Abstract of "Introduction: The Global Policy Environment"-Chapter 1
In 1990 the National Research Council (NRC) established the
Committee on Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE) as an
offshoot of the Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel.
The CWSE is responsible for activities facilitating the entry
and retention of a greater number of talented women into
scientific and engineering careers. The committee held their
first meeting in March 1991, during which they established the
committee's focus and goals to:
- Collect and disseminate current data on the participation
of women in the science and engineering aspects of academe,
government, industry, and professional societies
- Monitor the progress of efforts to increase the
participation of women in S&E careers
- Conduct symposia, workshops and other meetings to explore
the policy environment, to stimulate and encourage
initiatives in program development for women in S&E, and
to evaluate their effectiveness on a regular basis
- Propose research and conduct special studies on issues
relevant to women scientists and engineers to document
evidence and articulate NRC recommendations for actions.
There are three main issues being addressed:
- Demographic Considerations, including the rising
proportion of non-U.S. citizens in the U.S. work force.
- Education Issues especially the low participation rate of
women in science and engineering.
- Employment conditions in the U.S. work force.
Demographic Issues
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the need for
scientists and engineers will increase by 36% between the years
1986 and 2000 because of the high-technology industrial growth
and the increasing use of high-technology goods and services.
The conclusion reached was that if "the present trends
continue, there will be a shortage of trained engineers which
cannot be filled by the natural increases in numbers of women
and minority students obtaining degrees."
The present trends mentioned are:
- About 5.2% of high school sophomores are likely to pursue
studies in the natural sciences and engineering culminating
towards bachelor's degrees. Of those graduating in 1984, only
4.7% will have earned their Ph.D's in S&E by 1992.
- The 18 to 24-year old cohort that comprises the
undergraduate population is expected to continue to decline
until 1995.
- The percentage of students majoring in S&E has been
dropping for the past few years.
- The projections show that the increases in the U.S.
population will be greatest among ethnic groups that have not
participated significantly in S&E before.
One predicted consequence is a shortfall of faculty recruits
to meet replacement needs due to retirements. Some estimates
show that 40% of tenured S&E faculty will retire by 1995.
Thus, the market will have to be adjusted by the "injection of
foreign talent, a policy decision to increase the number of
women and minority students, and to recapture and retain those
engineers no longer in the field."
The increasing population of foreign scientists and
engineers in the U.S. work force, and foreigners earning
doctorates from U.S. institutions, is another factor that
affects science policy. Many within the scientific community
feel that without the large number of foreign graduate
students, the U.S. universities would be unable to educate the
next generation of scientists and engineers to meet the U.S.
research and development needs.
Education Issues
The number of women gaining Ph.D.s remains lower than men in
all fields of science and engineering, with the exception of
psychology. The attrition is not attributed to lack of academic
performance. In 1986, women received 38% of awarded
baccalaureates, 30% of master's degrees, and 26% of the
doctorates in S&E. Little improvement was found three years
later, when the percentage of S&E degrees awarded to women
were 39%, 32%, and 26% respectively.
However, in 1989 there is considerable variation by field.
71% of the bachelor's degrees in psychology, 50% of those in
life sciences, and 46% of those in mathematics were awarded to
women, compared to only 14% in engineering, 30% in the physical
sciences and 31% in computer and information sciences (a 6%
decrease from 1986). In engineering, women earned almost 7% of
1978 bachelor's degrees, and the same proportion of 1986
doctorates.
The current data indicates a need to analyze the reasons for
the decreasing participation of U.S. students in S&E, and
to take corrective measures.
Employment Issue
1988 data reveals that women are increasingly represented in
the total U.S. work force (45%) and in the total professional
work force (50%). However, this increase does not extend to
female participation in the scientific (30%) and engineering
work force (4%).
Most women Ph.D.s entered the field of academe (50% in 1989)
with correspondingly smaller numbers finding positions in other
types of employment. Another 2% of women Ph.D.s entered
precollege teaching, compared with less than 1% of men. Women
comprise 27.6% of all faculties at U.S. universities, but only
17.5% of all science and engineering faculty. While men Ph.D.s
are more likely to hold full or associate professorships, women
are much more likely to be instructors, lecturers, adjunct
faculty and "other" faculty.
Overall, about 12% of women scientists and engineers are
employed in industry, compared to about 26% of men scientists
and engineers.
The single largest employer of scientists and engineers in
the U.S. is the federal government. In general, women and
minorities find greater employment opportunities within the
federal government than within other U.S. employment
sectors.
Conclusion
The Committee found the greatest potential for increasing
the number of women in areas of science and engineering lies in
the areas that currently contain the fewest number of women,
and hence the greatest national need. Their plan of action is
divided into three areas:
- Strengthen the S&E educational infrastructure.
- Examine the effectiveness of intervention programs in
sustaining the flow of women in S&E.
- Explore career patterns for women in S&E
employment.
Abstract by Juliet Midgley