Seeking Solutions

Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia is the summary of a 2013 conference convened by the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine of the National Research Council to discuss the current status of women of color in academia and explore the challenges and successful initiatives for creating the institutional changes required to increase representation of women of color at all levels of the academic workforce. While the number of women, including minority women, pursuing higher education in science, engineering and medicine has grown, the number of minority women faculty in all institutions of higher education has remained small and has grown less rapidly than the numbers of nonminority women or minority men.

Seeking Solutions reviews the existing research on education and academic career patterns for minority women in science, engineering, and medicine to enhance understanding of the barriers and challenges to the full participation of all minority women in STEM disciplines and academic careers. Additionally, this report identifies reliable and credible data source and data gaps, as well as key aspects of exemplary policies and programs that are effective in enhancing minority women's participation in faculty ranks. Success in academia is predicated on many factors and is not solely a function of talent. Seeking Solutions elucidates those other factors and highlights ways that institutions and the individuals working there can take action to create institutional cultures hospitable to people of any gender, race, and ethnicity.

• Front Matter
• Introduction
• 1 Statistics on the Career Pathways of Women of Color Faculty in Academia
• 2 People Behind the Statistics
• 3 Multiple Marginality: Gender, Race, and Equity in Science Education and Research
• 4 The Key Role of Professional Societies
• 5 Impact of Federal Agencies: Leading by Example
• 6 Successful Practices and Strategies for Institutional Transformation
• 7 Successful Strategies and Resources for Moving Ahead
• 8 Moving Forward
• Appendix A-1: Education and Academic Career Outcomes for Women of Color in Science and Engineering
• Appendix A-2: Women of Color among STEM Faculty: Experiences in Academia
• Appendix B: Agenda and List of Participants
• Appendix C: Biographies of Speakers
• Appendix D: Annotated Bibliographies
• Appendix E-1: Call for Written Testimony & Summary of Programmatic Efforts and Recommendations from Written Testimonies
• Appendix E-2: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Minority Women in Science
• Appendix E-3: Women of Color in Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Appendix E-4: American Chemical Society Written Testimonies
• Appendix E-5: American Indian Science and Engineering Society Written Testimony
• Appendix E-6: Women of Color in Physics Departments: A Data Picture17
• Appendix E-7: American Mathematical Society Written Testimony
• Appendix E-8: American Meteorological Society Written Testimony
• Appendix E-9: American Physical Society Written Testimony
• Appendix E-10: American Political Science Association Written Testimony
• Appendix E-11: American Psychological Association Written Testimony
• Appendix E-12: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Written Testimony
• Appendix E-13: American Society for Civil Engineering
• Appendix E-14: American Society of Engineering Education
• Appendix E-15: American Society of Mechanical Engineering
• Appendix E-16: American Society for Microbiology Written Testimony
• Appendix E-17: American Sociological Association Written Testimony
• Appendix E-18: Association for Women in Mathematics Written Testimony
• Appendix E-19: Biomedical Engineering Society Written Testimony
• Appendix E-20: Academic Women of Color in Computing: A Testimony on the Issues and Possible Solutions
• Appendix E-21: Geological Society of America Written Testimony
• Appendix E-22: NASA and Women of Color: Recruitment, Building a Pipeline, and Ensuring Inclusion and Diversity in the Workforce
• Appendix E-23: National Institutes of Health Efforts to Promote Advancement of Women of Color in Biomedical Research
• Appendix E-24: National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers Written Testimony
• Appendix E-25: National Postdoctoral Association Written Testimony
• Appendix E-26: National Society of Hispanic Physicists
• Appendix E-27: National Society of Black Physicists
• Appendix E-28: Rutgers University Women of Color Scholars Initiative
• Appendix E-29: Society for Neuroscience Written Testimony