Office of Science & Technology - Shirley Malcom “Supporting STE Careers from Cradle to Grave”

Shirley Malcom “Supporting STE Careers from Cradle to Grave”

An Interview with the Head of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs of AAAS
bridges vol. 16, December 2007 / Feature Article

by Juliet M. Beverly

With legislation such as the America COMPETES Act, US policy makers aim to strengthen educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from elementary through graduate school. This and other policy measures will help to generate the next generation of the well-educated STE workforce needed to ensure the future leadership of the United States in developing and implementing new technologies.

However, this also brings to mind an unfortunate past mistake: For many years a vast pool of excellent human resources for these fields wasn't given enough attention by many policy makers, academia, and R&D institutions - the overlooked potential was women and minorities in science and technology.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, a report issued annually by the National Science Foundation, shows that although the number of women and minorities enrolling in graduate schools and receiving science and engineering degrees (bachelor's or higher) increased, with women outnumbering men in S&T bachelor's degrees in 2001 (see fig. 1 / http://nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c0/fig00-36.htm), the representation of women, Blacks, and Hispanics in science and engineering (S&E) occupations is still less than their proportion of the population.

This disproportion also carries into academia. Underrepresented minorities (Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaska Natives) are a small percentage of the S&E doctorate holders employed in academia, making up 8 percent of both total academic employment and full-time faculty in 2003 (insert fig. 2 / http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c5/tt05-07.htm). Although there has been an increase in the number of women and underrepresented minority degree holders employed in S&E, they are mostly concentrated in the social sciences rather than physical sciences. Why? Arguments by policy makers, faculty, and secondary teachers have attributed these numbers to the public image of STEM, but the most important factor may be the lack of awareness about STEM possibilities prior to post-secondary education.

Dr. Shirley Malcom

Dr. Shirley Malcom, the head of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), engages with these issues. The Education and Human Resources Programs Directorate includes AAAS programs in education and activities for women and minority groups, as well as public understanding of science and technology. Malcom received her doctorate in ecology from Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree in zoology from the University of Washington. It is her experience and advocacy for science and education that led to her 2003 receipt of the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, the highest award given by the Academy. Malcom talked with bridges about women and minorities in STEM and her insight into the reasons that underlie the disparity.

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Austrian Ministry of Science and Research awards 6.6 million Euros for employing female professors at university level.

fFORTE excellentia, an academic program for the advancement of women in science and research, set the target to reach a distribution of 26 % for female university professors employed by Austrian Universities by 2010. This program is promoted by the Ministry of Science and Research with 6.6 Million Euros for 2008/09. Closing Date for registration is July 30th 2008. Further details can be found on fFORTE's Website.

Apply Now! Laura Bassi Centres of Expertise

w-fFORTE and the “Austrian Research Promotion Agency” recently launched an initiative called “Laura Bassi Centres of Expertise” with the goal of enabling highly-qualified women to work on the forefront of science and industry. The six “Centers of Expertise,” will focus on applied basic research in the natural sciences, engineering and technology and will each receive up to €320.000 annually. All the details can be found on the w-fFORTE website, where an information folder is also available for download.

Call for papers: 2008 GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists

The GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists, which is sponsored by GE and Science, has been established to provide support to scientists at the beginning of their careers. In 2008, the prize will recognize outstanding graduate students in molecular biology from all regions of the world. This international prize will be awarded for the outstanding thesis in the general area of molecular biology as described in a 1000-word essay. The winners will fly to Stockholm for the award ceremony, meet some of the Nobel Prize laureates, have their PhD profiled in the online version of Science and receive $25,000 or $5,000 for regional winners. The deadline for entries is August 1, 2008. Further information can be found here.

The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST-A) - Seeking scientists in basic research in the natural and applied sciences. Join the mailing list of IST-A to stay up-to-date on job opportunities. Click here for more information.

Roundtable Discussion: “eCommerce, Prediction Markets and Data Mining: How Technology impacts Business Decision Making”
Technology has changed the world we live in. Online auctions have turned garage sales into worldwide events; prediction markets anticipate the outcome of elections; and social networks enable us to detect fraud and catch terrorists. On June 18, 2008, the Office of Science & Technology (OST) at the Embassy of Austria, and ASciNA (Austrian Scientists and Scholars in North America) hosted a round table discussion with Dr. Wolfgang Jank, Associate Professor of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. To view the formal invitation, click here.