Rodin was the first permanent woman and
  7th president of the University of Pennsylvania
  at the age of 49
• She is widely recognized for her ground-breaking
  research in obesity, eating disorders, aging, and
  womens health
• 1972-1994 a Yale faculty member who helped
  pioneer the fields of behavioral medicine and
  health psychology
• She also served as the Department of Psychology
  Chair, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts
  Sciences, and Provost of Yale University
• 2005-present She is president of the Rockefeller
  Foundation, one of the worlds oldest, most
  influential, and innovative foundations

1994 2004
EDUCATION BA Psychology, Univ of
Pennsylvania Ph.D. Psychology, Columbia Univ
Many of the 20th centurys big
breakthroughsSocial Security, the Green
Revolution, the discovery of DNA, and family
planningcan be traced to early funding from the
Rockefeller Foundation
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A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science
at MIT Committee Chaired by Nancy Hopkins
Women Faculty in the School of Science at MIT

• The women faculty in the School of Science has
  not increased for at least a decade!!
• As of 1994, there were 22 women and 252 male
  faculty

MAIN ISSUE
Status and equitable treatment of women faculty
in the School of Science
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Statistics on Female Undergraduates at MIT
The Percent of Female Undergraduates at MIT
stayed below 5 over the first 60 years of the
last century and increased by almost an order of
magnitude from 1966-2006
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EXCLUSION AND MARGINALIZATION

• Committee collected data and conducted interviews
  with women faculty and Department Heads
• Difference in salary
• Exclusion of women faculty in positions of power
  and administrative responsibility within
  departments or within the broader MIT community
• Apparent discrimination
• Unequal access to space and resources
• Non-democratic practices and administrative
  procedures, known only to a few, lead to unequal
  access to the substantial resources of MIT

Difference in treatment among tenured faculty!!
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MIT REPORT (1999)

• Make the Committee on Women Faculty a standing
  committee
• Establish an open communication between
  Department Heads and women faculty
• Collect equity data
• Raise community consciousness
• Seek out women for influential positions
• Advise Department Heads to place senior women
  faculty on search committees
• Review the compensation system
• Replace administrators who continue
  discriminatory practices
• Watch for, and intervene to prevent, the
  isolation and gradual marginalization
• Promote integration of junior women faculty
• Address the childbearing issue for junior women
  faculty

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• Ruth Jean Simmons
• Brown University
• 2001

Drew Gilpin Faust Harvard University 2007
Shirley Marie Tilghman Princeton University 2001
Amy Gutmann University of Pennsylvania 2004

• At present, 50 of the presidents of Ivy League
• universities are WOMEN
• The presidents of Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth,
  and
• Yale are Men

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Shirley Marie Tilghman Princeton Univ 2001
Drew Gilpin Faust Harvard Univ 2007
Amy Gutmann Univ of Pennsylvania 2004
Susan Hockfield MIT 2004

• At present, gt50 of the MIT-9 presidents are
  WOMEN
• The presidents of Cal Tech, UC Berkeley,
  Stanford, and Yale are Men

• Mary Sue Coleman
• Univ of Michigan
• 2002

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Percent of Women Presidents

• Type of Institution 1986 2006
• Doctorate-granting institutions 4 14
• Master's institutions 10 22
• Baccalaureate institutions 16 23
• Associate's institutions 8 29
• Special Focus institutions 7 17 

American Council of Education, 2007, American
College President Study, Washington, D.C. Note
institutional types based on the Carnegie
Classification 2005
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UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS

• According to the data collected by the American
  Council
• on Education, the typical president in 2006 was
• a white male
• age 60
• married
• with a doctorate degree
• had been in office 8.5 years
• served previously as a chief academic officer or
  provost

Do women presidents fall under the same
characteristics of a typical men president?
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WOMEN UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS
Lets take a look at the careers of some women
university presidents
Did they follow similar career paths to those of
men university presidents?
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MARIA KLAWE

• The first Woman President of Harvey Mudd College,
  at the age of 51
• A renowned computer scientist
• Husband Nick Pippenger
• Theoretical Computer Scientist
• They have two children, Janek and Sasha

• EDUCATION
• B. Sc. Mathematics, University of Alberta
• Ph.D. Mathematics, University of Alberta
• PRIOR POSITIONS
• Dean of Engineering and professor of Computer
  Science at Princeton University
• Dean of Science, Vice-President of Student and
  Academic Services, and Head of
• Computer Science at the University of British
  Columbia

July 2006 Present
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MARIA KLAWE

• Klawe has been active in many organizations
  promoting women and leadership in science and
  technology
• Chair of the board for the Anita Borg Institute
  for Women and Technology, Palo Alto, California
• Became the 10th member of the Microsoft Board in
  2009
• Elected to the American Academy of Arts and
  Sciences
• Trustee for the Institute for Pure and Applied
  Mathematics at UCLA, the Mathematical Sciences
  Research Institute in Berkeley, and the American
  Mathematical Society
• Honorary doctorates from Dalhousie University
  (2005), Queen's University (2004), the University
  of Waterloo (2003), and Ryerson University (2001)

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MARIAS ART

• "I've been painting and drawing for as long as I
  can remember. I found it hard to
• choose between a career in art and a career in
  math/science. I eventually opted
• for math/science, because I thought it would be
  easier to do art on the side than
• math/science on the side."   

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MARIAS ART

• "I took a number of fine arts courses while in
  university but was quite discouraged by
• the attitude of the faculty toward students
  majoring in science (they felt science students
• shouldnt be allowed in courses for those
  majoring in fine arts). As I became a
  professional
• mathematician and then a computer scientist, it
  became clear that also being an artist would
• diminish my credibility (already in question
  because of being female), so I kept my painting
• secret. When I turned 40, I decided to come out
  of the closet and I hung several of my paintings
• in my office as well as in my home."

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MARIAS ART

• "Today, I show paintings whenever I try to
  recruit students to engineering. I want them to
  know
• that many leading engineers and scientists are
  artists, musicians, dancers, or writers.
• Engineering and science are creative
  disciplines. It shouldnt be surprising that the
  creative
• energy, passion, and talent cross into other
  areas. I cant imagine living without painting.
  Its a
• form of expression of ideas and emotion that I
  cannot express through any other medium.

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SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON

• First Woman President of Rensellaer Polytechnic
  Institute, at the age of 52 (July 1999 Present)
• Husband Dr. Morris A. Washington Physics
  Professor at RPI
• They have one son, Alan

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SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON

• In July 1999, Shirley Ann Jackson, became the
  eighteenth president of Rensellaer Polytechnic
  Institute (RPI), the oldest technological
  university
• in the United States
• A renowned theoretical physicist, who studies the
  subatomic world, Shirley Ann Jackson became the
  first woman president of RPI
• EDUCATION
• B. Sc. Physics, MIT
• Ph.D. Physics, MIT
• PRIOR POSITIONS
• Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
  Commission
• Theoretical physicist at ATT Bell Laboratories
• Professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers
  University

July 1999 Present
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AIM FOR THE STARS

• Shirleys passion for science blossomed during
  her childhood, with bumblebee experiments and
  go-cart races
• Her talent for math and her drive to succeed
  have taken her career in amazing directions
• Growing up in Washington D.C. in 1960s, little
  Shirley absorbed her fathers principle Aim for
  the stars
• By the age of eight, Shirley Ann Jackson was
  developing her passions for science, knowledge,
  and accomplishments
• She graduated as valedictorian from the
  segregated Roosevelt High School in D.C. in the
  1960s
• She then joined the first wave of African
  American students to be accepted at MIT

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SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON

• One of only two African-American women in her
  undergraduate class
• First to earn a doctorate degree from MIT
• One of the first two African-American women in
  the United States to earn a doctorate in physics
• Shirley Ann Jackson was both the first woman and
  the first African-American to serve as the
  Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
  Commission
• She is the first African-American woman to lead a
  top-50 national research university
• In April 2009, Barack Obama appointed Dr. Jackson
  to serve on the Presidents Council of Advisors
  of Science and Technology

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DREW GILPIN FAUST

• First Woman President of Harvard University, at
  the age of 59
• Husband Charles E. Rosenberg
• Historian of Medicine and Science at Harvard
  University
• They have two daughters, Jessica and Leah

July 2007 Present
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DREW GILPIN FAUST

• Became the twenty-eighth president of Harvard in
  July 2007
• A renowned historian and scholar of the Civil War
  and American South, Gilpin is the first woman
  president to lead Harvard, the oldest university
  in the United States, founded in 1636
• She is the first president since 1672 without any
  degree from Harvard
• She is Lincoln Professor of History in Harvards
  Faculty of Arts and Sciences
• EDUCATION
• BA in History, Bryn Mawr University
• MA in American Civilization, University of
  Pennsylvania
• Ph.D. in American Civilization, University of
  Pennsylvania
• PRIOR POSITIONS
• Founding Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for
  Advanced Study
• Annenberg Professor of History and Director of
  the Womens Studies Program, University of
  Pennsylvania, where she served for 25 years on
  the faculty

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REBELLIOUS DAUGHTER

• What were the odds that the president of Harvard
  would be a woman?
• Raised in the Shenandoah Valley, VA.
• Drew was told repeatedly by her mother Its a
  mans world, sweetie, and the sooner you learn
  that, the better off youll be.

• In October 2007, upon her appointment as
  Harvards new president, Drew,
• was given a brown manila envelope that had been
  entrusted to the
• University Archives in 1951 by James B. Conant,
  Harvards 23 president,
• and to be opened in the 21st century. It was
  addressed to My dear Sir

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DREW GILPIN FAUST

• One of the things that I think characterize my
• generation that characterizes me, anyway, and
  others
• of my generation is that Ive always been
  surprised by
• how my life turned out, Ive always done more
  than
• I ever thought I would. Becoming a professor I
  never
• thought I would have imagined that. Writing books
  I
• never would have imagined that. Getting a Ph.D.
  Im
• not sure I would have even have imagined that.
  Ive
• lived my life a step at a time. Things sort of
  happened.

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WOMEN UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS
Their Career Paths

• Amazingly, they did not plan or dream to become
  university presidents
• They seized the opportunity, when it occurred
• They chose this path to make a difference and to
  show that they can do the job
• At the same time, their spouses did not sacrifice
  their careers, and did not become high-profile
  volunteers, who served as informal leaders

What struck me is the similarities among such a
diverse group of women, in terms of their
education, career paths, leadership styles, and
philosophies.
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Bachelor's degrees awarded in SE and non-SE
fields, by gender 19662007
Women have earned approximately half of SE
bachelors degrees since 2000

• The number of bachelor's degrees earned by women
  have increased since 1966 reaching
• 244,000 in SE and 642,000 in non-SE in 2007
• The number of bachelor's degrees earned by men
  in SE fields remained fairly flat for
• much of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s before
  rising through 2007

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Doctoral degrees awarded to U.S. citizens
permanent residents, by gender 19892007
Women earned increasing numbers of doctoral
degrees throughout the period in both SE and
non-SE fields

• In 2007, women earned 47 of SE doctoral
  degrees up from 33 in 1989, in contrast to the
  generally flat or downward trend for men
• Men earned roughly 10,000 SE doctoral degrees
  in both 1989 and 2007

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SOURCE National Science Foundation, Division of
Science Resources Statistics, special tabulations
of U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics, Integrated
Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions
Survey, 19892007.
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DMR Sponsored Workshops
Ultimate Goal
To Develop a Diversified Materials Research
Education Workforce

• Materials Science and Engineering Gender Equity
  Workshop,
• Adelphi, MD, May 18-20, 2008
• Materials Science and Materials Engineering
  Education Workshop,
• Arlington, VA, September 18-19, 2008
• Workshop on Excellence Empowered by a Diverse
• AcademicWorkforce Chemists, Chemical Engineers
  and Materials
• Scientists with Disabilities, Arlington, VA,
  February 8-10, 2009

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MSE Gender Equity Workshop May 18-20,
2008 University of Maryland Conference Center,
Adelphi, MD http//www.mse.uiuc.edu/gender/index.h
tm
Goal Understand key issues of gender equity in
MSE departments and develop strategies to
foster an inclusive workplace environment

• Topics included current status, understanding
  biases, balancing
• work and family life, improving the workplace
  environment, etc.
• 100 Participants from academia, National
  labs., funding agencies
• A report was just published

Held at the annual meeting of University
Materials Council Sponsors NSF (DMR ENG),
DOE-BES,UMC, and UIUC MSE department
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REFERENCES

• JUDITH RODIN
• http//www.upenn.edu/pennnews/rodin_legacy/biograp
  hy.html
• http//www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/lead
  ership/judith-rodin-phd
• http//www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/uplan
  s/rodin.html
• MARIA KLAWE
• http//www.hmc.edu/about/administrativeoffices/off
  iceofthepresident1/bio.html
• http//kara.allthingsd.com/20090309/microsoft-gets
  -brainy-new-board-member-maria
• klawe-and-also-announces-13-cent-dividend/
• http//www.anitaborg.org/about/who-we-are/maria-kl
  awe
• SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON
• http//www.rpi.edu/president/profile.html
• http//www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id11554des
  cription
• http//www.girls-explore.com/bios/shirley-jackson.
  php
• http//www.strawberrylady.com/blackhistory/jackson
  /ShirleyAnnJackson.htm
• Diane OConnell, Strong Force The Story of
  Physicist Shirley Ann Jackson, 2006
• DREW GILPIN FAUST

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EXCLUSION AND MARGINALIZATION Comparison between
tenured vs untenured faculty

• Same resources
• Same salaries
• Same other material benefits
• Received good support from their departments in
  their scientific endeavors
• Felt included in departmental activities and
  intellectual networking
• Junior women faculty, who have children, felt
  that demands of family are a potential obstacle
  to success in their careers
• Committee did not collect data

• Difference in salary
• Exclusion of women faculty in positions of power
  and administrative responsibility within
  departments or within the broader MIT community
• Apparent discrimination
• Unequal access to space and resources
• Non-democratic practices and administrative
  procedures, known only to a few, lead to unequal
  access to the substantial resources of MIT
• Committee collected data and conducted interviews
  with women faculty and Department Heads

No apparent difference in treatment among
untenured faculty!!
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS