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<h1><font size=5 color="#0000FF"><b>Volume 2, Issue 4 (April
2009)</b></font></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b>NIH Updates on Women in
Science is brought to you by the
<a href="http://womeninscience.nih.gov/">NIH Working Group on Women in
Biomedical Careers</a>. We encourage you to forward this e-newsletter to
colleagues who may find it of interest.
</i></b></font></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><font size=5><b>************</b></font></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><font size=5><b>Contents of this Issue</i></b></font></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><font color="#0000FF"><b>
<a href="file:///Q:\NIH%20Working%20Group%20on%20Women%20in%20Biomedical%20Careers\Newsletter\April%202009%20newsletter.doc#One#One#One#One">
Registration is Now Open for the Second NIH Regional Meeting to Seek New
Dimensions and Strategies for Women’s Health Research and Advancing
Women’s Biomedical Careers</a> </u></i></b></font></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h1><font color="#0000FF"><b>
<a href="file:///Q:\NIH%20Working%20Group%20on%20Women%20in%20Biomedical%20Careers\Newsletter\April%202009%20newsletter.doc#Two#Two">
Kathleen Sebelius Confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human
Services</a></u></i></b></font></h1><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>
<a href="file:///Q:\NIH%20Working%20Group%20on%20Women%20in%20Biomedical%20Careers\Newsletter\April%202009%20newsletter.doc#Three#Three">
Reports Show that Men Still Outearn Women in the US and
Australia</a></i></b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>
<a href="file:///Q:\NIH%20Working%20Group%20on%20Women%20in%20Biomedical%20Careers\Newsletter\April%202009%20newsletter.doc#Four#Four">
Studies Examine Engineering and Graduate
Education</a></i></b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><b>
<a href="file:///Q:\NIH%20Working%20Group%20on%20Women%20in%20Biomedical%20Careers\Newsletter\April%202009%20newsletter.doc#Five#Five">
Rethinking Tenure and Part-Time Careers</a></i></b></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><font color="#0000FF"><b>
<a href="file:///Q:\NIH%20Working%20Group%20on%20Women%20in%20Biomedical%20Careers\Newsletter\April%202009%20newsletter.doc#Six#Six">
Highlighting Best Practices – University of California,
Davis</a></u></i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<br>
<h2><font color="#0000FF"><b>
<a href="file:///Q:\NIH%20Working%20Group%20on%20Women%20in%20Biomedical%20Careers\Newsletter\April%202009%20newsletter.doc#Seven#Seven">
New Feature: Women Scientists in Action – Julie Brittain,
Ph.D.</a></u></i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> ************<br>
</font><br>
<h2><font size=4><b><a name="One"></a>Registration is Now Open for the
Second NIH Regional Meeting to Seek New Dimensions and Strategies for
Women’s Health Research and Advancing Women’s Biomedical
Careers</i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">The NIH and Office of Research on
Women’s Health is holding a series of regional meetings to update
the women’s health research agenda for the NIH. The next meeting,
<i>Moving into the Future: New Dimensions and Strategies for Women’s
Health Research at the National Institutes of Health</i>, which will be
held at the University of California, San Francisco on May 27-29 will
feature working groups on Global Health, Stem Cells, Environmental
Health, HIV/AIDS, Information Technology, and Women in Science. The Women
in Science working group will include issues related to career
advancement for women of color and women in nonmedical fields such as
chemistry, physics, engineering, dentistry, and pharmacology. Public
testimony is being solicited on career development issues as well as on
the future of women’s health research. The deadline for hotel
reservations at the meeting rate is Tuesday, May 12. Future meetings will
be held on September 21-23 in Providence, RI and on October 14-16 in
Chicago, IL.<br>
</font><br>
<h2><font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#000080"><b>
<a href="http://www.orwhmeetings.com/movingintothefuture/">Moving Into
the Future – New Dimensions and Strategies for Women’s Health Research
for the National Institutes of Health</a></i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font><br>
<h2><font size=4><b><a name="Two"></a>Kathleen Sebelius Confirmed as
Secretary of Health and Human Services</i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">On April 28, his ninety-ninth day in
office, President Barack Obama filled the last vacancy in his Cabinet
when the Senate confirmed Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as the
Secretary of Health and Human Services. As the head of the Department of
Health and Human Services, Secretary Sebelius will be responsible for an
annual budget of over $700 billion and eleven agencies including the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the
National Institutes of Health. Besides being intimately involved with the
President’s proposed overhaul of the US health care system, addressing
the current influenza outbreak, and overseeing the regulation of the US
food supply, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices, Secretary Sebelius
will shape the nation’s priorities for biomedical research funding and
policies. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aiBDawmVSDBQ&refer=us">
Kathleen Sebelius Confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services
(Bloomberg)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/levels_of_office/documents/prescabinet.pdf">
Women Appointed to Presidential Cabinets (Center for American Women and
Politics - PDF) </a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font><br>
<h2><font size=4><b><a name="Three"></a>Reports Show that Men Still
Outearn Women in the </i></b></font>US and Australia</h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Several studies examining the gender
wage gap in a number of industries have been release recently. One report
release by the National Bureau of Economic Research in January notes that
just after earning their degrees, women with M.B.A.s generally work the
same number of hours and make the same amount of money as their male
counterparts. However, as women take time off to have children or chose
different types of jobs that allow more flexibility, the interruptions
and job changes are associated with gaps in experience and lower
salaries. The authors note that the differences in wages between women
and men M.B.A.s “are largely, though not entirely due to the presence of
children.” They also note that just as women Ph.D.s tend to be married to
men Ph.D.s, women M.B.A.s tend to be married to men M.B.A.s whose high
salaries allow them a greater opportunity to opt for lower paying or
part-time jobs. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">A report from the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research released on April 28 notes that “of the over 500
individual occupational categories for which there are sufficient data…in
only five occupations do women earn as much as or more than men.” The
study reports that men outearn women even in jobs traditionally held be
women, and in the ten highest and ten lowest paying occupations for
women. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Finally, a report released jointly by
AMP, an Australian wealth management firm, and NATSEM, a research center
associated with the University of Canberra, examines the salary gap
between women and men in Australia. The report shows that there are still
gaps in paid and unpaid work, wealth, and income. It also notes that
women are more likely to work multiple jobs, have greater caregiving
responsibilities, and to feel rushed or pressured frequently. Although
women in Australia are waiting longer to have children and having fewer
children than in decades past, women report that having children can lead
to problems in the workplace and can have negative long-term career
effects. Although gaps in salary and differences in types of employment
still exist between women and men, the authors are hopeful that the
progress women have made in the areas of education, employment, income,
and wealth over the past few decades will mean the Gen Y women will close
these gaps in their working lifetimes. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C350a.pdf">The Gender Wage Gap by
Occupation (Institute on Women’s Policy Research - PDF)</a> <br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">
<a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w14681">Dynamics of the Gender Gap
for Young Professionals in the Corporate and Financial Sectors
(NBER)</a><br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://media.amp.com.au/phoenix.zhtml?c=219073&p=irol-irhome">
She Works Hard for the Money: Australian Women and the Gender Divide
(AMP.NATSEM)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-28-2009/0005014720&EDATE=">
Men Out Earn Women in Almost All Occupations (PRNewswire)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/business/global/29iht-riedgenper.html?_r=1">
Why the Earnings Gender Gap in Business? Women Work Less (New York
Times)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://www.watoday.com.au/news/lifeandstyle/lifematters/gen-y-women-earn-their-fair-share/2009/03/31/1238261579650.html">
Gen Y Women’s Salaries Almost on Par with Men (WAtoday.com.ua)</a> <br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font><br>
<h2><font size=4><b><a name="Four"></a>Studies Examine Engineering and
Graduate Education</i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"><b>Measuring and Improving
Effectiveness in Engineering Education <br>
</b></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">A recent study by the National
Academy of Engineering, funded by the National Science Foundation,
examines existing methods to evaluate and improve the teaching
effectiveness of engineering faculty. The report also makes
recommendations for the development of new metrics and faculty
development programs. The report concludes that only if thoughtfully
designed and agreed-upon methods of evaluating teaching effectiveness are
developed will teaching and mentoring be seen as an important component
of tenure and promotion decisions. This would provide faculty members
with a powerful incentive to invest time and effort in becoming better
teachers. It noted that faculty development programs should not be
carried out by those making tenure and promotion decisions, as that would
discourage faculty from seeking help to improve their teaching
effectiveness. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12636#toc">Developing
Metrics for Assessing Engineering Instruction: What Gets Measures and
What Gets Improved (National Academy of Engineering)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"><b>Enhancing Diversity and
Participation in Graduate Education<br>
</b></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">A report released by the Council of
Graduate Schools “advocates for strengthening diversity and inclusiveness
efforts in the graduate education enterprise as a key component of a
national talent development strategy, that will ultimately strengthen our
economy and maintain our quality of life.” It calls for an increased
emphasis on minority recruitment by graduate schools and highlights
initiatives which promote participation in graduate education, especially
in science and engineering. It recommends that incentives be created to
encourage all students, but particularly those from underrepresented
groups to pursue graduate education. These incentives could take the form
of fellowships, training grants, and loan forgiveness, etc. The report
concludes that efforts to encourage participation in graduate education
must be accompanied by support mechanisms to help ensure the success of
all graduate students. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://www.cgsnet.org/Default.aspx?tabid=365">Broadening
Participation in Graduate Education (Council of Graduate
Schools)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font><br>
<h2><font size=4><b><a name="Five"></a>Rethinking Tenure and Part-Time
Careers</i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">In a recent commentary in the
<i>Chronicle of Higher Education</i>, author Mary Ann Mason, Ph.D., of
the Berkley Law Center on Health, Economics & Family Security writes
that the tenure system, as it is currently designed, is extremely
unfriendly to women and is “fast fading away.” Due to the up-front
demands that force young academics to work extremely long hours at the
same time they are starting their families, many women make the choice
very early in their careers to pursue positions such as lecturers or
adjuncts, which are much more flexible but also offer lower salaries,
fewer benefits, and little or no job security. In fact, since these types
of employees cost the institution less than tenured faculty, there has
been a shift in recent years to use more part-time staff and reduce the
number of tenured faculty positions. Dr. Mason argues that eliminating
tenure is not the right answer for either women or academia, since tenure
ensures high quality research and promotes intellectual freedom. Rather,
she recommends redesigning the tenure system to make it more flexible, to
allow part-time faculty to apply for tenure-track positions, and to
encourage search committees to be mindful that time gaps in a CV do not
indicate a lack of ability or dedication.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">In the January issue of <i>Academic
Medicine</i>, authors Rebecca A. Harrison, M.D., and Jessica L. Gregg,
M.D., Ph.D., of the Oregon Health & Sciences University present a
study examining the attitudes of internists and department leaders
towards part-time work. The study focused on the Society of General
Internal Medicine Horn Scholars Program, which is intended to “foster a
new career track for physicians centering on successful balance of
career, family, and social responsibilities.” Horn Scholars hold a
half-time appointment as a clinical educator, which includes spending two
half days a week working in clinics which serve the indigent, and spend
the equivalent of the other half of the appointment focusing on family.
Through interviews of the Horn Scholars Program applicants – who were all
women, junior faculty – and their division chiefs – who were all men,
senior faculty – the authors compiled lists of the perceived positive and
negative aspects of part-time work. They also noted the applicants and
chiefs either looked at part-time work as “working less” or “working
differently” and that this distinction affected their overall view of
part-time work. They concluded that physicians and their leaders must
reconceptualize their model of work to focus on organizational
satisfaction rather than simply number of hours worked or patients seen.
They also noted that many physicians say that if part-time work were not
available or the barriers to it were to high, they would likely choose to
leave academia rather than stay in it
full-time.
<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/04/2009042201c.htm">Is
Tenure a Trap for Women (Chronicle of Higher Education)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Fulltext/2009/01000/A_Time_for_Change__An_Exploration_of_Attitudes.25.aspx">
A Time for Change: An Exploration of Attitudes Towards Part-Time Work in
Academia (Academic Medicine)</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font><br>
<h2><font size=4><b><a name="Eight"></a>Highlighting Best Practices –
</i></b></font>University of California,
Davis</h2><a name="Eight"></a><br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"><i>Contributed by Sylvia Parsons<br>
</i></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">For over ten years, the University of
California, Davis has been focused on taking aggressive measures aimed at
recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty in research and leadership
positions. The process began with a task force commissioned in 2000 to
collect data on faculty diversity, recruitment statistics, and other
demographic data from the science and medical departments. The task force
proposed several initiatives designed to increase diversity, with
incentives for success and consequences for continued failure. These
initiatives led to a 22% increase in women and minority faculty
throughout the university between 1997 and 2007, with a 30% increase in
women faculty in the school of medicine. Some of the “best practices”
instituted by UC Davis include hiring more faculty at the junior level
where there is a more diverse applicant pool; “cluster hiring” in which
several positions are identified in a broad area which can lead to a
larger pool of outstanding candidates and can be particularly effective
in preventing the potential isolation of new faculty; and carefully
monitoring the recruitment process to address problems early. The active
involvement and support of the deans has proven to be a key factor in the
university’s success. Addressing work/life issues through programs that
extend the tenure clock, modifying active service to accommodate family
needs, providing employment opportunities for partners, and initiating
career reviews to ensure equity and fairness have also been important.
New training programs that offer tools for hiring and retention and
overviews of hiring and retention policies have been implemented for
department chairs. In addition, workshops for new hires on how to
navigate the merit and promotion process, apply for grants, and career
resources available from the university have sought to address some of
the roadblocks mentioned in surveys by women and minorities. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">These policies were presented by
Barry Klein,
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#000080">Ph.D.,
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times">Vice Chancellor for Research,
at the <a href="http://womeninscience.nih.gov/bestpractices/"><i>Women in
Biomedical Research: Best Practices for Sustaining Career Success</a>”
</i>workshop which was co-hosted in March 2008 by the NIH Working Group
on Women in Biomedical Careers and the NIH National Center for Research
Resources.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://academicpersonnel.ucdavis.edu/facdiv/index.htm">UC Davis
Office of the Chancellor and Provost - Faculty Diversity </a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://popprogram.ucdavis.edu/">Partner Opportunities
Program</a><br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://academicpersonnel.ucdavis.edu/toe.cfm">Target of
Excellence Program</a> <br>
</u></font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font><br>
<h2><font size=4><b><a name="Seven"></a>New Feature: Women Scientists in
Action – Julie Brittain, Ph.D.</i></b></font></h2><br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Starting this month, the NUWS will
present profiles of successful women scientists. This month, Julie
Brittain, Ph.D., a junior faculty member in the Departments of
Biochemistry & Biophysics and Obstetrics & Gynecology at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) will be featured.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Dr. Brittain is a recipient of a
Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health
<a href="http://orwh.od.nih.gov/interdisciplinary/bircwhmenu.html">
(BIRCWH)</a> scholar award. The BIRCWH program was developed and
implemented by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health to promote
the career development of junior faculty members who are commencing an
independent career working on women's health issues by pairing scholars
with senior investigators in a mentored, interdisciplinary research
environment. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Dr. Brittain is a graduate of UNC and
is currently a member of the
<a href="http://medicine.med.unc.edu/centers/unc-comprehensive-sickle-cell-program-1">
UNC Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program</a>. She is an interdisciplinary
scientist whose research, both as a graduate student and a postdoctoral
fellow, has focused on helping people with sickle cell anemia (SCA)
through a better understanding of the mechanism of the disease. In people
who suffer from SCA, the red blood cells, which are normally disc shaped
and flow feely through blood vessels, can become crescent-shaped or
“sickle” in cells with low oxygen density. The sickled cells have a
tendency to adhere to one another and can occlude blood vessels. These
blockages prevent blood from reaching tissues throughout the body,
causing damage and severe pain. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Currently, the main treatments for
this disease are pain killers, which only treat the symptoms, and a drug
called hydroxyurea. Hydroxyurea was originally used as a chemotherapy
agent for cancer patients but has been found to help SCA patients by
causing the body to produce fetal hemoglobin, which carries higher levels
of oxygen than adult hemoglobin. Women with SCA are discouraged from
becoming pregnant, and if they do, they can not take hydroxyurea because
it could be dangerous for the child. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">As a graduate student, Dr. Brittain’s
research, which compared the adhesiveness of red blood cells of
unaffected people to those of SCA patients, challenged the hypothesis
that red blood cells were simply non-responsive “bags” of hemoglobin and
demonstrated that adhesion of sickled red blood cells could be regulated
by processes that were activated by naturally occurring chemicals in the
blood of SCA patients. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">In her current research, Dr. Brittain
studies the role of white blood cells in SCA. She has discovered an
entirely novel mechanism of vessel blockage in these patients – sickled
red blood cells adhere to a type of white blood cell, both in a model
system that she developed and in the whole blood collected from SCA
patients. Furthermore, she has elucidated the mechanism of the
adhesion between the two types of cells and identified the protein the
mediates the interaction, </font><font face="Symbol">a</font>4 integrin,
as a feasible target for cost-effective, small molecule therapy. She is
also looking at risk factors that are specific to pregnant women in an
effort to develop novel drugs that will be safe for both mother and
child. <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">When asked why she chose to study
SCA, Dr. Brittain said, “The very first time I looked at a blood smear
from a SCA as a graduate student at UNC, I knew that this illness was my
calling. The angry, sickled shape of red blood cells ignited a
passion in me that cannot be extinguished until I can offer some relief,
some solace, for these patients that is not found in a bottle of
prescription narcotics. These patients, deserve the best, the best minds,
the best medicines that science can offer. These patients deserve to have
their best life – a normal one, free from pain, but filled with family,
children, careers and control of one’s own destiny.”<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"> ************<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b><i>PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO
THIS e-NEWSLETTER. To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit the
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Science NIH LISTSERV</a>. For more information, please
contact Joslyn Yudenfreund Kravitz, Ph.D., Office of Research on Women's
Health, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, through
the Women in Science mailbox
(<a href="mailto:womeninscience@nih.gov">womeninscience@nih.gov</a>). The
views expressed in this e-newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of
the U.S. Government. </font></b></i></blockquote></body>
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