The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) will adapt, implement and disseminate successful models and best practices employed by ADVANCE grant recipients and others to assist women scientists to advance in academia. This project will focus adaptation in two areas: 1) translating efforts targeted at current women faculty to women training to become faculty, i.e., postdocs; and 2) translating professional development efforts targeted at the general postdoctoral population to address the unique needs of women during the postdoctoral training period. The primary purpose of these translational efforts will be to assist women in making a successful transition from the postdoctoral training period to the ranks of tenure track faculty.
Major project components include: - Conducting a review of all institutional efforts made by ADVANCE recipients to address these issues, using a survey and targeted follow-up; - Convening a focus group of ADVANCE postdoctoral fellows to determine whether the fellowship helped them to obtain a faculty position; - Organizing a National Summit on Gender and the Postdoctorate; - Providing on-going technical assistance to summit participants and others who wish to implement programs for postdocs at their institutions; - Preparing and disseminating a compendium report of models and recommended practices for helping women make a successful transition from postdoc to faculty; - Evaluation of the project?s short-term effectiveness in: raising awareness, serving as a catalyst for action, and helping summit participants increase the number of women faculty hired from the ranks of the postdoctorate.
Intellectual Merit Statement: The project activities will enhance the knowledge and understanding of the science and engineering communities regarding factors that contribute to a successful transition from postdoctoral scholar to tenure-track faculty member among women. The research will create a new base of information regarding effective strategies and promising practices for promoting a successful transition that enables women to advance from postdoc to faculty appointments and ultimately gain tenure or equivalent status.
Broader Impact Statement: The project activities will broadly impact women with PhDs in science and engineering fields who seek to make a successful transition from postdoctoral training to a faculty appointment during the three-year duration of the project. It will also broadly impact academic administrators involved with postdoctoral training and the advancement of women in science and engineering faculty posts. More broadly, the activities will impact future generations of those considering a faculty career in science and engineering, by facilitating the creation and maintenance of training and transition mechanisms that help women to advance from postdoctoral appointments into faculty positions.
