Foundations of a Healthy and Vital Research Community for NASA Science (2022) / Chapter Skim
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6 Implementable Measures for Assessing the Health and Vitality of NASA SMD's Research Community
6 Implementable Measures for Assessing the Health and Vitality of NASA SMD's Research Community
Pages 53-68
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From page 53... ...
This is a very difficult, if not impossible, task. It is tempting to identify the things that can be counted or measured -- for example, number of publications, number of successful grant applications, number of patents, number of people with a variety of demographic characteristics, number of people with managerial responsibility, and more.
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From page 54... ...
However, inclusive of NASA HQ, 93 percent of the center-based civil servants are located predominately at five facilities: the Goddard Space Flight Center, the Ames Research Center, the Langley Research Center, the Johnson Space Center, and the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA 2021a)
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From page 55... ...
7 to support NASA science missions. The SMD workforce is located across NASA centers and allied facilities: • Ames Research Center • Armstrong Flight Research Center • Glenn Research Center • Goddard Institute of Space Studies • Goddard Space Flight Center • Jet Propulsion Laboratory8 • Johnson Space Center • Katherine Johnson IV & V Facility • Kennedy Space Center • Langley Research Center • Marshall Space Flight Center • Michoud Assembly Facility • NASA Engineering and Safety Center • NASA Headquarters • NASA Safety Center • NASA Shared Services Center • Neil A
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From page 56... ...
When combined with current information regarding NASA employment, these data can be used to examine the distribution of the career stages of workforce members, the clustering of certain disciplines, genders, or racial/ethnic identities, and intersectionalities within certain fields at NASA. A social science expert can help NASA delve into the data in useful ways.a If similar data can be gathered regarding employees at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this will add to the depth of information.b The use of multivariate models in the analysis will enable researchers to examine the impact of multiple demographic facets simultaneously.
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From page 57... ...
Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate should use diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) indicators from collected demographic data to identify characteristics associated with success for space and Earth science careers and research health and performance.
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From page 58... ...
There are multiple initiatives that NASA, as an agency, has undertaken to collect demographic data on its populations: • The Office of the Chief Scientist uses an OMB approved form where grant applicants can identify their gender (three options: male, female, other) and other demographic information.
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From page 59... ...
Finding: There are opportunities to improve existing processes used by SMD to better identify and diversify its institutional pool by engaging social scientists and similar experts in process development, strategic plan ning and tracking, cross-correlation of data from multiple sources, and encouraging scholarly use of some of the data. Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate should consult with external science and technol ogy organizations to examine possible paths to acquire more complete information.
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From page 60... ...
DATA ANALYSIS As described in several previous decadal surveys and in previous chapters of this report, a healthy and vital research community for SMD benefits from a balance of the science being done at NASA centers and the broader academic and external community. This diversity of thought, career stage, and perspective has resulted, to date, in an innovative, creative, and relevant body of space and Earth sciences.
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From page 61... ...
Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) should collect relevant culture and demographic data to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the longitudinal health and vitality of the relevant space and Earth science communities.
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From page 62... ...
Addressing workplace culture, providing opportunities for lateral development and workplace flexibility were identified as emerging retention trends. A key take-away, a thoughtful transition to hybrid work, a compromise between the remote work virtual silos of the pandemic and newly expected work flexibility is a key retention tool (Microsoft 2021; Sull et al.
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From page 63... ...
Using Human Resources or other similar organizations to compile the demographic information, the PI would provide data on the information on members of their team. There would still be the complications of de-duping for people working on more than one grant and accounting for the level of support NASA provides to each.
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From page 64... ...
The BOX 6-3 Potential Pilot Program Detail Creating a repository of lists of members from various professional societies, conference attendees, and grant applicants may provide insight on the entire space and Earth science community. Because one person may be a member of multiple societies or attend multiple conferences, it is important that the lists submitted include names.
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From page 65... ...
This totality of the NASA research workforce spans from NASA-employed civil servants to direct contractors to independent grant recipients. This network of people works within an ecosystem of different organizations, each contributing to the stated science missions.
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From page 66... ...
should collaborate on multiple fronts: • SMD should collaborate with the Space Technology Mission Directorate, Office of the Chief Scientist, Office of STEM Engagement, Office of Chief Human Capital Management, and Office of Diversity, Equity, and Opportunity should work together to expand the questions on the Office of the Chief Scientist demographic survey and seek approval from the Office of Management and Budget for employment of their resultant proposed survey. • SMD should work with the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Office of Personnel Management, NASA Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, NASA Office of Diversity and Inclusion, NASA Office of General Counsel, and other relevant government organizations, to identify and eliminate barriers to the collection of more relevant data.
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From page 67... ...
These data are provided to assist in both developing goals and establishing potential actionable opportunities. NEXT STEPS Although progress has been significant in the collection of metrics and the intended improvements these data support, much work remains.
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From page 68... ...
population population • Consider many facets of an individual • Compile main list of members of the • Examine the data with guidance from community beyond NASA to collect social scientists demographic information for comparison • Consider many facets of an individual • Examine the data with guidance from social scientists Outreach, acceptance, and • Implement the Science Workforce • Outreach to historically under-served development Plan communities • Examine results from culture surveys • Develop Bridge programs and assess (perhaps the Federal Employee success Viewpoint Survey) to identify • Work with professional societies to reach weaknesses people from minoritized groups • Prepare and assess professional development plans • Examine access to opportunities and resources across SMD • Compile data from outreach programs Establishing supportive funding • Ensure internal review panels are • Use doubly anonymous review panels diverse, including all facets of an • Work with academic institutions to individual leverage funds with institutional match • Use doubly anonymous review panels within NASA • Develop fiscal dashboard Resilience to emerging challenges • Use results from culture data to ensure • Examine demographics of teams on all voices are heard external proposals to ensure that all voices • Examine decision-making points and are included participants for inclusion • Work with professional societies to • Examine meeting agendas to ensure examine the culture at meetings and all voices are heard workshops • Ensure equal access to opportunities • Work with institutions to examine the and resources culture • Make regular use of the Delphi technique to envision future issues and solutionsa • Encourage virtual peer-review panels Community standards of conduct • Examine code of conduct within • Require institutions supported by NASA NASA to ensure clarity in reporting funds to endorse a common code of and consequences conduct that has a clear reporting structure • Use results from culture survey to and consequences examine consonance with code of • Work with professional societies to develop conduct community standards of conduct for • Examine methods of verifying data meetings and workshops a See, for example, C
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