NIH Awards Grants to Examine Factors Influencing
Women's Careers in Science
The National Institutes of Health announced today that it will
fund 14 grants focusing on factors that influence the careers of
women in biomedical and behavioral science and engineering. The
grants are estimated to total $16.8 million over four years.
The grants respond to a 2007 National Academies report that urgently
called for a broad, national effort to maximize the potential of
women scientists and engineers. The report, Beyond Bias and Barriers,
led to the creation of an NIH working group charged with examining
the issues and addressing the challenges in supporting the advancement
of women scientists and engineers.
"The National Institutes of Health is committed to building
a diverse biomedical workforce," said NIH Director Francis
S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "Our ability to train and retain
women scientists is vital to our remaining competitive in meeting
today’s health challenges."
The new grants will examine many influences on women's career
choices such as family and economic factors, institutional environments
and broader social and cultural issues. Topics include the role
mentoring and funding support play throughout women’s academic
careers to the impact of family-friendly policies in retaining
women in the scientific workforce. The career paths of underrepresented
and financially disadvantaged women will also be examined.
"Understanding the issues that impact the recruitment, retention,
reentry and advancement of women in biomedical and behavioral science
careers will help us develop strategies to assist women at critical
points," said Dr. Vivian Pinn, director of the NIH Office
of Research on Women's Health and co-chair of the NIH Working Group
on Women in Biomedical Careers.
The NIH components funding the awards include the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development;
the National Cancer Institute; the National Center for Research
Resources; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National
Institute on Aging; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases; the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering;
the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; the National
Institute of Mental Health; the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke; the National Institute of Nursing Research;
the NIH Office of AIDS Research; the NIH Office of Behavioral and
Social Sciences Research and the NIH Office of Research on Women's
Health.
The grant recipients are:
- Stephanie B. Abbuhl and Jeane Ann Grisso, University of Pennsylvania, "Women & Academic Medicine: A Randomized Multi-level Trial"
- Mary Carnes, University of Wisconsin-Madison, "Advancement of Women in STEMM: A Multi-level Research and Action Project"
- Thomas Diprete, Columbia University, "Educational Pathways to Science and Other Careers for Academically Talented Women"
- Karen Fruend and Phyllis Carr, Boston University Medical Campus, "Longitudinal Follow-up to the National Faculty Survey"
- Donna K. Ginther and Shulamit Kahn, University of Kansas, "Economic Explanations for Gender Differences in Biomedical Careers"
-
Deborah L. Helitzer, University of New Mexico, "Achieving a Critical Mass of Women Biomedical Faculty: Impact of 3 US Programs"
- Reshma Jagsi, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, "Examining How Gender Differences in Outcomes Develop Among Physician Researchers"
- Yael M. Levitte, Jennifer L. Glass and Sharon L. Sassler, Cornell University, "Entry and Retention of Women in the Sciences: A Cohort Comparison"
-
Richard McGee, Northwestern University, "Pivotal Career Decisions Guiding Potential Women Science Faculty"
- Donna Nelson, University of Oklahoma, "Building an Evidence Base for Developing Effective Intervention Strategies for Women"
- Joan Reede and Emorcia V. Hill, Harvard Medical School, "Factors that Promote and Support Careers of Women of Color in Academic Medicine"
- Virginia Valian, Hunter College, "Gatekeepers and Gender Schemas"
- Amparo Villablanca and Lydia P. Howell, University of California, Davis, "Women's Careers in the Medical Sciences and Family Friendly Policies"
- Wendy Williams, Cornell University, "Assessing and Reducing Gender Bias in STEM Recruitment, Mentorship and Evaluation"
For more information on the Women in Biomedical Careers initiative
at NIH, see http://womeninscience.nih.gov/.
To speak to an NIH official about the new grants, contact the
NIGMS Office of Communications and Public Liaison at 301-496-7301
or info@nigms.nih.gov.
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The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible
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This involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs
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The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)
opened officially on July 1, 1995. The U.S. Congress established
the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) in
the Office of the Director, NIH, in recognition of the key role
that behavioral and social factors often play in illness and health.
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research throughout NIH and to integrate these areas of research
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improving our understanding, treatment, and prevention of disease.
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The ORWH (http://orwh.od.nih.gov/)
was established to serve as the focal point in the Office of the
Director for women’s health research at the NIH. ORWH's mission
is to strengthen and enhance women's health research and sex/gender
studies, ensure that women are appropriately represented in biomedical
and biobehavioral research studies supported by NIH, and develop
opportunities for the advancement of women in biomedical careers
and to support career development for women and men in women's
health research.
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Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
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and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
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its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
Correction: This release has been updated to include
the names of co-PIs. These names were not on the initial paylist.
The bulleted names have been updated to include other PIs associated
with the project: Abbuhl, Fruend, Ginther, Levitte, Reede, and Villablanca. |