Chapter 11: The Forward Program

A significant fraction (43%) of the scientists and engineers in research and development in the United States are in academia (National Science Board, 2006; National Science Foundation, 2005). In addition, American female scientific and engineering researchers tend to be more often in academic and nonprofit settings (National Academy Press, 2001; National Science Board, 2006). From 1973 to 2003, doctoral women employed in U.S. science and engineering academia increased from 9% to 30% or 754,600 (National Science Board, 2006; National Science Foundation, 2005). By 2003, the engineering, academic workforce was 15.5% female, with women making up 4.6% of the engineering faculty at the rank of full professor, 8.9% at the associate rank, and 22.8% at the assistant rank for a total of 2,300 women engineering professors (National Science Board, 2006). While academic professors conduct research as a significant component of their efforts at top-tier research-intensive universities (Thomson, 2000), the balance of intended effort between research, teaching, and service can be as high as 100%-0%-0%, respectively, but is typically considered to be 40%-40%-20%, respectively. At less-research-intensive institutions,such as liberal arts colleges and primarily undergraduate institutions, the balance tends to be closer to 5%-80%-15%, respectively, however many institutions of higher education in the United States are pushing for more research by their faculty members. A total of 41% of academic science and engineering doctorate holders in academia reported research as their primary activity, and 69% reported research as their primary or secondary activity in 2001. Indeed, 68.4% of engineering academic doctorate holders report receiving federal support in 2002 (National Science Board, 2006; National Science Foundation, 2005). In this case, women fare better than men, wherein 68.4% of the women versus 63.4% of the men were funded (National Science Board, 2006). When broadened to all science and engineering fields however, only 35.8% of the women are supported versus 45% of the men (National Science Board, 2006).