Project Overview
NETWISE I:
Women in Science and Engineering:
Network Access, Participation, and Career Outcomes
(NSF Grant # REC-0529642)
CO-PI’s
Julia Melkers, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Tech:
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Eric Welch, Associate Professor of Public Administration, UIC:
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Project Summary
The education system in the United States produces and advances substantially fewer women
than men in most STEM fields. Under representation of women in the sciences resists explanation in part because the social networks that provide access to resources and direct participation are complex and opaque. This project seeks to open the “black box” of how social and professional networks mediate the conversion of women’s qualifications to career outcomes.
The primary project objective is to address the question: How and why do networks matter for
women’s career outcomes in science and engineering? This three-year study applies knowledge from social network theory to explore the architecture and dynamics of formal and informal networks in which women scientists and engineers enter, form, and participate. It addresses the following specific questions:
- What is the relationship between women scientists’ access to and participation in effective
- networks and their resulting productivity, faculty rank, organizational position, salary, and job satisfaction?
- How is the professional advancement of women influenced by their discipline and the characteristics of their networks?
- Which factors lead to the entry of women scientists in both formal and informal networks?
- Is access to networks for male scientists significantly different than for female scientists?
- Which factors predict the active participation of scientists and engineers in both formal and informal networks?
- Does network participation for male scientists significantly differ from that of female scientists?
Click here for the full project summary.
NETWISE II:
Empirical Research: Breaking through the Reputational Ceiling:
Professional Networks as a Determinant of Advancement, Mobility, and Career Outcomes for Women and Minorities in STEM
(NSF Grant # DRL-0910191)
CO-PI’s
Julia Melkers, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Tech:
click to email
Eric Welch, Associate Professor of Public Administration, UIC:
click to email
Monica Gaughan, Assistant Professor of Public Health, UGA:
click to email
Project Summary
This empirical research proposal addresses the characteristics and role of networks in career
advancement, outcomes, and mentoring for women and underrepresented minority academic scientists in
non–Research I institutions. The underrepresentation of women and the “invisibility” of minorities in
academic science are recognized to be a significant national policy crisis and “waste” of human capital
(NAS, 2007). A common thread in many of studies regarding the advancement of women and minorities
in STEM fields is reference to the importance of professional networks. This observation has been
underscored in the recently issued NAS report, Beyond Bias and Barriers, that repeatedly points to issues
of lack of network access and participation for women in the sciences, noting “…differences in career
trajectories for men and women are generated and reinforced by the social structures in which
people are situated and by the networks of interactions in which they participate” (NAS, 2006; p.
174).
Studies on science focus considerable attention on the most competitive scientists – those
employed in Research I institutions. Yet, women and under-represented minority PhDs are
disproportionately employed in Research II and Comprehensive institutions. The purpose of this research
is to address the structural and resource determinants of underrepresentation, career success, and
satisfaction of women and underrepresented minorities PhDs who have faculty appointments in Research
II and Comprehensive institutions. We give particular attention to the role of mentorship and aspects of
specific mentor resource exchange in affecting network access and participation.
Click here for the full project summary.
