Full Engagement of Talent for Materials Research
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Full Engagement of Talent for Materials Research We cannot afford untapped intellectual capacity in science and technology. The goal of the Materials Research Society to double membership by 2015 furthers one element of our obligation to meet global research needs. Several predictable crises threaten human progress, and one that materials research is well poised to help solve is energy availability. Given the size and urgency of the task, we need our fair share of the human race’s full intellectual horsepower, and right now we do not have it. While there are several under-represented groups in science, the female sector is the largest. The pipeline for girls in physical sciences is not flowing at capacity. Science pipeline leaks may be related to equal opportunity. In the United States in 2007, only nine women were elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a six-year low.1 In some physical sciences, there is a noticeable gap between the pool of researchers with PhD degrees and the percentage of tenured faculty. For example, the United States has only 13% females in chemistry faculties compared to 33% of female candidates with PhD degrees in chemistry.2 Although physics has near parity at 11% and 13%, respectively, only 6% of the American Physical Society membership is female. (It is therefore surprising that 40% of nuclear physicists at U.S. national laboratories are female!) The MRS membership is close to U.S. science and technology averages with 20% female. We actually do not know what percentage of the MRS is minority—more about that below—but the U.S. S&T average is 10%.3 The largest pipeline leak is before graduate school, and it affects not just women. Bright U.S. students who have the aptitude for science are lured away to law and business. Unfortunately, about half of our fair share of U.S. females opts out of physical sciences and engineering at this stage. The standard excuse for losing talent to other professions is the attraction of higher salaries. However, U.S. students already in S&T, when asked why their colleagues opt out, frequently say, “They’re just lazy.”
“We cannot expect to win the energy game when, at the opening whistle, a quarter of our team does not show up.”
Admittedly self-flattering, this explanation rings true. Easy-outing is familiar to MRS Bulletin readers, who know that the U.S. educational system lags behind S&T In your opinion, does your institution provide equal opportunities for women to conduct materials research? Yes No
Total* Female Male
Under-represented? Yes Under-represented? No Resides in U.S. Resides Outside the U.S. 0%
50%
100%
In your opinion, does your institution provide equal opportunities for under-represented groups to conduct materials research? Yes No
Total* Female Male
Under-represented? Yes 1 Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.
com/daily/2007/05/2007050201n.htm. 2Workshop on Building Strong Academic Chemistry
Departments Through Gender Equity (January 2006), sponsored by DOE, NSF, NIH; www.chem.harvard.edu/groups/friend/ GenderEquit
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