Women in Science and Engineering: Increasing Their Numbers in the 1990s A Statement on Policy and Strategy (1991) / Chapter Skim
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4. Career Patterns
4. Career Patterns
Pages 71-90
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the availability of female role models and mentors among the more senior S&E work force and (2) access to support networks.
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Postdoctoral appointments are typically of two kinds: a true fellowship, often portable and with no duties attached; and a research appointment, which represents an extension of the standard graduate research assistantship position. Postdoctoral appointments are often prestigious and are sometimes viewed as a sort of glorious interlude between the vicissitudes of graduate study and the responsibilities of permanent employment, a period when a young scientist can enlarge and diversify her/his knowledge and capabilities without external pressure.
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Hill, Science amid E'~gi''eeri'zg Doctorates: 1960-89 (NSF 90-320) , Washington, O.C.: National Science Foundation, 1990.
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It appears that men are less likely to face such a choice. Nonetheless, despite various potential drawbacks, postdoctoral appointments remain a useful option for the increasingly frequent problem of dual-career couples seeking appointments in the same location or institution.
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and Reskin (1976) found that postdoctoral fellowships are awarded to men more often and that men had far better career outcomes than women with similar training; but in that study, data from the late 1960s were used and the numbers of women scientists available for study were relatively small.
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Employment in a Scientific or Engineering Field Current and projected levels of labor force participation indicate that women will continue to make up a significant portion of the U.S. work force.
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SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering (NSF 90 301) , Washington, D.C.: NSF, 1990.
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They are especially well utilized, for instance, in electrical/electronics engineering and computer science, which are large employment fields, but less well utilized in aeronautical/astronautical, chemical, civil, and mechanical engineering and in the mathematical, environmental, life, and social sciences. In general, the positions occupied by female scientists and engineers are not those of power and prestige or those that permit them to engage in policy making or consulting, the activities that provide the greatest incentives and give the individual the greatest visibility outside his or her own institution (see, for instance, Woodward, 1990~.
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To some extent, these numbers reflect the recent increases ~ women Ph.D.s in these 81
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Such tacit discouragement can involve anything from using~macho~ stereotypes when describing research style to assigning traditionally female responsibilities such as entertaining outside speakers and prospective facul~to women members of a department.... In some departments, verbal and gender-specific harassment (e.g., discouraging women from pursuing scientific careers simply because they were women)
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Figure 9. Average annual employment growth, by sector of employment and sex: 1976-1986.
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SOURCE: National Science Foundation, Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering (NSF 90 301) , Washington, D.C.: NSF, 1990.
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rather than advertising directly to fill vacancies; using that same network rather than standard performance evaluations when considering individual employees for promotions; Precluding spouses from working in the same department of company," linking promotions to one's length of employment: ~ , ~ , condoning coworkers' remarks and actions Calculated to put twomen] in their place by emphasizing their deviant gender status .
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Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) Office of Policy and Evaluation, noted that Efforts to manage the federal work force today must operate in an environment that is significantly different from 20 years ago....
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show that the participation of women scientists and engineers in the federal work force varies by occupational title from a low of 3.0 percent in agronomy, 3.8 percent In mining engineering, and 4.8 percent in metallurgy to highs of 50.5 percent in sociology, 44.1 percent in social science, and 41.6 percent in botany. Racia~/ethnic minorities comprised 14.6 percent of the 263,892 federal S&E employees on September 30, 1990.
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The White House Task Force (19~) had recommended that the government tackle the potential problem of an inadequate S&E work force head-on by: .
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FCCSET's Committee on Education and Human Resources has determined that federal agencies should allocate funds designed specifically to retain women, minorities, and the disabled within the science education pipeline. Priority Issues Perhaps the most critical issue confronting the U.S.
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CWSE will also undertake inquiries into less well studied areas of employment policy relevant to women in order to highlight major issues, develop research agendas, and suggest possible courses of action and their probable implications. Broader issues— .
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