Females of Vision et al (FoVea) is a group established to enhance the success, visibility, and impact of women in vision science. The aim is to give women at early and mid-career levels tools for success by offering workshops on professional development annually at the Vision Sciences Society (VSS) meeting. The award provides travel and networking support for young women vision scientists to attend the workshop and the meeting. It also maintains and curates FoVeaList, an online searchable speaker database of women vision scientists. The potential broader impact of the award is both far-reaching and deep. Future generations of women will be more likely to consider a career path in vision science if they have interactions with successful women role models and the field of vision science will benefit from the resulting increase in diversity of ideas and approaches. The goal is to change the culture. Therefore, advertisements will clearly indicate that FoVea activities are not limited to women; all VSS attendees are welcome. These efforts complement NSF’s goal of increasing participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in STEM.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
