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Seeking Solutions Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia: Summary of a Conference (2013) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E-29: Society for Neuroscience Written Testimony
Pages 277-280

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From page 277...
... SfN's mission statement speaks to "bringing together scientists of diverse backgrounds" and increasing "participation of scientists from diverse cultural, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds." This commitment is further articulated in SfN's Strategic Plan, which includes a Diversity Strategy that has as one of its guiding principles: "to increase diversity within SfN's leadership and governance structures, its membership, and its professional development activities." Trends/data: While comprehensive data are not available regarding overall trends in the numbers of women of color within the field of neuroscience, information from SfN's membership surveys, as well as surveys of neuroscience departments and programs, show women dropping out at every career transition point, and in particular, during the transition from postdoctoral fellow to tenure-track faculty member. Because underrepresented minorities (URMs)
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From page 278...
... , seeks to increase the number of women, including underrepresented minority women, among faculty in neuroscience. SfN has implemented five workshops that have provided participating department chairs and university leaders from 43 academic institutions with concrete strategies focusing on recruitment, advancement, and creating a favorable work climate for female faculty and faculty from diverse backgrounds in neuroscience and neuroscience-related departments and programs around the country.
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From page 279...
... One of many approaches is to assist women scientists who are raising families with added technical and childcare support. Lessons learned by SfN from the programs and initiatives listed above, including 30 years of the Neuroscience Scholars Program and early lessons from the IWiN Project, suggest the need to work at each career transition level with focused and targeted interventions.
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  • postdoctoral fellow
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