Meeting the Nation's Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists: Summary of the 1993 Public Hearings (1994)

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SUMMARY OF ISSUES AND SUGGESTIONS FROM SPEAKERS 7 • Raise the total number of MSTP trainees to 1,000 by adding 250 slots. • Examine the cost effectiveness of the program relative to other forms of training support. ISSUE 6 WOMEN IN RESEARCH6 The number of women in the life sciences has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. Over 40 percent of the Ph.D.s produced in the life sciences are women. At this stage they are not really underrepresented. The difficulty occurs later when employment opportunities are limited by geographical considerations or by family obligations. Some say recruiting women into science is a problem, a symptom of our society and the way we approach science. Others say recruitment is not the problem, but professional advancement is the problem. The number of women who successfully graduate into independent positions in science and are promoted into the higher ranks is small. Suggestions From Speakers Although some speakers considered the problems of recruitment and professional advancement to be beyond the purview of the NRSA program, some offered suggestions related to outreach and incentives, administrative and program flexibility, and mentoring and support groups through NRSA support. Outreach and Incentives • Reconsider NRSA’s support structure to increase options and access to scientific careers by providing incentives for completing studies early; increasing the length of time allowed for support on NRSA awards; and allowing more employment hours than at present. • Improve access in geographic terms, e.g., programs in nursing have limited locations and they need to be more accessible to increase participation of women in advanced training in this area. • Provide small grants for undergraduate research by women. • Give attention to M.D./Ph.D. programs as a strategy to attract female scientists into research careers. These fellowships may be more attractive than those that are limited to graduate and postgraduate training. • Use innovative training programs that guarantee placement on completion of the course. Flexibility • Increase flexibility in NRSA programs by developing formal policies for family leave and part-time training. Develop ways to help with child care support by provision of government subsidies or grants from private foundations for child care. • Target funds to develop mid-career mechanisms for re-entry to a career track. NRSA should specifically encourage applications from women who have taken time off in early or mid-career to raise children. Individual fellowship support for these women would be especially effective in providing them with opportunities . • Create new mechanisms to make postdoc opportunities compatible with lifestyle issues, e.g., a program for younger faculty similar to NSF’s Women Scholars Program of several years ago. Support Systems Establish a mentor system through the NRSA program. Augment existing individual project grants so that principal investigators take on 6 Material in this section drawn from testimony by: D. Brautigan, G. Cassell, S. Gerbi, A. Jacox, A. Kraut, V. LiCata, D. Linzer, T. Malone, B. Marshall, P. McCloskey, S. Persons, J. Pohl, D. Purpura, J. Sheridan and J. McCormick, H. Silber, and O. Weisz. See Appendix D .