Table Of ContentWHO WILL DO THE SCIENCE
OF THE FUTURE?
A SYMPOSIUM ON CAREERS OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Committee on Women in Science and Engineering
Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
ii
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS • 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. • Washington, D.C. 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Council of the National Academy of Sciences.
This report has been reviewed by persons other than the author according to procedures approved by a Report Review
Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the
Institute of Medicine.
This project was supported by the National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations
expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Academy of
Sciences.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-07185-2
Copies available from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Box 285
Washington, D.C. 20055
(800) 624–6242, (202) 334–3313 (in the Washington Metropolitan Area)
This report is also available online at http://www.nap.edu
Copyright 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of
distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the
furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the
authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate
that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr.
Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is
autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the
National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The
National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting
national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve-
ments of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of
Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to
secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of
policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the
responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be
an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of
medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of
Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in
1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s
purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in
accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the
principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the
scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both
Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf
are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
v
SYMPOSIUM STEERING COMMITTEE
MARYE ANNE FOX, Chair, North Carolina State University
MARGARET BURBIDGE, University of California, San Diego
MILDRED COHN, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
MILDRED DRESSELHAUS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (on leave from August 2000)
MARIA NEW, Cornell University Medical College
VERA RUBIN, Carnegie Institute of Washington
KAREN UHLENBECK, University of Texas, Austin
HOWARD GEORGI, Harvard University
LILIAN WU, IBM Corporation
COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (1999)
HOWARD GEORGI, Co-chair, Harvard University
LILIAN SHIAO-YEN WU, Co-chair, IBM Corporation
WILLIE PEARSON JR., Wake Forest University
SUSAN SOLOMON, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
JULIA WEERTMAN, Northwestern University
OSEP ADVISORY BOARD LIAISON
STEPHEN LUKASIK, Independent Consultant
Staff
JONG-ON HAHM, Director
SHIREL SMITH, Project Coordinator
vi
OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING PERSONNEL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (1999)
M.R.C. GREENWOOD, Chair, University of California, Santa Cruz
DAVID BRENEMAN, University of Virginia
CARLOS GUTIERREZ, California State University, Los Angeles
STEPHEN J. LUKASIK, Independent Consultant, Los Angeles
JANET NORWOOD, The Urban Institute
JOHN D. WILEY, University of Wisconsin, Madison
TADATAKA YAMADA, Smith Kline Beecham Corporation
A. THOMAS YOUNG, North Potomac, Maryland
WILLIAM H. MILLER, ex-officio, University of California, Berkeley
Staff
CHARLOTTE V. KUH, Executive Director
MARILYN J. BAKER, Associate Executive Director
NINA KAULL, Administrative Officer
CATHY JACKSON, Administrative Associate
EDVIN HERNANDEZ, Administrative Assistant
vii
Preface
odern science is a complex web
of many different people and
Minstitutions. If we are to maintain
the pace of scientific discovery for the benefit of
humankind, scientists need to ensure that
outstanding people with many different talents
will continue to join the scientific community.
Increasingly, we must compete with other
communities for the best minds the world has
to offer. If science is to continue to prosper and
move forward, we must ensure that no source
of scientific intellect is overlooked or lost. This
means including women and ethnic minorities
as active participants in the scientific enterprise.
In 1998, the National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) asked the National Research Council’s
(NRC) Committee on Women in Science and
Engineering (CWSE) to host a discussion
centered on the challenges facing all scientists in
the current scientific climate, but focused
particularly on the challenges that women face
at every transition point in their careers.
viii
Meeting participants agreed that these chal- inception in 1991 as a standing committee of
lenges contribute to the sharp losses in numbers the NRC, CWSE has worked to coordinate,
of women scientists at each career stage, and monitor, and advocate national action on
that the NAS should make a strong statement to increasing the numbers of women in science
focus attention on the importance of enabling and engineering. The committee members
women to contribute to and lead in the represent diverse scientific and engineering
scientific process. This symposium is the disciplines, and all have brought attention to
outcome of the 1998 meeting. the importance of including women in their
The symposium was held during the 1999 own fields.
NAS annual meeting to address the question, We would like to thank the staff of CWSE,
“Who will do the science of the future?” The Dr. Jong-on Hahm, Director, and Shirel Smith,
symposium focused on the need to bring in Project Coordinator, for bringing to fruition the
many viewpoints to science and ways to ideas of the symposium steering committee and
increase the variety of viewpoints by recruiting CWSE. We would also like to thank Dr. Charlotte
and retaining women in science. The speakers, Kuh, Executive Director of the Office of
all leaders in their fields, emphasized the need Scientific and Engineering Personnel in which
to engage and sustain the interest of women in CWSE is housed, for her support and guidance
science, and presented ways in which different to CWSE during coordination of the symposium.
institutions have developed approaches to retain
women in scientific careers. Howard Georgi, Ph.D., Co-chair
The Committee on Women in Science and Lilian Shiao-Yen Wu, Ph.D., Co-chair
Engineering was honored to be asked to Committee on Women in
organize the NAS symposium. Since its Science and Engineering
vi P R E FAC E
ix
Contents
OVERVIEW 1
WELCOME 3
Bruce Alberts, President
National Academy of Sciences
PLENARY PANEL I: THE NEXT GENERATION: SCIENCE FOR ALL STUDENTS
Speaker Introductions 5
Marye Anne Fox (Moderator)
Chancellor, North Carolina State University
A Plan, A Strategy for K-12 7
Leon M. Lederman, Director Emeritus
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Mentoring Minority Women in Science: Special Struggles 12
Richard Tapia, Professor, Computational and Applied Mathematics
Rice University
